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As an aspiring newcomer in the cocktail scene, Jason Cheung, born and raised in Vancouver, draws on his extensive training with mentors in some of the industry’s top bars.
His bar style is young and fresh, while still bringing you the traditional cocktails you know and love.
Currently at Boulevard as the assistant bar manager, he hopes to shake up the paradigm of traditional mixology and start a new generation in the industry.
Fa-la-la-la! It’s beginning to taste a lot like Christmas at The Cascade Room, where the holiday cocktails are merrily flowing.
Well, thank goodness that’s over. This past year was enough to drive a person to drink. Luckily, the city’s best bartenders know just what we’re craving right now and in the year ahead. Here are the top-five cocktail trends they say we’ll be enjoying in 2017. Cheers!
For bar manager Justin Taylor, a cocktail list should be, “fun, approachable, and unpretentious.”
After seven years at Yew Restaurant in the Four Seasons, Taylor took a short hop across town to take charge of the bar at Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar in the Sutton Place Hotel—jumping at the chance to build a drinks program from the ground up.
Putting together his signature list, Taylor decided to tell the story of Vancouver through cocktails: from the Lost Lagoon to the Van Dusen Sour, his creations are designed to take his customers on a journey.
“I’m like another concierge in the hotel,” he smiles. “And the conversation around the bar becomes organic. It’s a great way to introduce guests to what the city has to offer, and hopefully entice them to try something new. ”
For him, a new cocktail begins with a good name: “It’s always the name first—does it make sense? Then I hit on the spirit, and from there I build the rest of the components.”
He’s most proud of the Gerard—named after the Sutton Place’s iconic bar—called one of the 101 best new cocktails by world-renowned authority, Gary Regan. With an Islay Scotch base, the Gerard also boasts maraschino liqueur, Fernet-Branca and cherry bitters.
“It was challenging to build,” Taylor admits. “It’s hard to mix Islay whisky because the smokiness is so deep and strong.”
They may offer a way in to the city’s streets, but these are hardly pedestrian drinks: the Chief Skugaid—named for an infamous rum ship that ran out of Vancouver—utilizes forest tea tincture and chai and lavender-infused maple syrup; the savoury Chinook features dill, celery bitters and a toasted caper garnish.
Taylor’s dream is to take his list on the road.
“Imagine if we rented a trolley bus and mixed and served the cocktails as we hit each destination,” he grins. “Now, that would be cool.”
THIS POST IS SPONSORED BY:
Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar
845 Burrard Street, Vancouver • 604-642.2900
BoulevardVancouver.ca