These three new books will get you inspired to shake up your cocktail routine.
Totally retro, all-new Meo
Chinatown’s hot new bar is all about tantalizingly unexpected tastes
“Is it OK if the flowers are on the edges?” a server asks as she tweezes a bloom onto the Citrus Crush cocktail and carries it to a waiting table of excited friends.
It’s 5 p.m. on a Thursday at Meo, Chinatown’s newest cocktail bar. Though the doors just opened, the place has immediately started to fill. I overhear one of the managers say there are 55 people on the books tonight and more walk-ins are expected.
It’s sunny outside, but you’d never know it in the low light of the room themed after a 1970s love-motel. Part lounge and part living room, Meo feels like an elevated version of a retro home bar. As if you stepped back in time to visit your grandparents with exquisite taste and an extensive liquor collection. The pink-hued interior and menus are influenced by Taipei and photos of Vancouver’s Chinatown from the same era.
Hot spots: Compton Ave.
When one of the city’s best known and most highly acclaimed bartenders opens a new joint, everyone sits up and takes notice. In Toronto, that bartender is Frankie Solarik, famously of Bar Chef, Prequel & Co. Apothecary and the Netflix show Drink Masters; the bar is Compton Ave., an ode to all things London, a city that just happens to have one of the best cocktail scenes in the world.
B.C. summer distillery guide
Taste these locally-distilled spirits and explore distilleries around the province this summer.
Maple Leaf Spirits
Cherry Liqueur
25% ABV, $39 (375 ml)
Visit our family-owned craft distillery tasting room in Penticton on the beautiful Naramata Bench. Get to know our locally inspired liqueurs, spirits, Genie Gin, and Lady of the Cask. Our Cherry Liqueur got the Best in Class award at the Canadian Artisan Spirit Competition 2024. South Okanagan sun-ripened cherries, distilled, and infused with Sour Cherries. Your easy summer treat for desserts or cocktails. Available at mapleleafspirits.ca.
New sips to savour
Here are some exciting new products to check out this summer
Cabin Gin 2024 Green Label: Okanagan Spirits has just released the first in a new lineup of seasonal small-batch gins inspired by time spent at the family cabin and escapes to other places. It features hints of lemongrass, fresh ginger and Thai lime leaf, reminiscent of trips through Southeast Asia. It retails for $35 (for a 500 mL bottle), with at least two more in the series expected by the end of the year. okanaganspirits.com
Nuts for inclusive vodka
Canada’s first out-and-proud 2SLGBTQIA+ owned and operated brand is becoming Squirrel Friendz with cocktail fans in B.C. and beyond
It all started with a night out at a casino, after which Kyle Aszalos woke up with what he thought could be a million-dollar idea. “Cocktail kits!” he said to his partner, Jeremy Fischer. That pivoted to producing their own spirits to put in the kits, and “then we scrapped the kits,” Fischer laughs.
The co-founders of Squirrel Friendz vodka are celebrating the brand’s one-year anniversary this summer, with entry into BC Liquor Stores in May and a bold, colourful presence on many private-store shelves and back bars. “We went with vodka because it’s the quickest to get to market,” Aszalos says of sourcing the crisp spirit, in all-natural flavours with no added sugar, from commercial distillery Orchard City Distilling Co. in West Kelowna. Quick was important, because it meant they could quickly start making a difference.
Shaking up the awards world
If it’s spring it must be competition season and Canada’s best bars and bartenders are winning awards all over the place. Here are just a few that have made news the past few months.
A Japanese whisky pilgrimage
Taste the 90-year legacy of Nikka Whisky at these essential stops
In most parts of the world, the whisky made there (or the brandy, vodka, rum…) is the result of what grows and thrives in a particular place. The century-old Japanese whisky industry is entirely unique: It’s based on one person’s DNA, and his global quest for whisky excellence.
The grandfather of Japanese whisky founded two of its most famous labels more than 100 years ago: Suntory, in 1923; and Nikka, in 1934. In Nikka’s 90th anniversary year, the brand invited a select group of whisky-philes to trace its founder’s path across Japan. Here’s a taste of Nikka whisk-tory.
A tale of three bourbons
To celebrate National Bourbon Day in the U.S. (June 14, 2024), we take a deep dive into American whiskey, through three Kentucky distillery tours.
Wild Turkey: Shooting for Third-Generation Greatness
To dive into the world of Wild Turkey whisky, first consider going shooting. Picking off clay pigeons at the Anderson County Sportsman’s Club is a unique way to experience the lore behind the whiskey made nearby in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. It started with a spirit the Ripy brothers made starting in the 1800s that was sold by grocer Austin Nicholls (a name that still graced Wild Turkey labels until recent years). On 1940s hunting trips, a Ripy executive shared some of that whiskey, which became popularly known among straight shooters around the world as Wild Turkey.
Hot Spots: Prophecy
We’ve been waiting impatiently to see what’s going into the grand space under the Rosewood Hotel Georgia where Prohibition used to be. We’ve been waiting just as impatiently to learn where Jeff Savage would land after leaving Botanist Bar last year.