cocktail culture

Finalists ready to fight for Diageo World Class Canada 2019 title

April 5, 2019 No Comments

The top ten Diageo World Class Canada finalists will be competing in the national finals in June. Photo courtesy of Diageo World Class Canada

Since Canada entered the Diageo World Class competition in 2013, our bartenders have punched far above their weight, consistently place in the top 12 worldwide.

Moreover, Lauren Mote, who won the national title in 2015, is now Diageo’s Global Cocktailian, and in 2017,

Vancouver’s Kaitlyn Stewart won the whole thing, beating bartenders from nearly 60 countries to become Global Bartender of the Year.

So there’s no pressure at all on this year’s regional winners, who are heading to the National Final in June (details to be announced later).

The Alchemist

Artisanal sprits showcased at BC Distilled

April 3, 2019 No Comments

Amaro. Akvavit. Absinthe. Amaretto. And that’s just the As of B.C. artisan distilling. Just imagine what the rest of the alphabet can produce.

Actually, you don’t have to, because you can try them all for yourself at BC Distilled this weekend.

Bar Bites, On the Town

Science of Cocktails makes science both delicious and accessible

March 14, 2019 No Comments

Amber Bruce won the cocktail competition for her riff on a Manhattan. Photo by Isabella Sarmiento for Science of Cocktails

There was ice and fire, CO² and NO², test tubes and copper tubing and all sorts of mysterious gadgets. Most of all, there was great food and drink in support of an even greater cause.

The city’s top bartenders gathered in February at Telus World of Science for the fourth annual Science of Cocktails event, where they demonstrated the myriad ways science contributes to cocktail culture.

The Alchemist

These 38 artisan distillers will raise your spirits at BC Distilled 2019

February 14, 2019 No Comments

Over three dozen of the province’s artisan distilleries will be pouring it on this April at the sixth-annual BC Distilled.

Taking place on April 6, this premiere spirits event brings together B.C.’s craft spirits creators for a fantastic tasting event, where enjoying each and every sip is wholly encouraged.

The Bon Vivant

February 8, 2019 No Comments

Our man-about-town discovers that taking a seat at the bar is a social act, even for the solo sipper

Earlier this year, for no apparent reason, multiple stories were published about the stigma of eating in a restaurant alone, each of them offering counsel as to why no one should feel self-conscious for doing so. I appreciate these pieces having been written, but I don’t understand why they need to exist.

I’ve never felt self-conscious about dining solo. I’d argue, in fact, that it’s often a superior experience to dining as part of a couple or a group. Without the pressures or distraction of conversation, one can fully appreciate a meal, consume it at a preferred pace, and get lost in a book or people-watching or whatever private reveries help the mind relax and the heart sing.

The Alchemist

Science of Cocktails event offers drinks that will have you completely spellbound

January 21, 2019 No Comments

While there will be a multitude of alcoholic beverages on the menu, this annual event is a far cry from the average cocktail party.

The Science of Cocktails at the Telus World of Science offers a unique opportunity to see some of the industry’s most passionate mixologists work their alchemy on classic favourites as well as inspired new concoctions.

Bar Bites

Vancouver’s winning cocktail

November 5, 2018 No Comments

Another day, another competition under the belts of Vancouver’s extraordinary bartenders.

To chants of “Back to back!” on Thanksgiving weekend, Chris Enns of the Lobby Bar at the Fairmont Pacific Rim made it into the top-20 round at the Diageo Reserve World Class competition in Berlin. Australia’s Orlando Marzo took home the overall title this year, but Enns made it all the way to number eight in the world, with a trio of Vancouverites cheering him on—last year’s global winner, Kaitlyn Stewart of Royal Dinette, as well as previous World Class Canada winners Lauren Mote and Grant Sceney. “Until next time, friends,” Enns said on Facebook. “May your hearts be filled with love and your glasses filled with World Class cocktails.”

The Bon Vivant

August 17, 2018 No Comments

The patio scene isn’t for everyone, including our man about town

In many ways, I’ve always been hilariously unsuited to Vancouver, despite having lived here for the best part of 20 years. While I enjoy observing nature from the distant vantage point of a high-rise apartment, actually venturing into it makes me anxious and irritated. I look upon the lifestyle cults surrounding yoga, spinning and clamshell salads—ostensibly expressions of joyful living, yet deadly serious—as if they were the Republic of Gilead.

But what situates me permanently at the fringe of the party that is this city (this beautiful, very expensive party) is my habitual response to the arrival of summer. When everyone else rushes hysterically into the streets, as if drawn by the promise of eternal youth and free poké bowls, I draw the blinds and cower until nightfall.

I don’t want to be this person, but I have no choice: I’m a ginger.

Bar Bites

World class city

August 3, 2018 No Comments

Home Team cocktail. Photo courtesy of Chris Enns.

With Christopher Enns’ recent win in Montreal, that’s four times Vancouver bartenders have taken home the prestigious title of Diageo Reserve World Class Canada champion since the competition started in 2013.

Enns, who mans the shakers at the Fairmont Pacific Rim’s Lobby Lounge, also recently won the Woodford Reserve Manhattan challenge in New York. “It’s been very busy, that’s for sure,” he says.

Features

Being on brand

July 5, 2018 No Comments

Brand ambassadors have a huge influence on what and how we drink. But who are they, and what do they really do?

“There’s a pretty big spectrum of roles that are called ambassadors,” says Ryan Cheverie, the territory sales manager for Brown-Forman. Supplied photo

On any given day, Kevin Brownlee drops in at local bars and restaurants to visit with his bartender colleagues. In the evening, he’ll hit a nightclub or two, or hang out at an event like Dish ’n Dazzle. Or he’ll jet off to some exotic locale, Puerto Rico, say, or maybe Miami.

And he’s actually paid to do all this.