The Alchemist - Winter 2016

WINTER 2016

WARM UP

HOME BAR

SEA TO SKY

BOTTLE TALK

Put some fire in your glass

Festive recipes to impress your friends

Whistler’s best cocktail bars

B.C. listings and tasting notes

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1340 E. Hastings St. www.gourmetwarehouse.ca @GourmetWHouse @GourmetWarehouse

Contents 08 – LIGHT MY FIRE It’s time to revive our love of flaming cocktails

by Joanne Sasvari 14 – PRODIGAL SONS How Sons of Vancouver are riding the fast track to success

by Fiona Morrow

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Lou Lou Childs photo

20 – THE COSMOPOLITAN Our man at the bar ponders the Dickensian possibilities of warm beer

by John Burns

Lou Lou Childs photo

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24 – SEASONED GREETINGS Bitters are the bartender’s spice rack

by Alexandra Gill 31 – THE ALCHEMIST GUIDE TO WHISTLER COCKTAILS The best bars in B.C.’s premier mountain resort

by Nikki Bayley

39 – COOL YULE Impress your friends and family with homemade holiday cocktails

by Justin Taylor

Cover image: Lou Lou Childs

43 – LOVELY BUBBLY Why a Champagne cocktail never goes out of style

by Joanne Sasvari

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50 – SPIRITED GIFTS Local bartenders pick the B.C. spirits they most want to find in their Christmas stocking 54 – TUTTI FRUTTI Imperfect fruit gives Maple Leaf Spirits a sustainable edge

by Anya Levykh 60-72 – DISTILLERY LISTINGS With tasting notes from our panel of experts.

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Lou Lou Childs photo

Contributors

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Alexandra Gill is the Globe and Mail’s western restaurant critic and a freelance food and drinks writer for numerous publications.

She moved to Vancouver at the start of the city’s cocktail renaissance. No wonder she never left.

Nikki Bayley writes about spirits, cocktails, food and travel for a range of publications around the world, including the Diffordsguide. com, the Globe and Mail, The Australian, National Geographic Traveller and BC Living.

Anya Levykh is a food, drink and travel writer who covers all things ingestible.

She is a also an enthusiastic cocktail devotee and cookbook hoarder.

Roxanna Bikadoroff is an award-winning Vancouverbased artist whose illustrations have been published internationally for more than 25 years.

Joanne Sasvari is a Vancouverbased writer who covers food, drink and travel for a variety of publications, including a weekly drinks column for the Vancouver Sun.

John Burns has been writing about politics, culture and food for more than 25 years. In that time, he’s found most dishes and drinks a) too sweet, b) too salty, or c) both. Those rare times when things are just right please him, therefore, all the more.

Justin Taylor has been mixing it up behind the bars of Toronto and Vancouver for almost two decades. He is currently general manager of The Cascade Room in Vancouver.

Fred Fung photo

T

here’s nothing like the holidays for the perfect excuse to raise a glass of good cheer with friends and family — and if you can mix in a splash of local spirits, all the better. The breadth of specialized products offered by B.C. distilleries is dizzying, whether it’s akvavit or vermouth, eau de vie or liqueur. Add these to the roster of fine local gins, vodkas and emerging whiskeys, and the list of cocktails now available in iterations entirely made in B.C. grows daily.

In this issue we embrace winter: from flaming drinks to hot beer punches, from festive cocktail recipes to try at home to a history of that special occasion fizz, the Champagne cocktail. We investigate how to spice up your mixed drinks with bitters, and canvas local bartenders for their B.C. spirits Christmas wish list.

EDITOR: Fiona Morrow fmorrow@thealchemist.ca PUBLISHER: Gail Nugent gnugent@glaciermedia.ca DESIGN & PRODUCTION MANAGER: Tara Rafiq LISTINGS CO-ORDINATOR: Lucy-kate Armstrong CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Lou Lou Childs, Fred Fung, Lucy-kate Armstrong. @TheAlchemistBC @TheAlchemistMag

And we go to press with good news: B.C. bartenders can now legally create their own aged and infused spirits. We can’t wait to taste the results.

Published by: Glacier Community Media 303 West 5th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Y 1J6 604-742-8678

Cheers!

© The Alchemist 2016

Fiona Morrow, Editor

This issue is complimentary.

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Lou Lou Childs photo

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Light my fire FL AMES ADD FL AVOUR — AND DRAMA — TO FESTIVE CONCOCTIONS

by Joanne Sasvari

“

I

was just thinking of a Flaming Rum Punch,” says Clarence Odbody, the 293-year-old guardian angel in Frank Capra’s 1946 masterpiece It’s a Wonderful Life. But in this post-war dive bar all that’s on offer is “hard drinks... for men who want to get drunk fast.”

Back when Clarence was just a cherub, though, punches were all the rage. A concoction of spirits with something sweet, something sour, something weak and something spicy, punch was a communal beverage, enjoyed at social gatherings. It was often served hot, typically heated by inserting a molten hot poker into a jug, bowl or pitcher of liquor. There were, at times, flames.

Since then, flamed drinks have gone in and out of fashion like a Blue Blazer in a fickle breeze.

In fact, the Blue Blazer, a Scotch toddy set alight and “thrown” from vessel to vessel, was the first flamed cocktail, recorded in the original cocktail book, Jerry Thomas’s 1862 How to Mix Drinks. Over the next century or so, there were flaming shooters, flaming tiki drinks and flaming special

TOP: Angel 2nd Class, Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers), orders a Flaming Rum Punch in Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life.

LEFT: Oil from the orange peel fans the flames of a German Burnt Punch.

coffees like New Orleans’ famous Café Brulot Diabolique.

“The interesting thing with flamed drinks is that the Cosmopolitan is what began and ended it for modern bartenders,” says Philippe Grandbois, bar manager at Vancouver’s Chambar restaurant. “Dale DeGroff making a Cosmopolitan with flamed orange peel, made lighting drinks on fire cool again.”

DeGroff was the New York bartender who arguably launched the cocktail renaissance in the 1990s; his signature move of flaming citrus to extract the

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FL AMING A DRINK LOOKS PRET T Y COOL, BUT IT ALSO SERVES A REAL PURPOSE.

heat, you’ve got nothing, just a floating star in your glass.” And, he adds, “When you look at the technology of applying heat, it’s something we use in cooking every day.”

The Blue Blazer was the first recorded flamed cocktail.

essential oils, has been copied by serious bartenders everywhere.

Flaming a drink looks pretty cool, of course, but it also serves a real purpose.

“It caramelizes flavour. It creates richness and fine, dark, Christmas-type tastes,” says Grandbois, who lights up the star anise pod that garnishes his delicately complex Artemisia cocktail (vermouth, chamomile, dry sherry, Marsala). “The burning of the star anise brings out these great spices. Without

Clarence, it seems, was clearly on to something. What Grandbois figures he was hankering for was something akin to the Feuerzangenbowle, a traditional German holiday punch. The name means “Fire Tongs Punch.” It is a sort of mulled wine or brandy, with a sugar loaf drizzled in rum, held in a pair of tongs over the liquid and lit on fire so that the melted sugar drips deliciously into the punch.

“It’s delicious. It’s this wonderfully balanced drink,” Grandbois says. “It’s mulled wine meets rum punch — a great festive drink. A proper Rum Punch is a beautiful thing.”

We’re sure Clarence would agree.

PL AYING WITH FIRE

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If you plan to flame drinks, approach with caution. There have been several terrible mishaps in recent years involving fire and alcohol, such as the incident in Moscow, where a bartender created a massive fireball that engulfed a woman’s face in flames.

Even without acts of random stupidity, accidents can happen. Remember: if burning alcohol spills, it will spread quickly and water will not put it out. Make sure you have a fire extinguisher on hand.

Lou Lou Childs photo

GERMAN BURNT PUNCH A take on the traditional Feuerzangenbowle.

1 sugar cube 0.25 oz Bacardi 151 over-proof rum 1 oz Asbach German brandy 1 oz Cointreau 3 oz fresh orange juice 0.5 oz fresh lemon juice 0.25 oz vanilla syrup (such as Giffard)

Soak sugar cube in over-proof rum and allow to sit. Mix the remaining ingredients in a small pot, kettle or, if you have an espresso machine, in a milk jug. Bring to a near boil. Remove from the heat and pour into a cup. Place an absinthe spoon on top of the cup, then place the rum-soaked sugar cube on top of the spoon, and using a match, carefully light it on fire. If you like a sweeter drink, stir it into the cocktail. Otherwise, just let it fizzle and drip into the punch.

