When only the original will do.
• 1 oz gin
• 1 oz sweet vermouth
• 1 oz Campari
Place all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with an orange twist.
A classic Negroni
The Cosmopolitan
John Burns, our man at the bar, reveals the not-so-guilty pleasures of drinking alone
A man walks into a bar. He’s alone; it’s the same old story. Maybe he’s looking for company, or to get out of that hotel and watch the game, or just to unwind. So he orders a drink and it’s the right drink and it’s made well. He takes a breath, a sip. A breath, a sip.
Even in the age of 24/7 social check-ins and check-outs, it’s still possible to head to a bar and just…be. It’s one of my signal pleasures when I travel, which I do often for work. (I’m writing this on a plane now as it happens, en route to a bar.) After a wall of meetings, I want some alone time, but not alone alone. Follow? I want bustle around me but stillness within—perhaps that’s one definition of the right cocktail at the right spot.
Exactly a year ago, I was sitting in Munich’s Haus der Kunst, the gallery Hitler built to glorify Nazi art. On the main floor of that austere relic is one of the city’s best watering holes. There’s something both seedy and worldly about the Goldene Bar. Rattan chairs cluster conspiratorially around tables onto which fat candles slowly melt. Servers are friendly, children come and go, everyone’s wearing scarves and exactly nobody glances at the walls and their patently racist gilt paintings (original, from the ’30s) depicting the countries of the spirits served. It’s voyeur heaven, made perfect by a Cosmopolitan jolted by local bitters and (a quirky touch) a shot of Munich’s famed helles beer.
Okanagan Crush Pad
The Summerland winery makes two expressions of gin (one of them for Vij’s restaurant), and a grappa-style spirit.
16576 Fosbery Rd., Summerland
250-494-4445
okanagancrushpad.com
Read more about Okanagan Crush Pad:
• Harvest vine: Canada’s first custom crush facility moves into spirits
• Funky Town: Could B.C.’s new spirits inspire a truly West Coast cocktail culture?
PRODUCTS:
• Narrative Spirit of the Vineyard
• Narrative Twelve Botanicals Gin
• Narrative Fortified
TASTING NOTES:
Narrative Spirit of the Vineyard
FRAGRANCE: Fresh, white petals.
FLAVOUR: Pears, Gewurtztraminer.
FEEL: Lush, creamy, round.
FINISH: Dry with long pepper.
BEST ENJOYED: Neat, or subbed in for the vodka in a Vesper.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Approachable—for a grappa. —Josh Pape, April 2016
Narrative Twelve Botanicals Gin
FRAGRANCE: Raisin and orange peel.
FLAVOUR: Citrus and floral.
FEEL: Pronounced sweetness.
FINISH: White pepper spice.
BEST ENJOYED: In a gin Martini
THE BOTTOM LINE: Grape spirit gives a fruity backbone, chamomile and lemongrass really shine through. —Robyn Gray, July 2016
Bohemian Spirits
Using botanicals foraged in the mountains around Kimberley, Bohemian produces small-batch hand-crafted vodka and gin.
417A 304 St., Kimberley
BohemianSprits.com
PRODUCTS:
• Vagabond Vodka
• Limited Gin
• Colossal Gin
• Eclipse Coffee Liqueur
• Forester Single Malt Oak Aged Gin
• Harmony Herbal Liqueur
• Hearth Cherry Apple Liqueur
• Honeycomb Cream Liqueur
• Rose Rhubarb Ginger Gin Liqueur
• Single Grain Red Fife Wheat Whisky
• bottled cocktails
TASTING NOTES:
Limited Gin
FRAGRANCE: Pine, woodsy, pepper.
FLAVOUR: Sweet and herbaceous.
FEEL: Creamy, balanced.
FINISH: A touch hot, dry.
BEST ENJOYED: Martini on the rocks.
THE BOTTOM LINE: A bold and full flavored gin. —Josh Pape, April 2016
Vagabond Vodka
FRAGRANCE: Subtle spice.
FLAVOUR: Sweet and spicy.
FEEL: Lightly tickling.
FINISH: White peppercorn.
BEST ENJOYED: In a Caesar.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Spicy vodka perfect for a Bloody Mary or a Caesar. —Robyn Gray, July 2016
Forester Single Malt Oak Aged Gin
FRAGRANCE: Wood on the nose.
FLAVOUR: Caramel and light vanilla, botanicals slightly hidden.
FEEL: Has a slight heaviness to it, likely due to the barrel.
FINISH: Long and creamy. Definitely not a gin for traditional types.
BEST ENJOYED: Store in the freezer and serve with some lemon zest.
THE BOTTOM LINE: A fun, oak-aged gin. —Trevor Kallies, July 2017
Eclipse Coffee Liqueur
FRAGRANCE: Bright coffee, cherry and bitter chocolate.
FLAVOUR: Rounded, deep, rich, sweet coffee.
FEEL: Viscous and mouth coating.
FINISH: Lasting, balanced, bittersweet coffee.
BEST ENJOYED: Caucasian, a.k.a. White Russian.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Beautiful balance of bitter and sweet allows for a great take on your favourite coffee liqueur cocktails. —Robyn Gray, October 2017
Urban Legend
How one Okanagan man’s hobby became a serious business
Mike Urban had a booze habit. Making it, that is. After tinkering with homemade beer and wine, he felt that the next logical step could be distilling.
Delta Rising
At G&W Distilling, Stephen Goodridge has big plans
Stephen Goodridge built G&W Distilling’s Delta-based distillery himself. From scratch.
“I’m a mechanical engineer by training. I wanted to do it myself,” he says, as if nothing could be easier.
Gin Tonic
Long Table, Vancouver’s original micro distillery, is fuelled by passion.
Charles Tremewen loves gin. So much so, he hocked his house to start making it himself. He launched Vancouver’s first micro distillery, Long Table, in February 2013, and hasn’t looked back.
The Burrard Gimlet
A fresh twist on a classic
INGREDIENTS:
1.5 oz Gillespie’s Sin Gin
0.5 oz Green Chartreuse
0.5 oz wildflower honey water (1:1 ratio)
0.75 oz fresh lime juice
3 dashes Bittered Sling Lem-Marrakech Bitters
1 pinch Vancouver Island Sea Salt
Mist of Okanagan Spirits Taboo Absinthe
METHOD:
Combine all ingredients (minus Taboo Absinthe) in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake vigorously for 15 seconds and fine strain to a half-rimmed Vancouver Island Sea Salt cocktail glass. Using an atomizer or mister, spray a fine amount of absinthe over the glass for aromatics. Garnish with a lime twist.
Blue Fig
Chambar’s Blue Fig has become a Vancouver classic
INGREDIENTS:
2 oz roasted fig-infused gin
Dash of simple syrup
Blue cheese to taste
METHOD:
Add infused gin and simple syrup to a mixing glass filled with ice and stir. Strain into a chilled coupe or Martini glass and serve with a side of blue cheese.
To make fig gin: Slice four roasted figs and add to a bottle of gin. Rest 48 hours and strain through cheesecloth.
Vancouver Cocktail
The Sylvia Hotel’s signature cocktail was created in 1954.
INGREDIENTS:
1.5 oz London Dry style gin such as Victoria Gin or Long Table Gin
0.75 oz sweet vermouth such as Punte E Mes or Odd Society Bittersweet Vermouth
0.25 oz or “a good splash” of Benedictine liqueur
2 dashes of orange bitters
METHOD:
Place all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice and stir well. Strain into a chilled Martini glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon peel.