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If there were any lingering doubts that Vancouver has become a world-class cocktail city, Kaitlyn Stewart has just laid them to rest.
• 0.75 oz (20 mL) Beefeater gin
• 0.75 oz (20 mL) Campari
• 0.75 oz (20 mL) Cinzano Rosso
• 0.5 oz (15 mL) simple syrup (see note)
• 3 x 1.5-inch (3 cm) cubes of watermelon
Place ½ cup (125 mL) cracked ice into the blender with the watermelon and simple syrup. Blend until smooth.
Add the other ingredients and another ½ cup (125 mL) of ice. Blend for 45 seconds and pour into a fancy glass (or a plastic cup).
Garnish with a slice of watermelon. Serves 1.
—By Josh Pape
Who hasn’t wasted a hot summer afternoon knocking back frozen margaritas on a sunny patio somewhere? It’s almost a rite of passage. But it isn’t, generally speaking, a quality drinking experience.
Or at least it didn’t used to be.
The gin is sky blue – that’s right, blue – and it has a delicate floral aroma. Add a little tonic water, though, and it magically turns a beautiful royal purple.
“It’s spectacular, isn’t it? It goes from that nice blue, then you pour the tonic in there, it swirls around, and you get that nice pink colour,” says Peter Hunt, president of Victoria Distillers. “It’s certainly something fun for bartenders and mixologists to play with.”
• 2 oz (60 mL) Empress Gin
• 0.75 oz (22 mL) lemon juice
• 0.75 oz (22 mL) simple syrup (see note)
• 1 egg white
Place all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, without ice, and shake vigorously. Once you have created voluminous foam, add ice, and shake again. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. If you like, garnish with dried butterfly pea flower blossoms. Serves 1.
• 1 oz (30 mL) vodka
• 0.5 oz (15 mL) St. Germain elderflower liqueur
• 0.75 oz (22 mL) lemon juice
• 0.75 oz (22 mL) Monin jasmine flower syrup
• 2 dashes Bittered Sling Grapefruit & Hops bitters
• 1 egg white
Place all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously. Once you have created voluminous foam, add ice, and shake again. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Serves 1.
Think of the elderflower as spring in a glass.
You’ve come a long way, baby – or have you?