Serves 1.

Feeling brave? Garnish with a flamed orange peel: squeeze the essential oils from a slice of peel over the drink, lighting the droplets with a match as you do so. Drop the peel into the drink. —Philippe Grandbois

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APRÈS SKI IS A COZY AFFAIR AT FAIRMONT CHATEAU WHISTLER’S THE MALL ARD LOUNGE

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Whistler is synonymous with winter.

Temperatures fall and, in short order, so too does the snow and a barrage of tourists eager to take to the slopes.

And when those tourists have had their fill of the great outdoors, many of them descend upon Fairmont Chateau Whistler’s The Mallard Lounge.

A fixture of the sprawling hotel since its opening in 1989, the Mallard Lounge aspires to — and delivers — a five-star experience consistent with Fairmont’s global reputation. Guillaume Noel, manager of The Mallard since 2014, knows as well as anyone why the room is so attractive to those either seeking respite from the cold or simply wanting to

spoil themselves in a flawlessly comforting environment.

“The Mallard is like a giant living room,” says Noel. “There’s so much space — the kind of space you could never have in a standalone bar. There are couches everywhere, a fireplace, a huge bar in the middle. It’s something I’ve never seen at other properties: You get the feel of luxury, but that luxury resonates with casualness and laughter, having a good time and taking it easy. It’s really special.”

Of course, The Mallard’s aesthetic appointments would count for little if its refreshments didn’t achieve similar standards. Fortunately, Noel and his staff of seven bartenders spend months developing seasonal cocktail programs that make the most of top-shelf spirits and the best natural ingredients the region produces — many of them acquired from the hotel’s own rooftop organic garden.

Case in point: the lounge’s recently unveiled winter cocktail menu began taking shape in August. Alongside The Mallard classics that “we can’t get rid of,” Noel says, due to customer demand — including a barrel-aged Old Fashioned, and a signature gin and tonic that incorporates grapefruit and Grand Marnier — this season sees the debut of the Late Harvest Raspberry Gimlet (made with a preserve incorporating raspberries picked by Noel and his crew) and the Run of the Day, a clever “play on the Manhattan” in which Gentleman Jack whiskey makes good friends with Averno amaro and 10-year-old tawny port.

While The Mallard’s bar staff happily accommodates off-menu requests (“People come in and ask for cocktails we were making during the 2010 Olympics,” Noel notes), you should partake of the lounge’s winter concoctions while the weather best suits them. Before too long, Noel and co. will be starting from scratch again. “We’ll start again in April — shooting around ideas, making bitters and syrups — for the summer menu that comes out sometime in May or June.”

Fairmont Chateau Whistler, 4599 Chateau Boulevard, 604-938-8000, @FairmontWhistlr Fairmont.com/Whistler FairmontChateauWhistler

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HOW SONS OF VANCOUVER IS RIDING THE BIG BOOM IN SMALL SPIRITS

by Fiona Morrow

Lucy-kate Armstrong photo

Prodigal sons

WE HIT THE TIPPING POINT FOR B.C. CRAFT SPIRITS, AND THE GROWTH LINE TURNED INTO A HOCKEY STICK.

LEFT: James Lester (L) and Richard Klaus bring a clear pointof-view to Sons of Vancouver.

RIGHT: A full bar takes pride of place in the new tasting room.

I

t will be just two short years in February since Sons of Vancouver opened for business — with a 700-litre still repurposed from a dairy pasteurizer.

And, like so many of the distilleries around B.C., owners James Lester and Richard Klaus have barely had time to pause for breath.

Take the past few months of 2016 as an example: Sons ran a successful crowdfunding campaign to upgrade to a proper — and much bigger — still, opened a tasting room, and will release a special barrel-aged edition of their signature No. 82 Amaretto in time for the holidays.

It wasn’t meant to happen this fast.

“We had a plan,” Lester laughs, as we walk around the capacious North Vancouver operation.

“We knew which spirits we wanted to perfect, and we expected slow and steady growth. Then we hit the tipping point for B.C. craft spirits, and the growth line turned into a hockey stick.”

Lucy-kate Armstrong photo

Sons simply couldn’t keep up with demand: they found themselves out of amaretto for a week at a time and, with the holiday season (and the biggest sales period for amaretto) fast approaching, expanding their production capacity was top priority.

“We’re only just getting over that craziness now,” Lester admits.

Friends since their journeyman apprentice days in Fort St. John, Lester and Klaus took their oil patch money and ran — Lester to Australia, Klaus to Colombia — before they reconvened on the North Shore and decided to go into business.

Both were big home brewers, and both had become pretty serious about cocktails COLOUR SCHEME

The “nuclear orange” of Sons’ Chili Vodka was a happy accident discovered when they finally had time to leave the chilies steeping longer, and the skins bled pigment into the spirit.

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Production has ramped up since Sons crowdsourced a new still.

Klaus believed that nailing these three would guarantee quality.

Lucy-kate Armstrong photo

while working behind various bars on their travels. Excited to bring something new and different to the back bar, the pair began researching the spirits business, with Lester spending every weekend working at a Seattle distillery to learn the craft.

They defined their goals fast. They wanted to make three spirits that would be the best base possible for three specific cocktails: the Dirty Martini, the Caesar, and the Amaretto Sour. The vodka, spicy vodka and amaretto should, of course, be great in other cocktails, but Lester and THE LOWEST POINT

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Lester spent two weeks in hospital and is still recovering from massive burns suffered when a stripping still boiled over in August 2015. He slipped trying to escape, and molten alcohol poured down his back and arm.

Setting the parameters early were key, quickly followed by the realization that they had to make their extracts for the amaretto themselves (experiments with Safeway’s syrups were scratched fast), and that there should be as few ingredients as possible. There was tweaking: the initial vodka recipe was too sweet to balance in cocktails; several varieties of chilies were macerated before Thai dragon chilies won out.

“We knew the flavours we wanted to achieve,” Lester notes. “We just had to get there.”

Seattle, he suggests, is about five years ahead of Vancouver. When Sons opened, there were 70 craft distilleries in Washington State and 19 in B.C. (there are now 34 B.C. distilleries listed in The Alchemist, with another 10 close to releasing spirits, and more new licences issued.) Last summer, Lester notes, five of the Washington operations went under.

Though booming, the B.C. market, he says, is still finding its feet.

“We see a lot of people looking to get into craft distilling, and we try and help as much as we can. But too often we see people who want to make a product without any clear idea of what they want it to taste like.

“They really are shooting in the dark.”

Lucy-kate Armstrong photo

VANCOUVER’S BROOKLYN A take on the defunct classic cocktail, T he Brooklyn, and an homage to the relationship between North Vancouver and the big city over the bridge.

1.5oz. rye whisky 0.3 oz. amaretto 0.3 oz. Cocchi Americano 0.3 oz. maraschino liqueur 3 dashes of bitters 1 maraschino cherry

Stir all ingredients and strain into a chilled coupe.

Garnish with a cherry.

—Sons of Vancouver

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THE COSMOPOLITAN OUR MAN AT THE BAR, JOHN BURNS, DISCOVERS THE JOYS OF WARM BEER

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t’s not everyone’s cup of tea, reading 141 books over the course of a few months, but that was a side project of mine over the fall and if I’m going to be completely frank, since we’re old friends now, I’ll admit that it wasn’t always tea in my cup as I worked my way through eight linear feet of Canadian nonfiction.

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Now that I’ve finished the reading, you’d think I’d never pick up a book again, but I found myself leafing through Charles Dickens the other day — it’s the snap in the air — and came across this passage from Our Mutual Friend: “The bar of the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters was a bar to soften the human breast.…[The rooms] had red curtains matching the noses of the regular customers, and were provided with comfortable fireside tin utensils, like models of sugar-loaf hats, made in that shape that they might, with their pointed ends, seek out for themselves glowing nooks in the depths of the red coals, when they mulled your ale, or heated for you those delectable drinks, Purl, Flip, and Dog’s Nose.”

There’s something so alluringly cozy about that image — and the pub’s “polite beer-pulls that made low bows when customers were served.” It all feels ideal for a Vancouver winter night, when that foggy mist droops down as the sun sets at, what, 2:30 p.m.? A Purl, I learned from some online salivating, is a mixture of gin and English bitter, sometimes served hot. The Dog’s Nose variant, according to The Pickwick Papers, is “to be compounded of warm porter, moist sugar, gin, and nutmeg.” Oh, and a Flip is distinguished by eggs. Beat eggs with rum and a little sugar, honey, or molasses, then add warmed ale to the mixture and pour between two glasses several times until blended. The optimal texture is captured in the name of one version: the Yard of Flannel.

