True Lies

Chiara Fung’s True Lies. Dan Toulgoet photo

This award-winning cocktail was created by Chiara Fung, premium bartender at H Tasting Lounge at The Westin Bayshore.

• 2 oz Stolichnaya Premium Vodka
• 1.25 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 oz charred pineapple cordial (see recipe below)
• 1 oz pineapple jam (see recipe below)
• Garnish: dehydrated pineapple slice, pineapple leaves

Shake ingredients with ice and double-strain into a double rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with dehydrated pineapple slice and two pineapple leaves. Serves 1.

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The Bayshore Inn Cocktail

Dylan Williams’ The Bayshore Inn. Dan Toulgoet photo

This tiki-inspired cocktail created by Dylan Williams, premium bartender at H Tasting Lounge at The Westin Bayshore, offers a nostalgic nod to the days when the Bayshore was home to the tropical Trader Vic’s restaurant.

• 1.5 oz fresh pineapple juice
• 0.5 oz fresh orange juice
• 0.25 oz charred pineapple falernum (see recipe below)
• 1.75 oz pandan coconut syrup (see recipe below)
• Ms Betters Pineapple Star Anise bitters
• 2 oz Flor de Cana 7 Year Old rum
• Garnish: freshly grated nutmeg

Place all ingredients in a tiki mug and fill halfway with shaved ice; swizzle, then fill with more shaved ice. Grate fresh nutmeg over top and serve with a straw. Serves 1.

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Yuzu Meringue Pie

Yuzu Meringue Pie. Dan Toulgoet photo.

Yuzu (aka. citrus junos) is a rare hybrid citrus fruit popular in Japan that has been historically cultivated as a herbal remedy. Prized by bartenders, the fruit’s aroma and flavour offers a rare and complex blend of lime, lemon, grapefruit and mandarin orange. 

• 1oz of Shin Premium Yuzu Wine
• 1oz Vanilla Vodka
• 1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
• 1/4 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1/4 oz Simple Syrup

Shake with ice and serve in a sugar-rimmed martini glass.

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Blueberry Gin Smash

• 1.5 oz Queensborough Gin
• 0.5 oz dry vermouth
• 0.5 oz maple syrup
• 2 dashes aromatic bitters
• 5 fresh blueberries
• 3 lime wedges
• 1 mint sprig
• Tonic water

Add bitters, blueberries and limes into the glass and muddle them. Add Queensborough gin and dry vermouth and stir. Add ice cubes and top up with tonic. Add some crushed ice to the top of the glass and garnish with some blueberries and mint.

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Nacho Medicine

Nacho Medicine, created by Philipp Karatsyupa, bar manager, Ancora Waterfront Dining & Patio. Dan Toulgoet photo

A down south cure to whatever ails you

• 1.5oz Viejo Indecente Espadin mezcal
• 0.75oz amontillado sherry
• 0.5oz ginger shrub (1:1 on sherry vinegar)
• dash Ms. Betters Smoke and Oak bitters
• spray of smoky mezcal of choice

Stir all ingredients and strain into a double Old Fashioned glass with a large ice cube or sphere. Garnish with candied ginger.

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The Last Word: Clover Club

The Clover Club, as created by Justin Taylor at The Cascade Room. Jennifer Gauthier photo

Millennial pink. Tumblr pink. Scandi pink. Candy pink. Pale dogwood. Blush. Rose gold. Rose quartz. Rosé. Frosé. Call it what you will, the soft, sweet, nearly-neutral hue of a generation is all around and here to stay. We prefer it in a cocktail. How about you?

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There are 74 places to celebrate Negroni Week in Vancouver

Negroni. Istock photo

Every year during the first full week of June, bars and restaurants around the world pay tribute to the classic Italian cocktail, the Negroni, during a popular annual event known, fittingly, as Negroni Week.

The elegant aperitif is traditionally made with one part gin, one part vermouth rosso, and one part Campari, and is garnished with orange peel.

However, for Negroni Week, participating venues offer up their own renditions, available to customers with proceeds going to a charity of choice.

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SEA TO SKY RAD-LER BEER COCKTAIL

Shaun Layton’s Sea To Sky RAD-ler. Dan Toulgoet photo

Made with Vancouver Craft Beer Week’s 2018 Collaboration Beer, Sea To Sky Double Dry-Hopped Pilsner, by bartender Shaun Layton of Backcountry Brewing.

If you’ve been following the burgeoning cocktail scene in Vancouver over the past decade, there’s a good chance you’ve come across bartender Shaun Layton and his spirited creations. Having managed the bar programs at hotspots like George, L’Abattoir and Juniper, Layton has a well-earned reputation as one of the West Coast’s top cocktailiers. He’s been named Vancouver’s Bartender of the Year by Vancouver MagazineWestenderWestern Living and Georgia Straight, and coming this fall, he’ll be opening his own Spanish-themed bar in Mount Pleasant, Como Taperia.

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El Boujee

El Boujee, created by Bodega on Main’s Junior Alexander. Dan Toulgoet photo

• 1.5 oz Toasted Coconut Fat Washed Flor de Caña 4
• 1 oz Bumbu Caribbean Rum
• 1 oz Lime Juice
• 0.5oz Simple Syrup

Shake, serve neat in a coupe.

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