Recipe by Jenn Abergel of Toronto’s Quench Bar.
1 oz Glenlivet Caribbean Reserve
1 oz Fernet-Branca
1 oz Dolin sweet vermouth
0.5 oz Amaro Cinpatrazzo
Garnish: Luxardo cherry
Rob Roy Visits Toronto
Douglas Fir
Find this signature cocktail at the D/6 Bar and Lounge at Parq Vancouver.
• 1.5 oz Douglas Fir-Infused Gin from Yaletown Distillery
• 0.5 oz Cointreau
• 0.5 oz dry vermouth
• 0.5 oz sweet vermouth
• 3 drops of Bittered Sling Orange Juniper bitters
Stir ingredients over ice. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a dehydrated orange slice and a Douglas fir tip. Serves 1.
Big-Batch Negroni
Free up your party time by bottling up these Negronis in advance of your next party. Once bottled and properly sealed, these will keep for about one month.
• 2 cups gin
• 2 cups Campari
• 2 cups sweet vermouth
• 2 cups water
Combine ingredients in a large pitcher. Stir, pour into small bottles, seal, label and refrigerate or stash in ice.
Hanky Panky
This classic cocktail was created by Ada Coleman, circa 1903, London.
• 1 oz Beefeater London Dry Gin
• 1 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino (or other sweet vermouth)
• 2 dashes Fernet Branca
Chill a coupe glass with water and ice. In a mixing glass, add ingredients with ice and stir gently for about 20 seconds. Strain into the coupe and garnish with a slice of orange peel. Serves 1.
Salted Caramel Rob Roy
The Rob Roy was created in 1894 at Manhattan’s Waldorf Astoria; at Central City, bartender Christos Kalaitzis created this salty-sweet version that won the Canadian Art of the Cocktail competition in 2017.
INGREDIENTS:
• 1 oz Lohin Mckinnon single malt
• 1 oz sweet vermouth
• 0.5 oz salted caramel sauce (see recipe below)
• 2 dashes rosemary bitters
• Garnish: Orange zest
The Last Word: A classic Bronx
“The important thing is the rhythm. Always have rhythm in your shaking. Now a Manhattan you shake to foxtrot time, a Bronx to two-step time, but a dry martini you always shake to waltz time.”
—Nick Charles (William Powell) covers the essentials in the 1934 classic movie The Thin Man.
A Mari Usque Ad Mare
Inspired by the Canadian motto, meaning “Sea to Sea,” L’Abattoir head bartender Katie Ingram updated the classic Vieux Carré cocktail with luxe flavours from east and west coasts, including rum, rye and bitters made from Okanagan haskap berries and sour cherries.
INGREDIENTS:
• 0.75 oz (22 mL) Ron Zacapa Centenario Sistema Solera 23 Rum
• 0.75 oz (22 mL) Crown Royal XO
• 0.75 oz (22 mL) sweet vermouth
• 0.25 oz (7 mL) Bénédictine or B&B
• Two dashes Bittered Sling Suius Cherry Bitters
• Two dashes Bittered Sling Western Haskap Bitters
Watermelon Negroni
This refreshing summertime recipe from Josh Pape at Wildebeest balances the bitterness of Campari with a splash of simple syrup, which keeps the texture consistent. It’s designed for one portion; if you’re serving more, just multiply the ingredients by the number of servings. But remember, you’ll also need about 1 cup (250 mL) ice per serving, so make sure everything fits into your blender.
• 0.75 oz (20 mL) Beefeater gin
• 0.75 oz (20 mL) Campari
• 0.75 oz (20 mL) Cinzano Rosso
• 0.5 oz (15 mL) simple syrup (see note)
• 3 x 1.5-inch (3 cm) cubes of watermelon
Place ½ cup (125 mL) cracked ice into the blender with the watermelon and simple syrup. Blend until smooth.
Add the other ingredients and another ½ cup (125 mL) of ice. Blend for 45 seconds and pour into a fancy glass (or a plastic cup).
Garnish with a slice of watermelon. Serves 1.
—By Josh Pape
Slush fun with frozen cocktails
Who hasn’t wasted a hot summer afternoon knocking back frozen margaritas on a sunny patio somewhere? It’s almost a rite of passage. But it isn’t, generally speaking, a quality drinking experience.
Or at least it didn’t used to be.
The Last Word: A Classic Manhattan
“We have some bourbon, let’s make Manhattans!”
—Marilyn Monroe as Sugar Kane gets the party started, mixing cocktails in a hot water bottle in Billy Wilder’s classic comedy, Some Like It Hot.