Fun fact: beer, when not mulled in sugarloaf tins, was traditionally heated by a thick iron bar (a “loggerhead”) plunged into the liquid to caramelize the sugars, and you’re welcome to authentically loggerhead your Flip (we’re all adults

FUN FACT: BEER, WHEN NOT MULLED IN SUGAR-LOAF TINS, WAS TRADITIONALLY HEATED BY A THICK IRON BAR (A “LOGGERHEAD”) PLUNGED INTO THE LIQUID TO CARAMELIZE THE SUGARS.

here), but you’ll also need to authentically live in a smoky eye-stinging haze that may never clear. I, for one, embrace the age of the electric stove. (I checked: my Boston round doesn’t fit in the microwave.)

We can go on. A Posset is like hot cottage cheese with liquor: beer curdles milk or cream, separating the proteins into floating curds (to eat on buttered toast!), and the drink below. Lamb’s Wool is a mulled punch (a.k.a. a wassail) with ale added, something nice and malty like an English brown — or perhaps a porter, if it’s not too roasty. A few years back, Jamie Oliver revived the 18th-century Huckle-MyBuff (“the pride of Sussex”): porter, French brandy, sugar, and an egg; mixed, pokered, and topped with nutmeg.

Heated — and spiced — beer cocktails were common in Dickens’ time, because they were filling and (the thinking went) more nutritious when warm. And reviving… to a point. In The Old Curiosity Shop, the awesomely named Dick Swiveller carries in “a great pot, filled with some very fragrant compound, which sent forth a grateful steam, and was indeed choice purl.” He offers a servant girl a swig.

“But moderate your transports, you know,” he cautions. “For you’re not used to it.”

Illustration by Roxanna Bikadoroff

ILLUSTRATION HERE

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Home and away ANDREW SCHNEIDER’S MOUNT PLEASANT COCKTAIL PUT CHERRY HEERING FRONT AND CENTRE ON THE LONDON STAGE RECIPE: MOUNT PLEASANT

Created by Andre w Schneider 2 oz. Cherry Heering 0.5 oz. orgeat syrup 0.25 oz. Fernet-Branca

1 oz. lemon juice 1 egg white

Stir in a mixing glass with ice. Serve over fresh ice with an orange or lemon twist.

Close to 3,000 bartenders around the world vied to be the best, but in the end it was the U.K.’s Grant Murray who was named winner of the prestigious 2016 Peter F. Heering Classic Challenge at London Cocktail Week in October.

Vancouver entrant, Andrew Schneider, bartender at Vij’s, advanced to the final round of the competition, held as part of the World’s Best 50 Bars gala countdown, and judged by spirits luminaries, David Wondrich, Lauren Mote, Simon Difford, Charlene Dawes, Hamish Smith, and host Andrew Seymour.

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Schneider’s cocktail, the Mount Pleasant, landed him in the Global Top Five. A loose take on the classic Hotel Georgia, a bright and floral cocktail created in Vancouver back in the 1940s.

“Mount Pleasant was inspired by Vancouver and the individuality of its Heering.com

many distinct neighbourhoods, but also Cherry Heering itself,” he explains. “I felt Cherry Heering had remained an accessory for too long; it was time for a drink to celebrate the liqueur itself.”

Schneider’s cocktail substitutes Cherry Heering for the Hotel Georgia’s gin, and Fernet-Branca for orange blossom water.

The end result is a dark, rich, herbal, and cherry-driven cocktail that is both challenging and accessible.

“Cherry Heering can add structure to a drink in a way many other products can’t, as it carries sweetness, acidity, alcohol and spice within itself,” he notes.

“It is dark, rich and fruity, and can be substituted in many cocktails that call for sweet vermouth to create a bolder drink.

It’s also complex enough to be used in heavier proportions, as we see in the Mount Pleasant cocktail.”

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THE BARTENDER’S SALT AND PEPPER, BIT TERS ARE BIG IN B.C.

by Alexandra Gill

Lou Lou Childs photo

Seasoned greetings

A

fter 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.

“I feel very supported by these,” she says, pointing to her witch’s pantry of commercial bitters, bottled barks, spices and seeds. They’re displayed on her bar top — along with perfume blotters and self-made bitters in atomizers — in order to stimulate conversation with customers.

Originally marketed as curative tonics and sold in apothecaries, bitters were created by 19th-century pharmacists who dispensed their age-old concentrations of herbs, fruits and spices in alcohol-based tinctures (Cognac in the case of New Orleans’ Antoine Amedie Peychaud) to help the medicine go down.

LEFT: At Market, Tiffany Davis uses bitters to bring balance and complexity to her drinks.

While it remains a mystery as to how exactly the relationship was reversed — with medicinal bitters becoming the agent that rounded the edges in alcoholic beverages — bitters were certainly an essential ingredient in almost every classic cocktail prior to Prohibition.

After the U.S. government crackdown in the early 20th century, all but a few iconic brands of bitters (Angostura, Peychaud’s) disappeared — gone the way of the Sazerac, the Manhattan, the Old Fashioned, and the dodo bird.

Bitters began making their comeback about a decade ago, re-emerging as a common bartending tool alongside the renaissance of classic cocktails.

Today, there are hundreds of bitters at any bartender’s disposal. In British Columbia alone, there are least five local brands: Twisted & Bitter, Housemade, The Apothecary Company, Ms. Betters and Bittered Sling — with the latter three distributed internationally.

BITTERS BATTLE

Angostura’s famous bitters were the brainchild of a German doctor.

Johann G.B. Siegert was a supporter of Simon Bolivar and wanted to provide the South American rebel’s freedom fighters with a health-giving tonic.

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BIT TERS, IT IS OFTEN SAID, ARE THE SPICE RACK OF THE COCKTAIL WORLD.

Lucy-kate Armstrong photo

Bitters from B.C. hold their own on the global market.

So, why are bitters so abundant in B.C.?

“It coincides with the explosion of craft distilleries and bartending talent,” says Tarquin Melnyk, sales ambassador and research developer for Ms. Betters. “If you’re going to cater to the best spirits and bartenders, you need the best bitters.

When there are so many other cities in this country that still can’t get their heads around making a decent drink, it’s no surprise that craft bitters are making it big here first.”

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Bitters, it is often said, are the spice rack of the cocktail world. As salt is to food, they can unite a drink by balancing its sweet and sour components with a few highly concentrated dashes of tannic dryness. But when used with precision, they are also the pepper, the dried lime, the orange rind, the clove, the juniper berry, the cinnamon bark, the lavender and the licorice — contributing an almost endless palette of je ne sais quoi — hard-to-pinpoint flavours and aromas that accentuate other elements without overpowering.

Davis’s End Of An Era blue Martini is a case in point. Although a surreal lycheeeyeball garnish may be disconcerting, the drink was meant to have a “relaxing” effect. Inspired by Jacqueline Roque, Pablo Picasso’s last love, Davis began building the recipe with Hpnotiq liqueur (representing the artist’s Blue Period), then added chamomile syrup and lavender-sage vermouth (reflecting the muse’s calming influence) to Grey Goose Pear vodka and lemon juice.

“It was still too sweet,” Davis recalls.

“There was a little something missing.”

She stirred in a few drops of Bittered Sling Denman Bitters et voilà: the cocktail came together with brightness, balance and a warmly spicy, floral-pepper depth that lingers languidly on the finish.

“Bitters have this magical quality,” she smiles. “They’re like the rug that ties the room together.”

BRINGING UP BITTERS

In 2004, U.S. cocktail historian Gary Regan launched his brand (Regan’s) — the first commercially produced bitters since Fee Brothers hit the market 50 years prior — marking the beginning of the bitters renaissance.

END OF AN ERA

Pablo Picasso’s Blue Period meets the Martini.

1.5 oz Grey Goose Pear 0.75 oz Hpnotiq 0.25 oz vermouth infused with lavender and sage 0.25 oz chamomile 0.25 oz fresh squeezed lemon Dash of Bittered Sling Denman Extract

Mix all ingredients, shake and strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with blueberry-stuffed lychee. ­—by­Tiffany­Davis

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Lou Lou Childs photo

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Capital spirits HOW A LOVE OF GIN PUT VICTORIA DISTILLERS ON THE MAP Almost a decade ago, Peter Hunt and his family made a decision that changed their business model forever: they bought a still. The family-run winery soon recreated themselves as Victoria Distillers, and their gin quickly became one of B.C.’s best-recognized local spirits.

