cocktail culture

Golden Oldie

January 15, 2018 No Comments

The name may sound dated, but the Old Fashioned remains a classic for a reason. The Alchemist asked Sabrine Dhaliwal, Bar Manager at Uva, to let us in on its secrets.

Sabrine Dhaliwal stirs up a classic. Dan Toulgoet photo.

The Old Fashioned is amazing — simple and complex at the same time. On paper it is minimal — spirit, bitters, sugar and water (via the dilution of ice) — but what is critical for an Old Fashioned is getting that balance right. You get the balance right, you have a beautiful cocktail, but if you don’t, there’s nowhere to hide. The fewer the ingredients in a cocktail, the more skill needed to make it.

The Cosmopolitan

December 7, 2017 No Comments

Our man at the bar, John Burns, savours a Southside as he mulls the value of drinking local

Barstools are for boasting. And when you’re alone, they’re for wool-gathering, your privacy on public display. Random thoughts assail you — unless you’re just there to watch the game, which is fine but for the purposes of this column let’s assume no high-def.

I’m at a bar now, in fact, just me and no TV, making notes on napkins the way you do. This is not unusual. Over the last 18 months I’ve warmed my share of seats, and I’ve written about some of the highlights in these pages, usually from notes on the backs of napkins very like this one. Those 18 months happen to have included a fair amount of travel, and so the cocktails I’ve described have often gone down in other cities, in bars very like this one.

Features

Class rules

November 27, 2017 No Comments

Canada’s Diageo World Class success has much to do with national program to educate and inspire bartenders

Kaitlyn Stewart wins the Diageo World Class competition. Contributed photo

Vancouver made cocktail headlines around the world in August when Kaitlyn Stewart was named bartender of the year at the Diageo World Class competition.

The Royal Dinette bartender’s feat was extraordinary, topping a field of 56 mixologists from around the world during a gruelling four days of competition in Mexico City.

The Alchemist

November’s most ‘spirited’ events

November 10, 2017 No Comments

November is no one’s favourite month. It’s dark, cold, wet and gloomy, and it isn’t quitethe month that comes with presents. Maybe that’s why it’s such a great month for drinking. I mean, maybe that’s why it’s such a great month for new product releases and exciting social events, starting with these.

The Alchemist

A Cornucopia of cocktails in Whistler

November 3, 2017 No Comments

Savour the art of the shaken and stirred at the ski resort’s annual food and drink fest

Cocktails are served! This year’s Whistler Cornucopia event takes place Nov. 9-19. Darby Magill photo

If you think Whistler Cornucopia is just about wine, think again. Sure, there’s no shortage of Chardonnay, but the annual food-and-drink festival is also about beer, whisky and, above all, cocktails.

In fact, Whistler has generally become a great destination for cocktail lovers. As Mary Zinck, the manager of travel media for Tourism Whistler, says, “I don’t think there is a place that you can go where you can’t get a good drink.”

Home Bar, The Alchemist

39 bits of booze lingo every cocktail lover should know

October 27, 2017 No Comments

Your primer for the the lexicon of liquor

istockphoto.com/jacoblund photo

Cocktails have their own vocabulary, a richly evocative lingo that has evolved over the years from the barkeeps who sling the drinks, the customers who swill ’em and the scribes who take note of it all.

Here are some of the most useful expressions to know.

The Alchemist

Old Fashioned refashioned at Wildebeest

October 20, 2017 No Comments

Cocktail-forward restaurant serving nine new takes on the classic for its fifth birthday

Four of the nine variations on the Old Fashioned on the menu at Wildebeest, which include versions made with rum, gin, tequila and bacon bourbon. Wildebeest photo

The Old Fashioned is, arguably, the original cocktail, or at least, the whisky version of it.

The Alchemist

Sip your favourite movie as a cocktail with VIFF

September 28, 2017 No Comments

Lights! Camera! Cocktails!

The Winds of Arrakis ‘VIFFtail’ available at Long Table Distillery until Oct. 14, 2017. VIFF photo

Whether it’s the Big Lebowski’s White Russians, James Bond’s Vesper Martini or the French 75s Yvonne knocks back in Casablanca, there’s plenty to drink in when it comes to cocktails and the movies.

So when the Vancouver International Film Festival’s sponsorship manager Morgaine Jennings was looking for a fun new idea for the 2017 festival, which began Thursday, cocktails seemed like the perfect fit.

The Alchemist

Foxtrot Tango Whisky for the win

September 22, 2017 No Comments

Victoria’s new cocktail lounge evokes the cool retro vibe of 1950s Los Angeles

The new Foxtrot Tango Whisky bar at the Doubletree by Hilton Victoria. Foxtrot Tango Whisky photo

It’s the cool new cocktail lounge Vancouver has been waiting for. Too bad it’s all the way over there in Victoria.

Home Bar, The Alchemist

Drink in some education with fall’s best cocktail books

September 8, 2017 No Comments

School days, school days, dear old golden rule days – nope, don’t miss ’em.

But there’s still something about September that makes you want to learn something new. It’s even better if that something new has a boozy kick to it. So why not pick up one of the season’s new cocktail books and drink in some liquid education? Start with these spirited volumes.