Canada's only magazine dedicated to distillers, spirits and cocktail culture.
Ingredients:
0.75 oz London Dry Style Gin (such as Sipsmith)
0.75 oz green Chartreuse
0.75 oz maraschino cherry liqueur
0.75 oz lime juice
Garnish: Boozy Cocktail Cherry
Garnishes can be beautiful, vibrant, eye-catching additions to what we eat and drink. The more appealing, the more they add to our enjoyment. Though usually small in size, garnishes can have a large impact on our overall experience; just because they’re small doesn’t mean they’re not integral to the flavours and finish.
Enter the cocktail cherry.
A peated whisky from Vancouver Island — Macaloney’s Island Distillery Peat Project Moscatel Barrique single malt — has just been named the Canadian Whisky of the Year and upended all our perceptions of what Canadian whisky can be.
It’s happy hour somewhere? These days, it feels a lot more like happy hour is everywhere, especially in Vancouver.
Hard to believe that, just a little over a decade ago, discounted day-drinking was still illegal in British Columbia, the only province in Canada that still maintained seemingly arcane regulations that banned these happiest of times. That changed in the summer of 2014, when B.C.’s liquor laws were revised to loosen up or eliminate a number of restrictions that prohibited things like alcohol sales at farmer’s markets and, of course, bars and restaurants offering time-specific drink specials.
INGREDIENTS:
1 (750 mL) bottle blanco tequila, preferably good quality but not too expensive
3 medium-sized fresh chili peppers, washed, seeded and sliced (see note)
Opening a bar in Toronto, where every corner of the city seems to be filled with vibrant and eclectic spots, can be as challenging, intimidating and thrilling. It poses even more challenges when you are a self-funded solo entrepreneur, especially when you are known not for your business acumen, your operational skills or your taste in food and wine, but for something as specific as cocktails. In a city celebrated for its diverse culinary and drinkscape, making a mark requires more than just good food and drinks. It demands a vision.
The Dirty Martini is just the start. These days we love our savoury cocktails and the unexpected ingredients that add those rich umami flavours. Here are just five we’ve sampled recently in Toronto bars.
Banff is world renowned for its majestic mountains, glacier-fed lakes and natural splendour. The town’s food and drink scene has long been trapped by those tall shadows—until recently. From cozy izakayas to groovy karaoke bars, Canada’s most-visited national park boasts a cool cocktail scene that’s on the rise.
I spent 25 years in the hospitality business and during this time, I had the opportunity to taste thousands of wines from many different countries. Tasting so many styles and varieties allowed me to decipher nuances of quality in every type of wine. It was those years of tasting experience that worked in my favour when I was introduced to Japanese whisky for the very first time.