Canada's only magazine dedicated to distillers, spirits and cocktail culture.
As the days get colder and shorter, we turn to dark spirits, deep flavours and slow-sipping cocktails, the kinds of drinks best enjoyed over thoughtful conversation.
• 0.75 oz Hayman’s sloe gin
• 0.75 oz Campari
• 0.75 oz Marcarini Barolo Chinato
• 0.75 oz fresh lemon
Note: This is the third in an Alchemist series following Diageo World Class 2019 from planning the competition to the National Final in Whistler and through to the Global Final in Scotland.
He came so close. Vancouver’s Jeff Savage made it to the final eight at the Diageo World Class Final. And he won the Singleton State of Mind award. But in the end, the diminutive Bannie Kang from Singapore took home the ultimate prize.
It’s all fun and games until someone loses an ear. Vincent Van Gogh’s escapades might have delivered the final cut to the fashionable, anise-flavoured spirit absinthe, invented in Switzerland in the late 18th century and favoured by Belle Époque bohemians. Seen as highly addictive and dangerous, it was banned in the U.S. and much of Europe for nearly a century, until 2007.
Likely the poor quality or high-proof base spirit—not the relatively small amount of hallucogenic thujone, naturally found in absinthe’s bittering agent, wormwood (Artemesia absinthium)—was responsible for absinthe-attributed naughtiness. But its reputation as the bad boy of the spirits world persists, as does its role in cocktails, particularly of the French-influenced New Orleans school, such as the Sazerac, Corpse Reviver No. 2 and La Louisiane.
Here are five local absinthes to try, from newcomers to B.C.’s standard-bearers.
Congratulations to Vancouver bartender Jeff Savage, who made it to the final eight at the Diageo World Class Final on September 26 in Glasgow, Scotland. He also won the Singleton State of Mind award.
But, in the end, Bannie Kang from Singapore took home the ultimate prize, beating out 54 bartenders from around the world to become World Class Bartender of the Year.
• 1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 6 mint leaves
• 1 oz Taboo Absinthe
• 1 cup crushed ice
• Sparkling water
• Garnish: 1 lime wheel
• 1 oz Baba Yaga Absinthe
• 0.5 oz fresh lime juice
• Ginger beer
• 1 oz simple syrup
• 1 oz absinthe
• 1 oz fresh lime juice
• 4 oz water
• Garnish: 4 slices cucumber
• 1 oz absinthe
• 2.5 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 5 oz lavender syrup
• 5 oz still water
Tired of the same old, same old wine-and-cheese pairing? The folks at The Macallan have got you covered.
They’ve recently partnered with Toronto cheese wiz Afrim Pristine (owner of Cheese Boutique and author of the book For the Love of Cheese) and American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional Elizabeth Chubbuck to pair fine fromage with, yes, single malt.
Turns out, they go surprisingly well together.