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“When we saw that it was possible to do distilling in B.C., we kind of wanted to explore that,” Hunt, who bartended his way through university studying molecular biology, recalls. The response was phenomenal. Soon it was clear: their future was going to be all about spirits.

What began as a side project for Hunt

became a career; he is now the general manager and master distiller.

“We were one of three distilleries in B.C. and now there are over 40,” he notes.

“We really had a niche for ourselves in the beginning. No one else was doing gin. We were one of the first people doing premium gin in Canada.” While the distillery does make small batches of other spirits (whisky, rum and vodka), their focus remains gin.

“In 2007, we were Bombay drinkers and knew that gin could be better. We wanted to create a spirit that was complex,

but balanced. Over the first year of production we tweaked and refined the recipe.

“The gin that is well-loved today combines 10 botanicals to marry citrus, floral, juniper and spice,” Hunt explains. “We’ve reduced the juniper content compared to a standard London Dry which allows the other elements to shine through leaving the spirit balanced but complex.”

Indeed, Victoria Gin has proved so popular, that the distillery moved to a larger space on the Sidney waterfront earlier this year. Further renovations and an expansion into the U.S. and international markets are next on the agenda. “It’s an exciting time,” Hunt says.

“People are starting to choose local spirits — the growth is not done yet.

the industry matures, B.C. will become a destination for distilleries, similar to its wineries,” he predicts.

“As the number of distilleries grows and the quality continues to increase, and as

“There is a lot of a talent here, and it’s beginning to be recognized far and wide.”

RECIPE: THE HUNTING PART Y

Created­by­Katie­MacDonald­ at Veneto in Victoria 1 oz Oaken Gin 0.75 oz Dubonnet 0.75 oz Amaro Montenegro Twist orange Stir in a mixing glass with ice. Serve over fresh ice with an orange or lemon twist.

Victoria Distillers, 9891 Seaport Place, Sidney, 250-544-8217 @VicDistillers VictoriaDistillers.com

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The alchemist guide to

Whistler cocktails

by Nikki Bayley

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Tourism Whistler/David McColm photo

T

hink about Whistler drinking and images of craft beers on sunny patios and fragrant steaming mugs of après ski Glühwein inevitably come to mind. But for some reason, Whistler has never traditionally conjured up much in the way of cocktail culture. Fortunately, the wave of thoughtfully crafted drinks and micro-distilled spirits has finally made its way up the Sea-to-Sky, and bars across town are shaking and stirring up some decidedly delicious creations.

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You’re essentially looking at three categories of cocktail bar in Whistler: the fancy, the funky, and the tried-andtested favourites. My picks for fancy would be the Fairmont’s Mallard Lounge and Sidecut at the Four Seasons. Both have reassuringly plump lists covering everything from classics to twists through to hot, spiked beverages. Both have the space for vast back bars and both have thoroughly knowledgeable staff able to whip up your top tipple.

If you spent your youth getting twisted on

Malibu, you’ll love the more grown-up Snowstorm at the Mallard Lounge (Upper Village) which mixes coconut and ginger with a pleasingly punchy rum float, or try the Rooftop Feature which changes daily, depending on which fruits, flowers or herbs the bar team have picked — or preserved — from the garden.

Over at Sidecut (Upper Village) the bar menu is based on local ingredients and plenty of tasty shrubs and infusions.

House-made vermouth, using a base of Lillooet’s Fort Berens wine, features

LEFT TO RIGHT: Sour Blackberry Bramble (Mallard Lounge); Elfin Lake (Sidecut); Flying Solo (Bearfoot Bistro); Oso Sour (Bar Oso); Firecracker Margarita (Araxi); Douglas Fir Sour (Alta Bistro). Nikki Bayley photos.

in the beautifully bittersweet Joffre Lake, served with a fat wedge of frozen pineapple melting slowly to add sweet complexity. Bacon-infused rye is a serious showstopper in their creamy hot chocolate — which could just be my absolute new favourite thing.

For funky, head to the main village for the Bearfoot Bistro, Araxi, Alta Bistro and gin-soaked newcomer, Bar Oso. Sure, it’s easy to overlook the Bearfoot’s cocktails for its exuberant sub-zero Ketel One Vodka Room, but look again: thoughtful touches such as local Murray River salt, and house-made vinegars make this a solid pick. Crisp and deceptively boozy, try the Guy On A Buffalo with Zubrowka vodka, or the Flying Solo with Deep Cove’s savoury gin for a tart, herbacious sour.

Although a Spanish-style GinTonic at Bar

Oso is always an excellent idea, plan to try their house cocktails too, in particular the Oso Sour, a silky citrus with a doublebacon hit of infused Bulleit and a candied maple bacon garnish. B.C. booze gets a good showing here with Long Table, Sheringham and Victoria Distillers all represented.

At Araxi, the bar menu is approached with the same cheffy consideration of balance and flavour as practised by the restaurant kitchen. Their Firecracker Margarita switches up simple syrup for agave to create something smoky, bright and table-bangingly wonderful. Or order the Plum Old Fashioned and discover the unconsidered joy of bourbon meeting Japanese umeboshi plums.

Mirroring their food menu, Alta Bistro’s tight list focuses on what’s local and seasonal — while giving a nod to the

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LEFT TO RIGHT: Mezcal Margarita (The Mexican Corner); Pomelo (Rimrock Cafe); Bacon-Infused Caesar (Stonesedge Kitchen). Nikki Bayley photos.

ON THE ROAD

If you thirst for a drink on the way to Whistler, drop into The Salted Vine in Squamish, where Araxi alumni Jeff Park and Pat Allen serve up sophisticated cocktails.

classics. Offerings change depending on what’s available, but, if you can, you must try their beautiful Douglas Fir Sour for a taste as marvellous as a walk in the forest after the rain.

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And the old favourites? First: frozen margaritas at The Mexican Corner (Village) which are consistently excellent and always made using double shots of Cazadores Blanco, fresh-juiced lime and seasonal fruits. Their $8 Happy Hour

from 5-6:30 p.m. is likely the best deal in the Village.

Finally, at the Rimrock Cafe (Creekside you’ll find no jarring notes on their cocktail menu, just classics done wonderfully right — and with approachable, creative twists. My tip? The Pomelo — which blends tequila, mezcal, grapefruit, egg white and Aperol — for a guaranteed good time in a glass.

Of course, after this bacchanalian exploration of the Whistler cocktail scene it’s possible you may wake with a touch of what P.G. Wodehouse described as “a morning head.” The cure is simple: find your way to Stonesedge Kitchen (Village) and make it the full Canadian — a baconinfused Caesar with a bacon straw.

Trust me on this; I’m an expert.

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Main moves IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CRAFT FOR CASCADE ROOM’S NEW BAR MANAGER, YONAH SWEETAPPLE Family brought Yonah Sweetapple from his native Australia to Canada in 2012. He followed his brother Jacob (also a noted mixologist) to Vancouver, looking forward to being a proper uncle to Jacob’s kids. His own bartending career was well underway, from working his way through university everywhere from nightclubs to cocktail bars and restaurants. But it was in the two years before his move to Canada that, he says, his real passion for cocktails developed. “I really enjoy creating craft drinks, and I take a lot of pride in my work,” he smiles.

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The recently arrived bar manager at Cascade Room, Sweetapple earned his Vancouver stripes behind the wood downtown, at the Granville Room and Uva Wine & Cocktail Bar. He’d always loved the vibe of the Main St. space, having participated in cocktail competitions the bar regularly hosts. He was also keen to get away from the downtown hustle, and

Cascade Room, with its passionate focus on cocktails, was the perfect fit.

Despite the bar menu changing seasonally, Sweetapple likes to keep the cocktail list inspired by the country he now calls home.

“I’m a fan of booze-forward cocktails, and going into the colder months, I like to use vermouths and bourbons,” he says. “The cocktails are warming and wintery, with flavours you’d find in something like an apple pie.” The bar menu currently has 12 custom cocktails, including the London Calling (a vermouth and apricot brandy cocktail) and the Standed Mountie (with bourbon, cinnamon and maple syrup).

But once Vancouver’s wet winter rolls over into spring, Sweetapple admits he may be tempted to look farther afield for inspiration. “When spring and summer rolls around, I will definitely give things a bit of an Aussie twist.”

