Canada's only magazine dedicated to distillers, spirits and cocktail culture.
The Pink Lady, Pisco Sour and Ramos Gin Fizz have at least one thing in common: their frothy, silky top. The luscious foam traditionally comes from shaken egg whites, the flavourless, foamy ingredient lending the drinks a smooth and creamy texture.
Bartenders’ use of albumen is nothing new. Alongside the rise of contemporary cocktail culture, however, has been the growing trend of veganism.
• 1oz Victoria Oaken Gin
• 1oz Martini Bianco Vermouth
• 1oz Luxardo Bianco Bitters
• Ms. Better’s Quina Bitters
• Lemon Zest
Aficionados of Old Fashioneds are familiar with oversize-label bottles of Angostura, the classic aromatic bitters from Trinidad and Tobago that have made a million cocktails sing. Signature mixes of botanicals, often originally used as medicine, have earned famous bitters brands like Sazerac, Peychaud’s and Amargo Chunchon (for Pisco Sours) a place in the classic-cocktail canon.
The base:
• 1.5 oz Havana Club 3-year-old rum
• 1 oz Ms. Better’s passionfruit purée
• 0.5 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
• 0.5 oz Ms. Better’s demerara syrup
• 1 dash Ms. Better’s Lime Leaf Bitters
Forget the genie. Professional bartending expertise is captured in each bottle, can and jar of these B.C.-born cocktail mixers, which are often natural and preservative-free, too. To let loose your cocktail creativity, just add craft spirits.
Well, you get the picture. Wondering what to get the cocktail aficionado on your holiday list? Start right here.
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.
• 1 oz (30 mL) mezcal, preferably Siete Misterios
• 1 oz (30 mL) green Chartreuse
• 1 oz (30 mL) Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
• 1 oz (30 mL) fresh lime juice
• 2 dashes Ms. Better’s Green Strawberry Mah-Kwan bitters
After working for five years as a bartender on cruise ships, Tiffany Davis is well acquainted with the benefits of cocktail bitters.
“I went through so many bottles of Peychaud’s,” she laughs. “It was the best cure for seasickness.”
Now safely moored on dry land, as a bartender at the Shangri-La Hotel Vancouver’s Market by Jean-Georges, Davis still relies on bitters, but primarily for their cocktail applications.
• 1 fresh raspberry
• 1.5oz Odd Society Wallflower Gin
• 0.5oz Odd Society Crème de Cassis
• 0.5oz Odd Society Bittersweet Vermouth
• 1oz lemon juice
• 0.25oz simple syrup
• 2 dashes Szechuan pepper bitters
• 4 drops Ms. Better’s Bitters Miraculous Foamer