Victoria’s new cocktail lounge evokes the cool retro vibe of 1950s Los Angeles
It’s the cool new cocktail lounge Vancouver has been waiting for. Too bad it’s all the way over there in Victoria.
It’s the cool new cocktail lounge Vancouver has been waiting for. Too bad it’s all the way over there in Victoria.
What might just be Vancouver’s coolest cocktail lounge isn’t in a fancy hotel or a downtown hipster hangout. Heck, it isn’t even in Vancouver and it isn’t, for that matter, actually a bar.
School days, school days, dear old golden rule days – nope, don’t miss ’em.
But there’s still something about September that makes you want to learn something new. It’s even better if that something new has a boozy kick to it. So why not pick up one of the season’s new cocktail books and drink in some liquid education? Start with these spirited volumes.
INGREDIENTS:
3 cucumber slices (plus 1 for garnish)
0.5 oz (15 mL) agave syrup
1.5 oz (45 mL) mezcal, preferably Del Maguey Vida
1 oz (30 mL) ginger beer
0.75 oz (22 mL) lime juice
0.75 oz (22 mL) passion fruit purée
Garnish: Candied ginger, pinch of ground chili
METHOD:
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the cucumber slices and agave syrup, then add the remaining ingredients. Shake with ice, then fine-strain into a chilled rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with the candied ginger skewered to the cucumber slice, and a pinch of ground chili.
The winner of the Diageo World Class competition is widely considered the best bartender in the world. And right now, the best bartender in the world is Vancouver’s own Kaitlyn Stewart, bar manager of Royal Dinette.
INGREDIENTS:
1.75 oz (52 mL) Plymouth gin
0.75 oz (22 mL) fresh lemon juice
0.5 oz (15 mL) orgeat (almond syrup)
6 drops orange blossom water
1 egg white
METHOD:
Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and “dry shake” (without ice) vigorously until quite frothy. Add ice and shake again until well chilled, then double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass. If you like, garnish with freshly grated nutmeg. Serves 1.
You can’t call something a classic until it’s been kicking around a while. But there’s more to it than that. A classic has a timeless elegance that feels so right, you can’t quite imagine the world without it.
Think Breton stripes, little black dresses, Hemingway’s novels, the Barcelona chair, Frank Sinatra’s velvet vocals and the Manhattan, Old Fashioned or Negroni – the LBDs of the cocktail world.
Here in Vancouver, you might think the cocktail scene is too young to have inspired any classics. You’d be wrong. Here are some of the city’s signature sips.
INGREDIENTS:
1.5 oz (45 mL) Macallan Gold whisky
0.5 oz (15 mL) maraschino liqueur
0.25 oz (7 mL) Fernet Branca
3 dashes Bittered Sling Suius Cherry
METHOD:
Combine all ingredients and stir in a mixing glass with ice for 20 seconds. Strain mixture into an Old Fashioned glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a cherry. Serves 1.