The Cascade Room, 2616 Main Street, 604-709-8650 @TheCascadeRoom

RECIPE: STANDED MOUNTIE

2 oz. Basil Hayden’s Bourbon 1 oz. lemon juice 0.4 oz. maple syrup 0.4 oz. cinnamon syrup 1 oz. egg white Shake all ingredients together until well frosted. Strain over ice into a rocks glass, garnish with a sprinkle of salt and a lemon twist.

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Lou Lou Childs photo

Cool yule WARM UP WITH THESE FESTIVE COCKTAILS

by Justin Taylor

W

hether it’s a glass of eggnog, a hot buttered rum, or a mug of spicy mulled wine, the winter season is loaded with tasty cocktails. What makes them ideal for the home bartender is their reliance on easily sourced pantry ingredients: spices (cinnamon, clove and nutmeg), fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme and sage), and fruits (mandarins, cranberries and pomegranates). Here are my family recipes for iconic winter cocktails — and a twist or two designed to take your holiday gathering to the next level.

The key to success is preparing your syrups and garnishes ahead of time and avoiding stress when your family and friends arrive. Once you have your cocktails planned and the ingredients prepared, you can even set up a mini bar with your syrups, juices and garnishes to allow your guests a little fun experimenting, too. Whatever you decide, remember to enjoy yourself and focus on what this season is all about: lifting a glass of good cheer with the people you know and love.

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Lou Lou Childs photo

MULLED WINE

Tur n the heat on under this cocktail an hour before your guests arrive and your home will be filled with wonderful holiday aromas.

750ml bottle red wine 2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice, pulp removed 0.5 cup granulated sugar 0.5 cup brandy or Cognac 2 tsp whole cloves 40

3 unpeeled mandarins, washed and cut into quarters 2 apples cored and quartered 1 cup frozen cranberries 4 cinnamon sticks 3 sprigs of rosemary

Add wine, orange juice and sugar into a large pot over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Stud mandarins with cloves and add, along with remaining ingredients, to pot. Cook gently for two hours (take care not to boil off the alcohol). Remove from heat and allow to cool, then strain through a sieve, pressing down to extract the juices from the cranberries and mandarins. Store up to one week in fridge. To serve, heat in a crockpot on low, or in a pan over low heat. Do not boil. Garnish with mandarin segments, apple slices, cinnamon sticks and cranberries. Makes 12, five oz. servings.

HOME MADE EGGNOG

Best made a few days in advance to allow the flavours to develop.

6 large eggs 1 cup granulated sugar 2 tsp ground allspice 12 oz bourbon or rum

3 cups whole milk 1.5 cups heavy cream 2 whole nutmegs (for garnish)

Measure all your ingredients. Add the eggs to a blender running on lowest setting. After 20 seconds slowly pour in sugar and allspice. Increase speed to medium and slowly add bourbon, followed by milk and cream, and blend for one minute. Refrigerate immediately in an airtight container. Stir before serving. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg. Makes 8-10 servings.

CRANBERRY COLLINS

A perfect welcome cocktail to any holiday party and one that can also be served alcohol-free.

2 oz. gin 1 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice 1 oz. pure cranberry juice

1 oz. rosemary and sage syrup* 3 oz. soda water rosemary sprigs

To a tall glass, add gin, juices and syrup. Add ice and top with soda. Garnish with rosemary. *Rosemary and sage syrup: In a small saucepan combine 4 sprigs of rosemary, 10 sage leaves, 2 cups granulated sugar and 2 cups fresh water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Strain liquid to remove solids. Bottle and refrigerate for up to 30 days.

HOT BUTTERED RUM

Making the compound butter in advance will improve the finished drink. You could also package it for a seasonal gift.

2 tsp compound butter* 6 oz. boiling water

1-2 oz. dark rum to taste cinnamon stick

Combine compound butter and boiling water in your serving mug and stir to dissolve. Add rum and garnish with a cinnamon stick. *Compound butter: Cream together 1/4 lb unsalted butter, 2 cups brown sugar, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp each of ground ginger, grated nutmeg, ground allspice and salt. Divide mixture into small sterilized mason jars with lids and refrigerate. Makes approximately 24 servings. —all recipes by JustinTaylor

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Lovely bubbly THE HISTORY OF THE CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL

by Joanne Sasvari

I

t’s kind of a funny thing, the way Champagne cocktails are considered all girly and twee these days. Back when they were originally invented — arguably a harder-drinking era than our own — they were enjoyed by tough guys and sophisticates alike, and so lauded for their powerful kick, they were named for military weapons.

Today, though, you have celebrated bartenders such as Portland’s Jeffrey Morgenthaler tweeting: “Only old ladies and hookers drink Champagne cocktails.”

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ONLY OLD L ADIES AND HOOKERS DRINK CHAMPAGNE COCKTAILS.

Bubbles flowed freely in Casablanca.

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Well, not quite, especially at this festive time of year. But it’s true that Champagne cocktails are something of a fizzy throwback to a more stylish era.

They evoke a time when both movies and geopolitics came in black and white. Champagne cocktails featured prominently in the movie Casablanca: freedom fighter Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) drank Champagne cocktails, while Rick (Humphrey Bogart) ordered a French 75. Detective socialite Nora Charles (Myrna Loy) in The Thin Man and playboy Nickie Ferrante (Cary Grant) in An Affair to Remember also worked hard to give Champagne cocktails fizz. It was the favourite cocktail of acerbic wit Dorothy Parker, who quipped, “Three be the things I shall never attain: envy, content, and sufficient Champagne.” The novelist Alec Waugh even described Champagne as “the most powerful drink in the world.”

Mind you, he wasn’t talking about the classic Champagne cocktail, that

concoction of sugar, bitters and fizz first recorded in 1862’s How to Mix Drinks or The Bon Vivant’s Companion by the great Professor Jerry Thomas.

What Waugh was talking about was the French 75, the greatest of all the bubbly drinks.

The French 75 is gin (or sometimes Cognac), sugar and lemon juice,

TARGET PRACTICE

Like the French artillery weapon for which it’s named, the French 75 “hits with remarkable precision,” notes The Savoy Cocktail Book.

shaken, strained into a flute, then topped with sparkling wine, preferably Champagne. If that sounds like a Tom Collins made with Champagne rather than soda water, well, that was the idea.

It was reportedly created at Harry’s Bar in Paris back in 1915 (or possibly Buck’s Club in London). By the time proprietor Harry McElhone included the recipe in his 1919 edition of Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails, the drink had been named for the deadly accurate 75mm French field gun that many credited for winning the Allies the First World War. But back up a little, and you’ll see that a similar drink was being enjoyed long before the Great War. A century or more before the French 75 came into being, a concoction called a Champagne Cup — basically, a citrusy Champagne punch — was already being widely enjoyed. By the 1860s, Britons were putting gin in their version, while Cognac was the preferred spirit in what was called the Maharajah’s Burra-Peg in India or the Napoleon in France.

Meanwhile, on this side of the pond, the bitters-and-bubbles Champagne cocktail was becoming hugely popular, especially among the rough and tumble prospectors of the California Gold

Nick and Nora (Myrna Loy and William Powell) raise their glasses in The Thin Man.

Rush. It was considered a morning bracer, a lunch libation, an afternoon pick-me-up, a perfect partner for the evening’s entertainment and, as cocktail historian David Wondrich writes, the drink you would choose as “one more for the road and another to greet the dawn.”

And really, what’s not to like?

Champagne — or, if you’re on a budget, sparkling wine — is crisp, dry, complex and effervescent. It’s low enough in alcohol to be a good session drink, and it is a perfect base for subtle flavours — a splash of citrus, a dash of bitters, just a touch of spirits or liqueur.

It’s a guaranteed party in a glass.

CIVILIZATION DAWNS

Cocktail historian David Wondrich describes the Champagne cocktail as, “The first evolved cocktail on record.”

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FRENCH 75 1.5 oz gin or Cognac 0.5 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 tsp simple syrup Champagne or sparkling wine Shake gin or Cognac, lemon and simple syrup with ice and strain into a Champagne flute. (Or pour over cracked ice in a Collins glass.) Top with bubble, stir gently, and garnish with a lemon peel.

Serves 1.

CL ASSIC CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL 1 sugar cube Dash Angostura bitters 1 tsp Cognac or Grand Marnier (optional) Champagne or sparkling wine

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Place sugar cube in a Champagne flute and dot it with a dash of bitters.

If you like, add a splash of Cognac or liqueur to the glass. Top with bubble.

Do not stir: the idea is to let the sweet and bitter flavours slowly infuse the drink. Serves 1.

