The Alchemist Magazine BC | B.C. Distilleries | Cocktail Bars Vancouver

Vancouver’s classic cocktails

August 25, 2017 No Comments

There’s now a handful of unique, signature cocktails that make up part of the city’s cultural identity. Pictured: Wildebeest’s Horseradish Sour. Contributed photo

You can’t call something a classic until it’s been kicking around a while. But there’s more to it than that. A classic has a timeless elegance that feels so right, you can’t quite imagine the world without it.

Think Breton stripes, little black dresses, Hemingway’s novels, the Barcelona chair, Frank Sinatra’s velvet vocals and the Manhattan, Old Fashioned or Negroni – the LBDs of the cocktail world.

Here in Vancouver, you might think the cocktail scene is too young to have inspired any classics. You’d be wrong. Here are some of the city’s signature sips.

Recipes, The Alchemist

Gerard

August 25, 2017 No Comments

This drink is perfect for sipping while you sit beside the fireplace on a leather couch and reminisce.

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 oz (45 mL) Macallan Gold whisky
0.5 oz (15 mL) maraschino liqueur
0.25 oz (7 mL) Fernet Branca
3 dashes Bittered Sling Suius Cherry

METHOD:
Combine all ingredients and stir in a mixing glass with ice for 20 seconds. Strain mixture into an Old Fashioned glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a cherry. Serves 1.

Recipes, The Alchemist

Avocado Gimlet

August 25, 2017 No Comments

Inspired by a visit to Mexico, Shaun Layton infused gin with olives and rosemary, mixed it with avocado and created a West Coast classic.

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 oz (45 mL) olive and rosemary-infused Beefeater Gin (see note)
0.5 oz (15 mL) Lillet Blanc
1 oz (30 mL) fresh lime juice
0.75 oz (22 mL) simple syrup
1/4 fresh avocado, flesh only

METHOD:
Combine all ingredients into a shaker tin and fill with ice. Give it a good, long, hard shake to make sure the avocado blends into the cocktail. Double-strain with a slightly bigger mesh strainer into a large coupe glass. Serves 1.

Recipes, The Alchemist

Horseradish Sour

August 25, 2017 No Comments

Josh Pape’s Horseradish Sour features a crisp tartness balanced with an umami-rich profile that goes exceptionally well with oysters and steak.

INGREDIENTS:
1 tsp (5 mL) creamed horseradish
2 oz (60 mL) Beefeater London Dry Gin
1 oz (30 mL) lemon juice
0.5 oz (15 mL) honey syrup (1:1; see note)
1 egg white

METHOD:
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail tin and shake vigorously. Fine strain into a chilled cocktail coupe glass. Garnish with finely cracked black pepper. Serves 1.

Recipes, The Alchemist

Chartreuse Milkshake

August 25, 2017 No Comments

Crushable, complex and refreshing.

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 oz (45 mL) Tanqueray No. TEN Gin
0.5 oz (15 mL) Green Chartreuse
0.5 oz (15 mL) crème de cacao (chocolate liqueur)
0.75 oz (22 mL) orange juice
0.75 oz (22 mL) lime juice
0.25 oz (bar spoon) simple syrup (see note)
2 dashes Bittered Sling Malagasy Chocolate bitters
1 egg white

METHOD:
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail and dry shake (without ice) to emulsify egg white. Add ice to the shaker and shake vigorously for 10 to 15 seconds until well chilled and diluted. Pour into a tall Collins glass over fresh ice and garnish with crushed cacao nibs. Serves 1.

Recipes, The Alchemist

Classic Mint Julep

August 18, 2017 No Comments

With its mountain of crushed ice, the mint julep is one drink that cries out for a straw, and a reusable glass one allows for the purest taste of bourbon and mint. In fact, it was because he didn’t like the way rye grass made his mint juleps taste that an American inventor named Marvin C. Stone created the first paper straws, back in the late 19th century.

The Alchemist

Vancouver bartenders aim to ditch plastic straws

August 18, 2017 No Comments

A busy bar can easily go through 10,000 plastic straws a month. Istockphoto.com photo

It might not actually be the very last straw, but Gerry Jobe hopes it’ll come awfully close.

The Alchemist

B.C.’s gold medal gin: Central City strikes award-winning balance with Queensborough

August 11, 2017 No Comments

Here’s a local spirit to add a tonic to your liquor cabinet

Christos Kalaitzis, mixologist and spirits brand ambassador (left), and Stuart McKinnon, head distiller at Surrey’s Central City Brewers + Distillers, showcase their award-winning Queensborough Gin and Double Gold Gin cocktail. Central City Brewers & Distillers photo

British Columbia’s artisan gins are in a tricky place.

Some are interesting, but not exactly delicious. Some taste good, but aren’t exciting enough to warrant the high price tag that the difficulty of making local hooch demands. Some have such powerful cereal notes you know the distiller really wants to be making whisky instead. Some taste like perfume, others like vodka.

And then there’s Queensborough gin from Surrey’s Central City Brewers + Distillers.

Recipes, The Alchemist

Queensborough Gin “Double Gold” Cocktail

August 11, 2017 No Comments

The Queensborough Double Gold Gin cocktail. Central City Brewers & Distillers photo

Christos Kalaitzis, brand ambassador and mixologist for Central City Brewers + Distillers, created this cocktail to celebrate their gin winning double gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 oz (45 mL) Queensborough gin
0.5 oz (15 mL) dry vermouth
1 oz (30 mL) maple syrup
3 dashes aromatic bitters
3 mint leaves
Ginger ale

METHOD:
Place all ingredients except ginger ale in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Double strain into a wine glass, add fresh ice and top up with ginger ale. Garnish with cinnamon stick and mint sprig. Serves 1.

The Alchemist

The sweet seduction of salt

August 3, 2017 No Comments

Vij’s bartender Olivia Povarchook putting the (salty) finishing touches on a Smoking Dog. Dan Toulgoet photo

As we get set to celebrate BC Day on Aug. 7, let’s raise a glass to the province’s greatest unsung local ingredient, the one that can transform our cocktails from ordinary to sublime: Salt.

Throughout history, this tasty and essential mineral has been used as a currency, a preservative and a flavour enhancer. Wars have been fought over the stuff. And there’s a whole ocean of it right on our doorstep.

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Vancouver’s classic cocktails

Gerard

This drink is perfect for sipping while you sit beside the fireplace on a leather couch and reminisce.

Avocado Gimlet

Inspired by a visit to Mexico, Shaun Layton infused gin with olives and rosemary, mixed it with avocado and created a West Coast classic.

Horseradish Sour

Josh Pape’s Horseradish Sour features a crisp tartness balanced with an umami-rich profile that goes exceptionally well with oysters and steak.

Chartreuse Milkshake

Crushable, complex and refreshing.

Classic Mint Julep

Vancouver bartenders aim to ditch plastic straws

B.C.’s gold medal gin: Central City strikes award-winning balance with Queensborough

Here’s a local spirit to add a tonic to your liquor cabinet

Queensborough Gin “Double Gold” Cocktail

Christos Kalaitzis, brand ambassador and mixologist for Central City Brewers + Distillers, created this cocktail to celebrate their gin winning double gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

The sweet seduction of salt

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