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?
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?
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
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
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)
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.
• 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.
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.
• 1 oz (30 mL) blanco tequila
• 1 oz (30 mL) watermelon-infused Lillet Blanc (see note)
• 0.25 oz (7 mL) Campari
• 0.25 oz (7 mL) agave syrup
• 1 oz (30 mL) lime juice
• 3 dashes black peppercorn tincture (see note)
Stir—or swizzle—all the ingredients together in a highball glass, then fill the glass with crushed ice. Garnish with a sprig of mint. Serves 1.
After what seems like the longest, wettest, dreariest winter in history, it is finally patio season. We’ll see you indoors again come September.
• 2 oz (30 mL) bourbon
• 0.5 oz (15 mL) fresh lemon juice
• 3 dashes Angostura bitters
• 4 oz (120 mL) ginger beer
Place all ingredients in a highball glass, add lots of ice and stir. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint. Serves 1.