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Oso good

WITH A COMMITMENT TO QUALIT Y INGREDIENTS AND LOCAL PRODUCTS, JASON REDMOND GIVES BAR OSO’S COCKTAILS AN EDGE Bar Oso celebrates its one-year anniversary this ski season. In those scant twelve months, the Spanish-inspired tapas bar has become a must-visit destination in Whistler Village. Located around the corner from its sister restaurant Araxi, Bar Oso set out to give the mountain resort something completely different.

“It’s been a pretty successful year,” says Bar Manager Jason Redmond modestly, noting that from the design up, the intent was to create a welcoming, sophisticated hub.

Here, the chefs and bartenders are front and centre: with tapas as well as cocktails being prepared right behind the beautiful Black Jade onyx bar. Charged with designing a drinks menu to complement Chef Jorge Muñoz Santos’ delectable small plates, Redmond was quick to put the focus on quality ingredients.

“We use only freshly-squeezed juices, housemade syrups and shrubs,” he explains.

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The best seller from day one has been the delicious Oso Sour, with its very Canadianinfluenced bacon-infused bourbon, maple syrup and candied bacon garnish. An

avid skier, Redmond calls his twist on the Corpse Reviver No. 2 — where he subs Bison Grass Vodka for the gin and adds muddled ginger, reducing the sugar, and upping the freshness — Powder Day. His version of an Aperol Spritz employs Charme De L’ile sparkling wine from Vancouver Island and Surrey-based G&W Distilling’s Bitterhouse DaMAN. “It’s exciting to have such great local products to showcase. It stimulates conversation, and our guests are just blown away.”

In keeping with the Spanish influence, Redmond has developed an impressive range of gin and tonics that include several small batch gins from B.C. While he’s used artisanal tonic waters from day one, Redmond is ready to raise the bar yet again.

“We’re making our own housemade tonics,” he reveals. “We’ve been working on reducing the sugar while creating something really good, and we think we’ve nailed it.”

It looks like Bar Oso’s second year is gearing up to be as impressive as the first.

Bar Oso, 150-4222 Village Square, 604-962-4540 BarOsoWhistler @BarOso_Whistler

SPIRITED GIFTS

WE ASKED SOME TOP B.C. BARTENDERS WHICH BOT TLE OF LOCAL SPIRITS THEY WOULD PUT ON THEIR CHRISTMAS LIST

Roy — a Rodney’s Roy — with 2 oz. Laird of Fintry, 0.3 oz. Noilly Prat Rouge, 0.3 oz. Noilly Prat Ambre and two dashes Bittered Sling Cascade Celery Bitters.

L’Abattoir’s Katie Ingram longs to make a Rodney’s Roy, with Laird of Fintry Single Malt.

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KATIE INGRAM, Lead Bartender, L’Abattoir Restaurant I’d pick Okanagan Spirits Laird of Fintry Single Malt Whisky. It is a Scotch-style single malt made with 100 per cent B.C. malted barley using French and American oak, and finished in Okanagan wine barrels. The nose is unbelievable with plum, vanilla, raisins, berries, poached pears, nuts, and classic oak characteristics that continue on the palate. It has a dry finish with a hint of sweet vanilla and baking spices. I would make a twist on a Rob

PETER VAN DE REEP, Bar Manager, Upstairs at Campagnolo Odd Society Bittersweet Vermouth, please. This is a wonderful example of the new style of vermouth being produced in North America: bitter, herbaceous and very complex, with a dominant tree bark and citrus peel character. It’s very versatile in cocktails and delicious on its own. I’d whip up a Mile Zero, a dark and brooding cocktail, perfect for a cold, rainy Vancouver night: 1 oz.

Bulleit Rye, 1 oz. Odd Society Bittersweet Vermouth, 0.75 oz.

Luxardo Amaro Abano. Stir all ingredients with ice, strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

J-S DUPUIS, Bar Manager, Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar Queensborough Small Batch Dry Gin from Central City Brewers & Distillers. I love its

crispness, balanced juniper, light citrus notes and spruce tip flavour. It’s a great Pacific Northwest gin. If it’s in my stocking, I will definitely be making a Gibson Wet Martini — one of my all time favourite cocktails. I like a Wet Martini only if the gin is strong and flavourful enough to stand up to the vermouth and Queensborough fits the bill.

Come Christmas, I will share a few of these with my wife, while wearing my favourite sweater, and with my big dogs by my side.

West Restaurant’s Stacey Ackerman created The Godfather of Vancouver with Sons of Vancouver No. 82 Amaretto in mind.

STACEY ACKERMAN, Bar Manager, West Restaurant Sons of Vancouver No. 82 Amaretto. I’ve got a bit of a sweet tooth and it is by far the best amaretto I’ve ever tried.

Excellently balanced with the flavors of vanilla bean, orange peel and blackberry honey. I’m almost finished my test bottle so it would be great to find another in my Christmas stocking. I’ve found it pairs incredibly well with a smoky scotch. So, I created The Godfather of Vancouver, a take on the classic Godfather cocktail, using Sons of Vancouver Amaretto, 10-year-old Ardbeg, 10-year-old Glenmorangie, and a lemon twist to finish. It’s my new favorite thing!

PETER SULLIVAN, Bar Manager, Forage I’ll take The Woods Spirit Co. Amaro, because they love local like we love local here at Forage, and it’s a spirit that is super user-friendly in cocktails.

I’d make a Forage Negroni: 1.5 oz. Sheringham Seaside Gin, 1 oz. The Woods Spirit Co. Amaro, and 0.5 oz. Odd Society Bittersweet Vermouth. You can’t get more local than that!

MATT COOKE, Bar Manager, OLO Restaurant, Victoria It would have been a bottle of de Vine’s Glen Saanich Single Malt, but as it’s sold out, I’ll have to wait until next Christmas. Meanwhile, I’ll happily settle for a bottle of their Moderna Vermouth.

It’s a great example of the direction B.C. distilling is going, utilizing local ingredients and being creative with Old World recipes. I’d go with a Christmas Morning B.C. Martinez, with equal parts Legend Distilling Black Moon smoked rosemary gin and Moderna Vermouth, a splash of Okanagan Spirits Maraschino Liqueur, and a Max Borrowman’s tipple is Juniper’s dash or two of Bittered Sling Islander G&T, made with Sheringham Moondog Bitters.

Seaside Gin.

MAX BORROWMAN, Head Bartender, Juniper Restaurant & Bar I would like a bottle of Sheringham Seaside Gin because I love the delicious briny notes that come from the winged sea kelp, one of its key botanicals. I used to go surfing near where the distillery is located on Vancouver Island, so those

coastal flavours evoke fond memories for me. My first drink would be the Islander G&T we serve at Juniper: 1.5 oz. Sheringham Seaside Gin, a dash of Bittered Sling Cascade Celery Bitters and Fever Tree Indian Tonic Water.

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Sketches of Spain CABRITO WARMS UP COMMERCIAL DRIVE WITH A SPL ASH OF EUROPEAN FL AIR Spain was foremost in Jamie Stolar’s mind when she took over as General Manager of Vancouver tapas restaurant Cabrito. Looking to pay homage in a cocktail, Stolar let her mind drift back to sunny days spent on the Balearic island of Formentera. “The island has rosemary shrubs growing all over the place,” she recalls. “With the intense heat, all you could smell was that rosemary.”

Her Formentera cocktail begins with a base of olive oil-infused gin to which rosemary simple syrup and black walnut bitters are added. Using ingredients common to the cooking of Spain also brings a smart cohesion between Cabrito’s food and drinks program. “We always think about the food when we are introducing new cocktails,” Stolar notes.

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Cabrito’s cocktail program shifts with the season. As soon as the colder months hit, they introduce a few more “boozy, classic cocktails” such as the Odd Vesper (with a splash of Roman Provence tea) and the Café Borracho (with espresso, Spanish brandy and chocolate bitters). “Our focus is classic cocktails with a twist, and in winter, we also hope to warm you up a bit.”

RECIPE: TOMILLO MARGARITA

Created by Alicia W hitfield 1.5 oz mezcal 0.5 oz Cointreau Dash of agave syrup 2 lime wedges squeezed

2 oz. grapefruit juice 1 sprig of thyme Salt

Shake all ingredients and strain, over ice, into a rocks glass rimmed with salt. Garnish with a sprig of fresh thyme.

Cabrito, 2270 Commercial Drive, 604-620-7636 Cabrito-Tapas-Bebidas @CabritoTapas Cabrito.ca

Happy Holidays from all of us at Deep Cove Brewers & Distillers.

Celebrate Responsibly with BC Craft Spirits.

