cocktail culture

New podcast explores the secret world of “bartender handshake” drinks through a Canadian lens

November 28, 2023 No Comments

Photo courtesy of The Blackbird podcast.

If you’ve ever seen, or taken part in, a round of welcome shots offered to insiders at a mixology-forward bar, you’re already familiar with the bartender handshake.

The cocktail renaissance of the last 20-some years spurred the tradition of bartenders pouring a little something (often something unknown or slightly unpalatable to the general drinking public) for visiting colleagues. To enter a bar and receive a so-called bartender handshake drink is like being part of a secret society. Global trends started this way, as uber-local greetings: San Francisco bartenders were pouring handshake shots of Fernet-Branca 20 years ago, and Chicago has cornered the market on ultra-bitter Malort. There’s even a world-ranked bar in Mexico city called (wait for it…) Handshake, which has a menu of little welcome snack-tails.

The Alchemist

Weekend Getaway: Denver’s 3 Best Drink Districts

July 28, 2022 No Comments

The Deviation Distilling space was formerly a firehouse. Reece Sims photo

If you’re someone who frequents Gastown, wears oversized glasses ironically, has at least a half sleeve of tattoos, or simply possesses a potent appreciation for craft cocktails, then Denver, Colorado is a must-visit destination.

Just a quick 2 hour 45 minute direct flight from Vancouver, the Mile-High City has become a haven for hipsters. Here we explore three of the most delicious neighbourhoods in this up-and-coming cocktail destination.

Guides

Where to drink right now in New York City

July 26, 2022 No Comments

10 bars to check out in the city that never sleeps

A White Negroni paired with shrimp cocktail at the Panorama Room. Charlene Rooke photo

Though there’s a bar on virtually every downtown street in New York, we recently hit some old favourites and some new essentials, to help guide your next drinking safari to the Big Apple.

Features

2010

May 15, 2020 No Comments

Looking back at the year that changed Vancouver’s cocktail culture

The Olympic flame isn’t the only legacy of 2010—so is Vancouver’s vibrant cocktail scene. Istockphoto.com photo

When Vancouverites look back at 2010, we think of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, a rain-soaked Wayne Gretzky and all those red mittens. But the really big news that year could be found at the bottom of a cocktail glass.

Proper cocktail bars were finally opening all over town. Global spirits brand reps started showing up to dole out samples. The organizers of Tales of the Cocktail reached out to see if Vancouver would be a good site for Tales on Tour. (Spoiler alert: Yes, in 2011 and 2012.) And Imbibe magazine discovered “a Galapagos of mixology, a place where cocktails have evolved independently from the rest of the drinking world.”

Ten years later, we revisit the year that changed the city’s cocktail culture.

The Alchemist

The Alchemist is hiring!

October 30, 2019 No Comments

Are you passionate about the local cocktail, wine and craft beer scene? Are you energetic, on-trend and have a positive attitude? Is your ambition to work hard, make money and have fun? Perfect, because we want to hire you!

The Alchemist

9 Vancouver restaurants band together for week-long Pride cocktail fundraiser

July 29, 2019 No Comments

The Mackenzie Room has rallied several Vancouver restaurants together for a week-long Pride cocktail fundraiser. Photo by Katie Cross Photography/courtesy The Mackenzie Room

The theme of this year’s Vancouver Pride Parade is “50 Years and Still Fighting” and with many across the city and region set to join in the celebration on West End streets, there are venues across Vancouver that are stepping up to raise awareness and money for Pride-related causes.

The Mackenzie Room has rallied together eight other restaurants for a week-long joint-effort cocktail fundraiser to align with Pride – and being a great ally is the fitting theme.

The Alchemist

Botanist wins Bols Around the World

June 19, 2019 No Comments

The Fairmont Pacific Rim team cleans up at the global competition

The Botanist Bar team was crowned 2019 ‘BOLS AROUND THE WORLD’ World’s Best Bar Team! From left, Grant Sceney, Jeff Savage and Max Curzon-Price. Botanist Bar photo/Facebook

Another day, another global win for Botanist Bar. Bartenders Grant Sceney, Jeff Savage and Max Curzon-Price have just been crowned the “Bols Around the World” bar team of the year.

The Alchemist

Jeff Savage Crowned World Class Canada Bartender of 2019

June 5, 2019 No Comments

The Botanist head bartender wins the Diageo World Class Canada title in Whistler

Jeff Savage, Canada’s Bartender of the Year 2019, hoists his trophy atop Whistler Mountain. Colin Fox photo

Jeff Savage is standing on top of the world. Literally.

On June 4, after three days of competition that took the finalists on a cocktail-themed scavenger hunt, through world history and deep into the spirit of the mountains, the head bartender of Vancouver’s Botanist Bar won the Diageo World Class Canada final in Whistler, B.C.

Hey Bartender

Hey, Bartender

May 31, 2019 No Comments

Thoughts from behind the wood: Why bartending should be social, not social media

Bartenders are not in the business of making drinks. We are in the business of servicing the needs of human beings. Full stop.

It’s been said that we trained bartenders in the art of mixology and along the way we lost the art of bartending. But in the debate of bartender vs. mixologist, the end goal of both was essentially the same: Be better, be more knowledgeable, provide better experiences, work in better places. I believe both sides would agree that it is unbecoming of a barkeep to seek prestige by any other means than hard work and education.

Features

Tropical dreams

April 19, 2019 No Comments

Tiki is back in Vancouver. Why did it ever go away?

Tiki culture is a liquid ticket to an imaginary tropical island where the breeze is always warm, the music sways like the branches of a palm tree, and the rum flows as easily as the waves that wash up on a sandy beach.

Tiki originated in California in 1933, but exploded in popularity after the Second World War. It was inspired by the romance of the South Pacific, the culture of Polynesia, the flavours of Asia and the rum punches of the Caribbean, making it the ultimate fusion cocktail experience, served in a kitschy-cool Hollywood-ready vessel to a market that was weary of war and ready to party.