B.C.'s only magazine dedicated to local distilleries and cocktail culture.
Since 2015, star bartenders Dave Simpson and Gerry Jobe have quietly been building a growing line of syrups, Caesar mixes, kegged cocktails and other bar supplies from their home base in Kelowna. Now Simps Modern Beverage is getting national—even international—attention for their products.
If you’re someone who frequents Gastown, wears oversized glasses ironically, has at least a half sleeve of tattoos, or simply possesses a potent appreciation for craft cocktails, then Denver, Colorado is a must-visit destination.
Just a quick 2 hour 45 minute direct flight from Vancouver, the Mile-High City has become a haven for hipsters. Here we explore three of the most delicious neighbourhoods in this up-and-coming cocktail destination.
It seems there will be no end to the supply chain issues that have drained back bars of essential spirits these past two years. This summer, for instance, it looks like we’re facing a shortage of Aperol, just in time for spritz season, so drink up while you can.
Though there’s a bar on virtually every downtown street in New York, we recently hit some old favourites and some new essentials, to help guide your next drinking safari to the Big Apple.
Because there are so few rules governing Canadian whisky, those who make it can give their creativity free rein. And that is just what Andres Faustinelli, master blender at Bearface Whisky, is doing with his new “Wilderness Series” of whiskies made with ingredients foraged in B.C.’s Monashee Mountains.
The series launches with the Matsutake Release 01, featuring the rare and precious matsutake mushroom that grows wild here and is so very prized abroad, especially in Asia. Adding mushrooms to whisky may seem odd, but it is in fact part pf a much larger trend, notes sommelier-forager Bram Bolwin. “In recent years, many of the world’s most acclaimed mixologists have been embracing the potential of umami-rich fungi as an inventive cocktail ingredient,” he says.
The limited edition Bearface Wilderness Series: Matsutake Release has a complex, nutty and earthy character with notes of baking spices and a savoury finish. It retails for $49.95.
Once summer’s warmer, sunnier weather finally arrives, we crave drinks that are lighter and easier, more refreshing and less complicated. No one knows that better than the bartenders who craft all your Margaritas, G&Ts, spritzes and other summertime thirst quenchers. So we asked them to share their favourite warm weather spirits, and the cocktails they would make with them. This issue, our tasting panel team comprises bartenders J-S Dupuis, Robyn Gray, Jeff Savage, Grant Sceney and David Wolowidnyk. Here’s what they had to say.
• 2 oz Barsol Pisco – Quebranta
• 1.5 oz fresh pineapple juice
• 0.75 oz fresh lemon juice
• 0.5 oz orgeat (almond syrup)
• Garnish: pineapple slice
• 1 oz Tanqueray gin
• 0.67 oz Blueberry Lavender Oleo (see note)
• 0.67 oz lemon juice
• 0.25 oz Luxardo Bitter Bianco
• 3 oz Blue Mountain Brut (or other sparkling wine)
• Garnish: Thyme flower
• 1.5 oz blanco tequila
• 0.5 oz crème de cassis
• 0.75 oz lime juice
• Ginger beer
• Garnish: lime wheel
1 whole lime
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 oz cachaça
Garnish: lime zest