Canada's only magazine dedicated to distillers, spirits and cocktail culture.
The most spirited week of the year is back! Get ready to raise a glass because Vancouver Cocktail Week presented by The Alchemist is returning March 1-8, 2026 with a spectacular line-up of events, and tickets for the highly-anticipated Signature Events are officially on sale now!
While tequila’s most iconic sidekicks might be a lick of salt and a slurp of lime, those are far from the only flavour pairings that work for the iconic Mexican agave spirit. Tequila makes a surprisingly great sipper and pairing alongside a variety of foods—not just Mexican cuisine.
Start planning now for Vancouver Cocktail Week presented by The Alchemist magazine, a celebration of the city’s immense and internationally award-winning cocktail talent. In March 2026, VCW celebrates its fifth anniversary with all the fabulous, cocktail-focused events Vancouver has grown to love—and some exciting brand-new ones, too.
We can’t wait to read 2017 World Class champion Kaitlyn Stewart’s new book, Three Cheers: Cocktails Three Ways: Classics, Riffs, and Zero-Proof Sips (Penguin). Stewart, the Vancouver bartender also known as Likeable Cocktails, takes 55 classics and offers a modern version and a non-alcoholic one for each, for an impressive total of 165 recipes for every mood—and everybody.
Behind the wood at No Vacancy, veteran bartender Troy Gilchrist and his small crew of fellow bartenders Kat Yu and Nick Hurd embody the ethos that personal connection is the business they are in and everything else is simply implementation. The result is one of those places where entertainment, showmanship and finely crafted cocktails are born together, and live together, within its walls.
Phillips Brewing is raising a glass to a bold new chapter with the rebrand and 2026 release of its Sanctuary Signature Whisky.
Drawing inspiration from the wild beauty of the Pacific Northwest’s coastal forests, the Victoria-based brewery and distillery has unveiled a refreshed new whisky and refined story for its Sanctuary Single Malt — a spirit that embodies the rugged charm of Vancouver Island.
For the first time, some of Canada’s greatest watering holes have been recognized by The Pinnacle Guide, a new recognition system for cocktail bars. Think of it as Michelin, but for the stirred-and-shaken set, offering one, two or three “pins” rather than stars; one pin means “excellent,” two “outstanding” and three “exceptional.”
The taste of a 15-year-old spirit from a historic distillery in Guyana woke Karl Mudzamba’s tastebuds up to rum. The Zimbabwe native was playing pro rugby in New Zealand when a friend brought him the bottle. One sip and he thought, “Wow, I wonder what else is out there,” he recalls. “So I got curious, and started trying as many rums from around the world as possible.” Among them were some unusual regional, small-batch artisanal bottlings.
There’s a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on across Canada this fall, and stirring, building, infusing and maybe even a little throwing, too. The global finals of World Class just wrapped up in Toronto, and the city is just hosted the inaugural Toronto Cocktail Festival, from October 22 to 26. It was brought to you by The Alchemist magazine team behind Vancouver Cocktail Week, which celebrates its fifth anniversary in March. But big events aside, every night is cocktail night in Canada, with bars from coast to coast celebrating cocktail culture and, more importantly, connection.