A low-alcohol spritz perfect for all-day patio sipping.
¼ Lillet Blanc
¾ Fever-Tree Sparkling Pink Grapefruit
Garnish: grapefruit wedge
Fever-Tree Pink Dame
Fever-Tree Sparkling Pink Spritz
Fever-Tree Sparkling Pink Grapefruit perfectly complements spirits and captures the essence of easy-to-make spritzes.
¼ vodka (we suggest Grey Goose)
¾ Fever-Tree Sparkling Pink Grapefruit
Garnish: grapefruit wedge and rosemary sprig (optional)
Fever-Tree Paloma
Mexico’s favourite cocktail, the refreshing Paloma, is also the easiest to make.
• ¼ tequila (we suggest a 100% agave, like Patrón)
• ¾ Fever-Tree Sparkling Pink Grapefruit
• Garnish: grapefruit wedge
• Optional: salt rim
Tropical tripping
Parliament Hill is all well and good, but this summer, there’s an even better reason to visit Ottawa. (Assuming, of course, that we’re able to travel.)
Floating tropical party bars.
La Joya
Matthew Benevoli’s La Joya uses his homemade ginger bug.
• 1.25 oz blanco tequila
• 0.5 oz elderflower liqueur
• 0.75 oz ginger bug
• 1 oz orange juice (preferably fresh-pressed)
• 0.25 oz lemon juice
• Garnish: lemon twist, orange slice or vibrant flower
Ginger Bug Penicillin
Matthew Benevoli’s Ginger Bug Penicillin uses his homemade ginger bug.
• 1.5 oz blended scotch whisky
• 0.75 oz fresh lemon juice
• 0.75 oz ginger bug
• 0.5 oz honey syrup (see note)
• 0.25 oz peated Islay scotch
• Garnish: piece of candied ginger or a lemon twist
Ginger Bug
Fizzy and spicy, it’s the best base for summer’s most refreshing patio cocktails
With the longer days and hotter weather just around the corner, let’s get a helping hand from nature. We’ll be creating something with some heat, a little bit sweet and bright as the summer: a ginger bug!
A ginger bug isn’t really a bug at all, but a naturally fermented ginger mixture with some sugar, water and a little time and care. For generations, naturally fermented soft drinks have been used as health tonics and as refreshments for everyone from laymen to royalty. Traditional ginger beer and ale used to be produced with the help of a ginger bug, and contained natural medicinal properties to ease cold symptoms and nausea (I’m sure we’ve all heard someone swear by sipping ginger ale for an upset stomach.)
Lounge in “Patiotown” for your summer stay-cation
Vancouver’s Gastown creates a safe, social outdoor oasis for the return of cocktail culture this summer. It makes perfect sense for the neighbourhood founded on the bar that helped build a city.
Under some welcome umbrella shade on the Jules Bistro patio, live music wafts over from a nearby performer, the all-day-happy-hour Chambord kiss of French Martinis flow for $14, while cocktailians sip under vintage lamposts festooned with lush flower baskets. It almost feels like the “before times.”
As life slowly returns to normal this summer, Vancouver’s Gastown—the neighbourhood where the city started, and where our most famous bar ever was started by its namesake, nicknamed Gassy Jack (aka John Deighton) more than 150 years ago—has embraced pandemic conditions to enhance its reputation as patio central.
Canada’s James Grant named Diageo World Class Bartender of the Year
For the second time in only four years, a Canadian bartender has taken home the title of World Class Bartender of the Year.
After a gruelling four-day virtual final, Edmonton’s James Grant triumphed over his colleagues from 50 countries to win the world’s biggest and most prestigious cocktail competition, Diageo World Class.
In the mix
When it’s hot out, nothing tastes better than a bright, citrusy Margarita. But who has the energy to squeeze all those limes? Luckily for the lazy among us, Volcán De Mi Tierra Tequila has come to the rescue with a new made-in-Canada Margarita pre-mix designed to perfectly complement the tequila’s citrus, cherry and white pepper flavours.