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U P S T A I R S 7 nights a week, 6 till late 1020 Main Street 604.484.6018 info@campagnolorestaurant.ca

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Tutti frutti

MAPLE LEAF SPIRITS TURNS FALLEN FRUIT INTO LIQUEUR

by Anya Levykh “

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D

o you want to see the only way to shoot a bird?” asks Jorg Engel, owner of Maple Leaf Spirits, soon after we meet at his Okanagan distillery.

I’m there with my daughter, Maya, and Engel is showing us the birds and chickens in the enclosure next to his tasting room.

I stare and my daughter’s eyes bug.

Engel has a small green bird sitting

on his finger and I’m wondering if I should cover Maya’s eyes. “Watch this,” he says, smiling gently. Without further ado, he cocks his finger like a gun at the little bird and quietly says, “Bam!” The bird swings and hangs upside down from Engel’s finger. A brief second of silence and then we burst into (slightly relieved) laughter. The bird is right side up again and chirping happily, obviously in on the joke.

Engel and his wife Anette are gentle souls who moved to the Okanagan from Germany in 2001. They first opened the distillery in Penticton’s commercial district in 2005 and moved to the Naramata Bench in 2013, when the provincial licensing regulations changed to allow for the existence of craft distilleries — and for them to be located outside of an industrial zone. Maple Leaf is one of the oldest distilleries in Western Canada and was the first in the South Okanagan.

I WANT TO USE UP THE SECONDS, THE CULLED FRUITS. WHATEVER DOESN’T MAKE ITS WAY INTO THE FOOD CHAIN.

Unlike the majority of the province’s distilleries, however, Engel doesn’t make grain-based spirits. Instead, he distils from fruit — a conscious decision based on his knowledge of the valley.

“I was driving through the local orchards and saw fruit that had fallen from the trees lie rotting on the ground. It was good fruit, but maybe there was too much, or else it didn’t have that perfect look that exporters want,” explains Engel. “Back home, that would never happen. That was one of the main reasons why I started the distillery — to try to minimize all waste. I want to use up the seconds, the culled fruits. Whatever doesn’t make its way into the food chain.”

Anya Levykh photo

BASE LINES

Maple Leaf’s first — and still one of its most popular — spirit was the Canadian Kirsch, a cherry brandy with a deep nose and a clean, lightly sweet finish. It’s also the base for the distillery’s signature Maple Liqueur.

Anya Levykh photo

Jorg Engel pioneered spirits in the South Okanagan.

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Anya Levykh photo

Maple Leaf’s spectacular setting.

Even today, with so many orchards torn down to make way for the growing number of vineyards, Engel says supply is never an issue. “I get my cherries from one source, a local farmer with 5,000 trees. Every day I go and pick up one metric ton of cherries that were culled from ‘perfect’ fruit. Same with my pears. I get the pears that are too small for the export market. My first year I took 30 metric tonnes of pears and there were still another 90 metric tonnes left over to rot.”

UNCASKED

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This winter, Engel will release Lady of the Falls, a new Cognac-style spirit.

He casked his own non-vintage Pinot Noir for six years, before distilling the wine into brandy.

Two years ago, that desire to minimize waste led Engel to a long-abandoned apricot orchard. He found trees heavy with small, wrinkled fruits and, last year, turned them into his sold-out Apricot Liqueur. “We don’t have access to that orchard anymore,” he notes, regretfully. “So we’ll have to wait a while for another batch.”

As we sit outside the tasting room overlooking the bench, I take a sniff of the maple liqueur and note it’s not as sweet as I thought it would be.

“It’s not supposed to be an ice wine,” laughs Engel, as he takes a little sip for himself. “I wanted the syrup to only show up at the end, to give a nice light finish to a more complex taste.”

He could just as well be describing himself.

Local spirits. Handcrafted cocktails. Sustainable dining.

1300 ROBSON ST. | VANCOUVER BC | 604-661-1400

Photo credit: jonny_nono

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The Laird of Fintry Single Malt Whisky

Produced in small batches using 100% B.C. malted barley, B.C.’s oldest craft distillery releases the exclusive Laird of Fintry ‘Scotch-style’ Single Malt Whisky only once a year through a lottery.

Is it Scotch?

Yes! Unfortunately the term ‘Scotch’ is native to Single Malt Whiskys produced in Scotland. As we are a 100% BC distillery our Laird of Fintry goes by the title ‘Single Malt Whisky.’

Why ‘The Laird of Fintry’?

Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery wanted to pay homage to the Okanagan when naming its Single Malt Whisky. ‘The Laird of Fintry’ title is based on the true story of James Cameron Dun-Waters, the ‘Laird’ of Fintry estates in Fintry, BC, who in the early 1900s ordered a special batch of personally labelled Single Malt Whisky (Scotch) from his homeland Scotland.

Using a replica of the original label, Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery wanted to honour the history of whisky in the Okanagan. In turn, it also supports the ‘Friends of Fintry Society’ with an annual donation to help maintain the original property of The Laird.

FLAVOUR PROFILE: After years of barrel-aging in French and American Oak, this Single Malt is smooth, non-peated and combines solid forest notes of toasted oak with more delicate tones of vanilla, plum, raisins, caramel and spice.

WORLD SPIRITS AWARDS TASTING NOTES 58

Fragrance: Typical aromas, candy ester type, wild berries, raspberries, bananas, a lot of raisin, subtle grain, sherry cask accents, green nuts, light nougat, vanilla.

Taste: Multi-faceted, very fruity abundance of aromas, berries, pears, grapes, malt and cream candy, raisins, vanilla, malty sweetness, some green and tart wood, good tightness and length. (90 points - Gold)

The Lottery

Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery saw over 4,500 people enter the Laird of Fintry lottery in 2015 for a chance to purchase one of our exclusive 1,500 bottles released.

The lottery will return this in 2016 with another anticipated batch of around 1,500 single malt whisky bottles.

We encourage all whisky enthusiasts to sign up to the newsletter on our website. You will be the first to hear of the lottery opening, along with any specialty releases throughout the year of our Laird of Fintry Single Malt Whisky, and our other varieties of whisky.

The lottery begins August 2016 and will run until the end of September. The draw will take place in October and the Laird will be released to winning entries for purchase.

Join the “Whisky Club” newsletter at okanaganspirits.com and be the first to hear about the Laird of Fintry Single Malt Whisky lottery opening.

VERNON DISTILLERY

5204 24th Street, Vernon • 250-549-3120 Mon.-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun. 11am-5pm Closed Easter Sunday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day

KELOWNA DISTILLERY

267 Bernard Avenue, Kelowna • 778-484-5174 Mon.-Wed. 10am-7pm, Thurs.-Sat. 10am-6pm, Sun. 11am-5pm Patio 12pm-6pm, Lounge Thurs.-Sat. 6pm-late Closed Easter Sunday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day

59

B.C. DISTILLERY LISTINGS MEET THE EXPERTS As part of our mission to provide the essential resource on B.C. spirits, our panel of top mixologists provides tasting notes on one spirit from each listed distillery.

60

Born and raised in Vancouver, Shaun Layton is a leading figure on the international cocktail scene. He led the bar program at L’Abattoir for more than four years, before opening Vancouver’s Juniper Kitchen & Bar. He is currently focused on his consulting business.

Josh Pape is an award-winning bartender who has established himself as one of Vancouver’s most influential young restaurateurs. He co-owns and operates a number of the city’s new and notable restaurants and bars, including The Diamond, Pizzeria Bufala, Wildebeest, and Lucky Taco.

Award-winning Wendy McGuinness has worked the wood of fine establishments from Toronto’s Sassafraz to the Go Go bar at Melbourne’s Chin Chin. She is currently heading the bar program at Kissa Tanto, having created a rocking retro cocktail list.

At Prohibition speakeasy bar at Rosewood Hotel Georgia, Robyn Gray loves creating a bespoke experience for guests. Gray learned his craft at Gastown’s Revel Room, and has been at the Hotel Georgia since 2011, opening and operating all the hotel’s lounges.

Trevor Kallies is bar and beverage director for the Donnelly Group, where he has created several award-winning cocktail lists. A founding member of the Canadian Professional Bartender’s Association (CPBA), he also manages the Cocktail Apprentice Program at the world-renowned annual Tales of the Cocktail.

Bar manager at Whistler’s Bearfoot Bistro, Scott Barber is also responsible for the restaurant’s sub-zero vodka room, and has created tasting notes for each of the dozens of vodkas poured, becoming expert on the distillation techniques and different flavour profiles in the process.

