Rainier Cherry & Kirsch Preserves
Summer herbs and preserves make a splash in cocktails
Right now our gardens and markets are bursting with seasonal produce that we just can’t wait to transform into cocktails. But don’t you wish you could enjoy those garden-fresh flavours year round?
Seaforth Swizzle
Named for the park located across from the armoury on the edge of Kitsilano, the Seaforth Swizzle is “a super bright and refreshing drink,” says its creator, Kevin Brownlee, bar manager at AnnaLena. You can purchase velvet falernum at The Modern Bartender or Gourmet Warehouse, or make your own with the recipe below. To find Bucha Brew, visit buchabrew.ca for a list of retailers.
Adventure in every glass in Kitsilano’s cocktail scene
Gourmet ingredients meet global inspiration in the neighbourhood’s best drinks
Think Kitsilano and you’re likely to think yoga pants and granola, luxe hippies and sandy beaches, vegetarian cafés and cosy pubs. Cocktails? Not so much, right?
Impeached Iced Tea
Mamie Taylor’s owner Ron Oliver and lead bartender Scotty Marshall will be serving this spiked tea on July 1 at their eighth annual RibFest competition.
INGREDIENTS:
• 1 oz (30 mL) Old Camp Peach Pecan Whiskey
• 0.5 oz (15 mL) Lillet Blanc
• 0.5 oz (15 mL) Canadian whisky
• 3 oz (90 mL) unsweetened iced tea (any black tea will do)
Garnish: Okanagan peach slices
A Mari Usque Ad Mare
Inspired by the Canadian motto, meaning “Sea to Sea,” L’Abattoir head bartender Katie Ingram updated the classic Vieux Carré cocktail with luxe flavours from east and west coasts, including rum, rye and bitters made from Okanagan haskap berries and sour cherries.
INGREDIENTS:
• 0.75 oz (22 mL) Ron Zacapa Centenario Sistema Solera 23 Rum
• 0.75 oz (22 mL) Crown Royal XO
• 0.75 oz (22 mL) sweet vermouth
• 0.25 oz (7 mL) Bénédictine or B&B
• Two dashes Bittered Sling Suius Cherry Bitters
• Two dashes Bittered Sling Western Haskap Bitters
The Great Wild North
This recipe by Max Borrowman, bar manager at Juniper Kitchen + Bar, was inspired by Canada’s rare foraged botanicals, while the gold flakes evoke memories of B.C.’s 1850s and ’60s gold rushes.
INGREDIENTS:
• 1.5 oz (45 mL) Ungava gin
• 0.5 oz (15 mL) Campari
• 0.5 oz (15 mL) lemon juice
• 0.5 oz (15 mL) egg white
• 0.33 oz (10 mL) simple syrup
• 2 dashes spruce tip tincture (see note)
• 1 oz (30 mL) rhubarb compote (see note)
Coast-to-coast cocktails for Canada Day
Vancouver mixologists are blending the best of our national ingredients for party drinks this July 1
A long weekend of fireworks and barbecues, sparklers and fluttering Maple Leaf flags stretches ahead of us. Happy 150th birthday, Canada! Now, let’s celebrate.
Grey Goose Le Grand Fizz
This simple but elegant vodka fizz is a clean canvas for your own experimentation.
• 1.25 oz (35 mL) Grey Goose vodka
• 0.75 oz (22 mL) St. Germain elderflower liqueur
• 0.75 oz (22 mL) freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2.5 oz (75 mL) chilled soda water
Place vodka, elderflower liqueur and lime juice in a cocktail shaker along with some ice. Shake vigorously. Fine strain into a chilled flute or large wine glass and charge with soda water. If you like, add a few cubes of ice and garnish with a slice of lime. Serves 1.
Fire up the fizz for patio season
These soda-charged sours are what you should be drinking this summer
Some of Europe’s most talented bartenders are lounging around the swimming pool at Le Logis, the 16th-century chateau in France’s Cognac region that Grey Goose calls home.
It is hot – the mercury hovering around 30 C – and humid, with thunderstorms threatening to break later on.