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This Vancouver Island craft whisky brand is redefining West Coast flavour

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Vancouver Cocktail Week

6 Vancouver Cocktail Week events everyone’s talking about

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Vancouver Cocktail Week

The Vancouver Cocktail Week events that savvy insiders don’t ignore

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Bar Bites

Five great gadgets

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The season of entertaining is upon us and that means it’s a good time to stock up on cocktail gear and glassware. Here’s what’s on our list right now.

Bucket list

Yeti is known for making coolers that keep ice cold for days. But their Rambler beverage buckets are just as handy. They’re big enough to hold three bottles of wine, with a handle that makes them easy to carry and double-wall vacuum insulation that keeps ice frozen and drinks well chilled. Available in an array of designer-friendly colours. Now that’s, well, cool. Yeti.ca

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Have Glass Will Travel

Where to Drink in Los Angeles Right Now

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Just like L.A. itself, the top drinks are widely spread out across the city. Here are a few hotspots in diverse ’hoods, for epic coastal bar-crawling.

Bar Next Door’s Olive Drive is a must-drink martini: Sweet Gwendoline French gin, infused lime leaves and Thai chili, Wheatley vodka, olive brine, Dolin Dry, lemon essence, Castelvetrano olives. Instagram.com/barnextdoor photo

Hollywood and West Hollywood

A retro, neon-signed cocktail hideaway on the Sunset Strip that used to be a talent agency office representing Marilyn Monroe and other legends is now Bar Next Door. Vintage décor (including a reel-to-reel projector) and carefully crafted classic cocktails create laid-back sipping vibes that are a welcome respite from the Hollywood hustle. Order a thick, gooey slice of cup-and-burn pepperoni from Prince Street Pizza next door and a majestic Olive Drive cocktail, which Esquire called one of the best Martinis in America.

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Vancouver Cocktail Week

Tickets are on sale now for Vancouver Cocktail Week 2025!

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The city’s best party returns March 2 to 9 with all your favourite events and brand-new ones, including the unmissable Black & White Gala.

Living Room Creative photo

Tickets are now on sale for the fourth annual Vancouver Cocktail Week presented by The Alchemist magazine. Save your seat for the best seminars, most delicious cocktail-paired dinners and unmissable signature events like the closing Black & White Gala.

“We are proud to promote and support our incredible cocktail community and culture here in Vancouver. VCW’s success is due to the collaboration between all of us in this industry—the bartenders, the venues, the brands and the consumers,” says The Alchemist publisher, VCW event producer and co-founder Gail Nugent.

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At the bar

A hero’s journey

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Good Thief is a cocktail odyssey across Southeast Asia

The spicy, fruity, complex Six-Inch Yellow is an excellent way to start your cocktail journey at Good Thief. Juno Kim photos courtesy of Good Thief

The rain on the pavement reflects the red, green and orange of the Main Street traffic lights through the floor-to-ceiling windows and into the dim of Good Thief. In the summertime, the windows open completely to blend the divide between inside and out, but on a wet autumn evening, Good Thief beckons the curious and adventurous into its modern yet cozy space, promising not just drinks but a journey through the flavours of Southeast Asia and cutting-edge mixology techniques.

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At the top of World Class

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Now a four-time global winner, Canada prepares to host the big event

World Class Global bartender of the Year 2024, Keegan McGregor of Halifax (second from left),
is flanked by Canada’s other global winners: Kaitlyn Stewart, James Grant and Jacob Martin.
Photos courtesy of World Class Canada

As Canadians, we don’t like to boast, but even so, Michael Armistead can’t help but be a little bit pleased.

A Canadian bartender, Keegan McGregor of Halifax’s Highwaymen Restaurant & Bar, has just won the World Class Global Bartender of the Year 2024 competition in Shanghai. That’s the fourth time Canada has won the planet’s biggest and most prestigious cocktail competition since this country started competing in 2013.

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The Alchemist

The Alchemist Fall/Winter 2024

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The Fettercairn Tropical Highball from the VCW 2024 Green Garden Gala. Living Room Creative photo

As we were putting this issue of The Alchemist together, an atmospheric river came roaring through town. It was dark, cold and gloomy, with raging torrents of water pouring outside. It was, in other words, whisky weather.

It’s no secret that we love whisky over here at The Alchemist, whether it’s a refined single malt with plenty of age and a touch of peaty smoke in its lineage or a spicy rye, corn-sweet bourbon or the latest elegant expression from Japan. We love whisky neat, on ice and in cocktails; most of all, we love that it’s a thoughtful spirit, one we can linger over while enjoying a good conversation.

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Bar Bites

Whisky heaven (if you can get in)

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Photo courtesy of Victoria Whisky Festival

One of the world’s best whisky festivals is just a short ferry ride away from Vancouver, but you’ll have to act fast if you plan to get tickets. The Victoria Whisky Festival returns for its 19th year January 16 through 19 at the Hotel Grand Pacific. These four days of all things whisky kick off with the Canadian Whisky Awards and continue with masterclasses, whisky dinners and consumer tastings, featuring more than 200 whiskies from 50 distilleries.

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Vancouver Cocktail Week

Vancouver Cocktail Week is back in 2025!

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Tickets go on sale December 1 for the March event

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Raise your glasses! Vancouver Cocktail Week presented by The Alchemist magazine returns for its fourth annual round of spirited fun, March 2 to 9, 2025.

This highlight of the March calendar is filled with seminars, master classes, tasting events, cocktail-paired dinners, neighbourhood crawls, guest shifts and spectacular parties, all supported by dozens of brand sponsors pouring their best products for you. Expect to see all your favourite local bartenders in action, as well as top talent from across Canada and around the world.

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