Lauren Mote

Here’s what the author of ‘A Bartender’s Guide to the World’ loves most about Vancouver

November 22, 2022 No Comments

“It feels like Vancouver’s still one of the best-kept secrets in the world,” says award-winning cocktail expert Lauren Mote.

Lauren Mote is the author of A Bartender’s Guide to the World, a new book released Oct. 25, 2022 that chronicles her global travels in the cocktail industry with recipes.Photo courtesy Penguin Random House Canada

When it comes to tips about enjoying cocktails in Vancouver, Lauren Mote is a bit of ringer.

The award-winning Canadian mixologist and author of the new book A Bartender’s Guide to the World actually called Vancouver home for several years, crafting cocktails at some of the city’s top spots and launching her business Bittered Sling with her husband, chef Jonathan Chovancek.

The Alchemist

A sweet win for Vancouver’s own Bitter Babe

July 29, 2022 No Comments

Lauren Mote honoured with Spirited Award for mentorship at Tales of the Cocktail

Lauren Mote was named Best International Bar Mentor at 2022’s Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans. Photo courtesy of Tales of the Cocktail.

To Vancouverites, Lauren Mote may be best known as the co-founder of Bittered Sling Bitters and, for a while at least, a vibrant presence behind some of the city’s best bars. But worldwide she is renowned for her work as a mentor, educator and driving force for a better, more inclusive cocktail world.

Now all her hard work and passion has been recognized by her peers at the annual Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans. On July 28, at the 16th Annual Spirited Awards, Mote was named Best International Bar Mentor.

The Alchemist

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).

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.”

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.

The Alchemist

From vermouth to high volume: Cocktail trends for 2018

December 29, 2017 No Comments

Some of Vancouver’s top bartenders give their thoughts on what’ll be hot next year

Glass straws will be seen more widely as bars strive toward more sustainable practices. The Last Straw Co. photo

Raise your glass to the end of 2017, a year that brought us one disaster after another, from raging wildfires to the near-daily perp walk of sexual predators. Between all that and the inescapability of frosé, it’s a year we’re mostly happy to forget.

And so we look forward to 2018. We checked in with some of the city’s top bartenders to discover what’s shaking for the New Year.

The Alchemist

It’s better with bitters

March 17, 2017 No Comments

Ms. Better’s Bitters Miraculous Foamer is a vegan substitute for egg whites in frothy drinks such as the Hotel Georgia cocktail. Tarquin Melnyk photo

It’s right there in the original description of a cocktail, dating back to 1806: “a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters – it is vulgarly called a bittered sling.”

In other words, bitters are what make a cocktail a cocktail. And that makes bitters an essential part of any home or professional bar.

Recipes, The Alchemist

Duke of Kidalton

January 20, 2017 No Comments

Lauren Mote’s Duke of Kildalton cocktail. Dan Toulgoet photo

This cocktail, created by Lauren Mote, celebrates the region of Kildalton, on the Scottish isle of Islay, home to the elegant but powerfully smoky Lagavulin 16-year single-malt whisky.

The Alchemist

Cocktails add finishing touch to Dine Out

January 20, 2017 No Comments

Award-winning bartender Lauren Mote hosts a series of spirits master classes and other special events during Dine Out Vancouver. Dan Toulgoet photo.

As everyone knows, cocktails make a good party even better – and this also applies to Dine Out Vancouver.

Features, Recipes

Loup-Garou

March 1, 2016 No Comments

French for ‘werewolf’ or ‘moondog’

INGREDIENTS:
• 1.5 oz Johnnie Walker Platinum Label Blended Scotch Whisky
• 0.5 oz Lagavulin 16-Year-Old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
• 0.75 oz Punt E Mes
• 0.25 oz Jagermeister Herbal Liqueur
• 2 dashes Bittered Sling Cascade Celery Bitters
• 2 dashes Bittered Sling Moondog Bitters
• 2 dashes Vancouver Island Smoked Sea Salt Water