Pisco Punch

Pisco Punch. Getty Images photo

A twist on the classic from bartender David Wolowidnyk, Acquafarina.

• 2 oz Barsol Pisco – Quebranta

• 1.5 oz fresh pineapple juice

• 0.75 oz fresh lemon juice

• 0.5 oz orgeat (almond syrup)

• Garnish: pineapple slice

Continue Reading

May Flowers

May Flowers. Tolu Olaku photo

For the month of May, the Chickadee Room decided to bring attention to Cystic Fibrosis Canada with its “Cocktail for a Cause,” May Flowers, created by bartender Sierra Knight.

• 1 oz Grand Marnier 

• 0.75 oz pisco 

• 0.5 oz Amaro Montenegro 

• 0.33 oz fino sherry 

• 0.75 oz lemon juice 

• 1 dash Bittered Sling Orange & Juniper Bitters

• Garnish: grapefruit peel, rosebuds, dehydrated grapefruit

Continue Reading

La Granada Cocktail

La Granada Cocktail and D/6 Bar & Lounge

At D/6 Bar & Lounge, manager Tianna Brammer combines her appreciation for tequila and lemonade in this elegant drink.

Campari-pomegranate ice cube:

• 0.5 oz Campari
• 0.5 oz pomegranate juice
• 3 oz water

Cocktail:

• 1 oz Volcan blanco tequila
0.25 oz pisco
• 0.5 oz orgeat
• 0.5 oz citric acid
• Garnish: dehydrated lemon slice, pomegranate seeds

Continue Reading

In Bloom

In Bloom, created by Jeff Savage of Botanist. Dan Toulgoet photo

Created by Jeff Savage, head bartender at the Fairmont Pacific Rim, this cocktail captures all the berry bright, delicately floral flavours of summer. Note that you will need an electronic scale to measure the ingredients for the sherbet.

• 1.5 oz raspberry-infused pisco (see note)
• 0.5 oz Aperol
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 0.5 oz Grapefruit and Rose Sherbet (see recipe below)

Continue Reading

Post Opium Daiquiri

Post Opium Daiquiri. Andrew Kong photo

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

Continue Reading

The Pachamama

The Pachamama Cocktail by Katie Ingram. Lou Lou Childs photo.

An ode to Mother Nature

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 oz El Gobernador Pisco
0.25 oz Amaro Nonino
0.25 oz Giffard Elderflower Liqueur
0.75 oz lemon juice
2 dashes of Bittered Sling Western Haskap bitters

METHOD:
Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake. Double strain into a chilled, small coupe. Garnish with a dehydrated rose.

­—by Katie Ingram

Read more about pisco and the Pachamama Cocktail.

Pisco Fever

The South American grape brandy offers bartenders so much more than a simple sour

Katie Ingram, head bartender at L’Abbatoir. Lou Lou Childs photo.

Katie Ingram is a sucker for history. The head bartender of Gastown’s L’Abbatoir is talking pisco, the South American spirit that shows up in sours the world over, and in no time at all, she’s taken us right back to the Ice Age.

Continue Reading

Liquid Sunshine

Brad Stanton’s Liquid Sunshine. Dan Toulgoet photo

Recipe by Brad Stanton, head bartender at Prohibition in the Rosewood Hotel Georgia.

• 2 oz (60 mL) pisco, preferably Encanto
• ¾ oz (20 mL) cantaloupe juice
• 2 tsp (10 mL) lemon juice
• 2 tsp (10 mL) orange juice
• 4 to 5 fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 oz (15 mL) maple syrup

Continue Reading