B.C.'s only magazine dedicated to local distilleries and cocktail culture.
Ryan Reynolds appreciates the work our bartenders do. As the Vancouver-born Deadpool actor tweeted last week, “In fairness, I wouldn’t be the father I am today without bartenders.”
Now he’s returning the love.
“This is just what we do,” says Trevor Kallies, president of the B.C. chapter of the Canadian Bartender Association and the creative force behind one of Vancouver’s most dynamic cocktail events. “This” isn’t just making great drinks, although it’s that, too. Mostly, though, it’s coming together to help those who need it most.
The theme of this year’s Vancouver Pride Parade is “50 Years and Still Fighting” and with many across the city and region set to join in the celebration on West End streets, there are venues across Vancouver that are stepping up to raise awareness and money for Pride-related causes.
The Mackenzie Room has rallied together eight other restaurants for a week-long joint-effort cocktail fundraiser to align with Pride – and being a great ally is the fitting theme.
• 2 oz Absolut vodka OR Seedlip Garden 108
• 1 dash Tabasco hot sauce
• 1 dash Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
• Top with Walter Caesar Mix
Garnish:
• Celery salt rim
• Skewer of Castelvetrano olive, pickled onion and cucumber spear
• 1 lime wedge
• Sprig of rosemary and thyme
• 60ml Absolut vodka
• 30ml Kahlua
• 45ml Cold Brew concentrate* (espresso from home machine easy substitute)
• 3 dash Fee Brothers Black Walnut bitters
• 15ml simple syrup
• 30ml Beefeater Gin
• 30ml Southern Comfort
• 30ml cranberry shrub*
• 120ml cranberry juice
• 30ml The Glenlivet Founders Reserve
• 10ml rich demerara syrup (2:1)*
• 120ml coffee
• 15ml coconut whip*
• Toasted coconut shavings
With a puff of dry ice, the 2018 edition of Science of Cocktails has proven once again that physics, chemistry and thermodynamics are as important in your glass as the spirits and bitters.
Bartenders from all over Vancouver, as well as Calgary, Toronto, Halifax and Las Vegas, headed over to Science World last week to put their skills to the acid test.
Your morning cup of coffee may perk you up nicely, but that same java is more than ready to do the same for your cocktail hour. Forget the drip-filled wine glass containing a shot of Bushmills or Tia Maria, loaded with sugar, and covered with a slick of whipped cream from a can. And step back from the classic, yet oh-so-1980s, Espresso Martini. Coffee cocktails have upped their game.
And what’s behind this fashionable return? It’s all about that barista favourite, cold brew.
Leading the beverage program at the Donnelly Group keeps Trevor Kallies on his toes.
With responsibility for lists across the group’s pubs, cocktail taverns and nightclubs, his 15 years of experience behind the bar—10 as a serious cocktail contender—are invaluable.