Sip your favourite movie as a cocktail with VIFF

Lights! Camera! Cocktails!

 

The Winds of Arrakis ‘VIFFtail’ available at Long Table Distillery until Oct. 14, 2017. VIFF photo

Whether it’s the Big Lebowski’s White Russians, James Bond’s Vesper Martini or the French 75s Yvonne knocks back in Casablanca, there’s plenty to drink in when it comes to cocktails and the movies.

So when the Vancouver International Film Festival’s sponsorship manager Morgaine Jennings was looking for a fun new idea for the 2017 festival, which began Thursday, cocktails seemed like the perfect fit.

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Bring Out the Gimlet

Bring Out the Gimlet. Foxtrot Tango Whisky photo

A modern update on an old-school classic: This cocktail was created by Shawn Soole at the new Foxtrot Tango Whisky bar at the Doubletree by Hilton Victoria.

INGREDIENTS:
1½ oz (45 mL) Sheringham Akvavit
½ oz (15 mL) Bols Ginger Liqueur
¾ oz (22 mL) Carrot Lime Cordial*

METHOD:
Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake well and double strain into a large chilled coupe. If you like, garnish with a ribbon of sweet pickled carrot on a skewer. Serves 1.

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Foxtrot Tango Whisky for the win

Victoria’s new cocktail lounge evokes the cool retro vibe of 1950s Los Angeles

The new Foxtrot Tango Whisky bar at the Doubletree by Hilton Victoria. Foxtrot Tango Whisky photo

It’s the cool new cocktail lounge Vancouver has been waiting for. Too bad it’s all the way over there in Victoria.

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Bourbon Sour

Sons of Vancouver’s Bourbon Sour. Dan Toulgoet photo

“This is one of my favourite cocktails to make,” says James Lester, co-owner of the Sons of Vancouver Distillery in North Vancouver. His method of shaking the egg white with a single ice cube makes the froth impressively thick and rich.

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Sons of Vancouver’s amaretto earns global amore

North Van distillery wins worldwide attention thanks to Kaitlyn Stewart — but many have already fallen in love with its nutty liqueur

Sons of Vancouver’s James Lester with the No. 82 amaretto. Dan Toulgoet photo

What might just be Vancouver’s coolest cocktail lounge isn’t in a fancy hotel or a downtown hipster hangout. Heck, it isn’t even in Vancouver and it isn’t, for that matter, actually a bar.

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Mezcal Mule

Jim Meehan’s Mezcal Mule. Doron Gild/Ten Speed Press photo

INGREDIENTS:
3 cucumber slices (plus 1 for garnish)
0.5 oz (15 mL) agave syrup
1.5 oz (45 mL) mezcal, preferably Del Maguey Vida
1 oz (30 mL) ginger beer
0.75 oz (22 mL) lime juice
0.75 oz (22 mL) passion fruit purée
Garnish: Candied ginger, pinch of ground chili

METHOD:
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the cucumber slices and agave syrup, then add the remaining ingredients. Shake with ice, then fine-strain into a chilled rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with the candied ginger skewered to the cucumber slice, and a pinch of ground chili.

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Simply the best

Vancouver’s Kaitlyn Stewart named world’s best bartender at Mexico City comp

Kaitlyn Stewart, bar manager at Vancouver’s Royal Dinette, won the prestigious Diageo World Class competition on Aug. 24 in Mexico City. More than 10,000 bartenders from 57 countries entered the global competition. Diageo World Class photo

The winner of the Diageo World Class competition is widely considered the best bartender in the world. And right now, the best bartender in the world is Vancouver’s own Kaitlyn Stewart, bar manager of Royal Dinette.

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Diced Pineapple Cocktail

Kaitlyn Stewart’s Diced Pineapple Cocktail — a zero-waste, eco-friendly drink — was a winner in the Mex ECO challenge at Diageo World Class. Fred Fung photo for Royal Dinette

This zero-waste cocktail created by Royal Dinette’s bar manager Kaitlyn Stewart helped her win Diageo World Class Bartender of the Year 2017. It uses all parts of the pineapple, including the skin, pulp and tops.

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