AMPERSAND DISTILLING CO. 4077 Lanchaster Rd., Duncan 250-737-1880 AmpersandDistilling.com @AmpDistillingCo

W

e have 34 B.C. distilleries in this issue, producing local spirits from Vancouver Island, through Metro Vancouver, the Interior and east to the Kootenays. Over the following pages you will find full listings information on each business, including contact and social media details, and whether there is a tasting room onsite.

To help guide you through this growing range of spirits, our expert panel is back providing tasting notes.

Our experts are all experienced, award-winning bartenders who write their notes independently. They break down the note in terms standard to spirits tasting — fragrance, flavour, feel and finish — and add their TASTING NOTES suggestions for how the product might LEGEND be best enjoyed, plus a quick bottom line summation.

FR: Fragrance We hope you will find this helpful in navigating your way through the options available, whether at home, or at your favourite cocktail bar.

Happy tasting!

Father and son, Stephen and Jeremy Schacht, hand craft their spirits on five acres of organic farmland in the Cowichan Valley, distilling their gin and vodka from B.C. wheat.

AMPERSAND GIN FR Juniper and coriander.

FL Juniper forward, floral, spiced finish.

FE Medium to high viscosity.

FI White pepper spice.

BE In a Gibson Martini.

BL Great value. Mix in citrusy drinks or a classic Martini –Shaun Layton

FL: Flavour FE: Feel FI: Finish BE: Best enjoyed

61 Other products include: Per Se Vodka.

BL: The bottom line Tasting Room by appointment

ARBUTUS DISTILLERY

BOHEMIAN SPIRITS

CENTRAL CITY BREWERS & DISTILLERS

1890 Boxwood Rd., Nanaimo 250-714-0027 Arbutus-Distillery.com @arbutusdistillery @ArbutusDistill

Kimberley, B.C. BohemianSprits.com @GoodCheerHere

11411 Bridgeview Dr., Surrey 604-588-2337 CentralCityBrewing.com CentralCityBrewing @CentralCityBrew

Head distiller Michael Pizzitelli brings both a background in science and his experience in brewing to Arbutus Distillery’s ever-growing range of botanicalforward spirits.

Using botanicals foraged in the mountains around Kimberley, Bohemian produce small batch hand crafted vodka and gin.

The successful B.C. brewers of the popular Red Racer beers, Central City reworked its spirits program this year, re-launching with its summer release of Queensborough Gin.

JUNIPERUS LUPULUS

LIMITED GIN

FR Forest and wood.

FL Extremely rustic. FE Quite soft. FI Slight sweetness on the finish. BE Not your usual gin. Could add a rustic twist to a Negroni or work well for a Dirty Martini. BL Very unusual and unexpected. The wet hops and aged oak add really intense flavours some may find overpowering in a gin.

–Wendy McGuinness

FR Pine, woodsy, pepper.

FL Sweet and herbaceous.

FE Creamy, balanced.

FI A touch hot, dry.

BE Martini on the rocks.

BL A bold and full flavored gin.

–Josh Pape

62

SPIRIT OF MERLOT LIQUEUR FR Very light. Background of wine fruit.

FL Light and subtly sweet.

Allspice and anise notes.

FE Thin, with some alcohol warmth.

FI Lengthy. Sits on palate with a background of fruity notes.

BE Chilled or alongside a warm beverage.

BL A fun, local eau de vie.

–Trevor Kallies

Other products include: Coven Vodka, Empiric Gin, Baba Yaga Absinthe, Grand Visco Brandy.

Other products include: Vagabond Vodka.

Other products include: Seraph Vodka, Queensborough Gin.

Tasting Room yes

Tasting Room no

Tasting Room yes

DE VINE SPIRITS

DEEP COVE BREWERS & DISTILLERS

DRAGON MIST DISTILLERY

6181B Old West Saanich Rd., Saanichton 250-665-6983 DevineVineyards.ca @deVineVineyards

2270 Dollarton Hwy., North Vancouver, 604-770-1136 DeepCoveCraft.com DeepCoveBrewers @DeepCoveCraft

213-19138 26th Ave., Surrey 604-803-2226 DragonMistDistillery.com @DragonMistDistillery @DragonMistVodka

This Saanich-based distillery is proud to use local fruits, honey and grains in their spirits. Also a winery, they use their own grapes as the base for their Vin Gin.

This North Shore distillery augments its rosemary and oliveinfused gin and award-winning vodka with a variety of smallbatch seasonal releases.

Using wheat from Dawson Creek, Surrey-based Sherry Jiang is producing Canada’s only expressions of traditional Chinese spirit, baijiu.

GENEVER GIN

BARREL AGED AKVAVIT

CRANBERRY LIQUEUR

FR Malty, some dessert spices.

FL A bit jumbled. Lightly spiced. FE Light, peppery, even.

FI Mild, easy going. Dry. BE Subbed in for your favourite gin cocktail. Think stirred more than shaken.

BL Drinks a lot lighter than the 45 per cent indicates. Great introductory genever.

–Josh Pape

FR Herbs and spices, background of liquorice.

FL Full. Fennel and caraway shine, softened by some floral notes. FE Thin on the mouth, warming. FI Spices resonate throughout. BE Warm, after coming in from the cold. BL Spices are all there. Well balanced. A good sipper for winter.

–Trevor Kallies

FR Stewed dark fruit. FL Tart cranberry snap. FE Oily, good staying power. FI Lasting.

BE In a punch or simple mixer with soda. BL A great festive holiday mixer.

–Robyn Gray

63 Other products include: Honey Shine Beekeeper’s Reserve, New Tom Barrel Aged Gin, Vin Gin, Glen Saanich Single Malt.

Other products include: Deep Cove Vodka, Rosemary & Olive Gin, Sweet Tea Vodka (seasonal), Ghost Pepper Vodka (seasonal).

Other products include: Baijiu Gold and Silver, Dragon Mist Vodka, Dragon Mist Gin, Blueberry Liqueur, Coffee Liqueur.

Tasting Room yes

Tasting Room yes

Tasting Room no

DUBH GLAS DISTILLERY

FERMENTORIUM G&W DISTILLING CO. DISTILLING

8486 Gallagher Lake Frontage Rd., Oliver 778-439-3580 TheDubhGlasDistillery.com @TheDubhGlasD

2010 Government St., Victoria 250-380-1912 Fermentorium.ca PhillipsBreweryCo @PhillipsBeer

7167 Vantage Way #8, Delta 604-376-0630 SidsVodka.com, SilverDawn.ca

Though whisky is owner Grant Stevely’s true passion, the first signature release from this Oliverbased operation was the small batch Noteworthy Gin, distilled from B.C. barley.

Victoria’s Fermentorium’s Stump Coastal Forest Gin is fastbecoming a signature B.C. spirit.

Their collection of artisanal tonic waters elevate even the most basic of highballs.

Stephen Goodridge has garnered awards and fans with his range that includes three expressions of vodka, an approachable gin, and a whiskey-style rested spirit.

NOTEWORTHY GIN FR Fruity, with a little funk.

FL Very floral, soapy lavender.

FE Thin, slight bitterness.

FI Violets, coriander.

BE As an Aviation cocktail.

BL Mix with tropical and floral accompaniments.

–Shaun Layton

64

STUMP COASTAL FOREST GIN FR Floral, herbacious, delicious. FL Pine freshness with an earthy finish. FE Velvety, smooth. FI Long and smooth. BE As a G&T with one of Fermentorium’s handcrafted tonics, and lemon peel.

BL Phillips’ first play at spirits is a success: foraged ingredients, New World style. Fantastic product and packaging.

–Trevor Kallies

BITTERHOUSE RUBATO FR Rhubarb, strawberry, almost like an Eastern European pastry shop. FL Subtle summer fruit, bitter liquorice, cream soda.

FE Very light on the palate.

FI Lasting bitterness, stays around for a while.

BE Needs bubbles! Negroni Sbagliato or Americano.

BL A great alternative to Campari or other, harder to find, bitters.

–Shaun Layton

Other products include: Virgin Spirits Barley, Age-Your-Own Spirits Kits.

Other products include: Hop Drop Elixir, Fermentorium Handcrafted Tonics.

Other products include: Sid’s Vodka, Silver Dawn Vodka, Nütrl Vodka, Tempo Renovo Vancouver Dry Gin, Mapleshade Repose.

Tasting Room yes

Tasting Room no

Tasting Room yes

GILLESPIE’S FINE SPIRITS

KEALY BEVERAGE CO.

KOOTENAY COUNTRY CRAFT DISTILLERY

8-38918 Progress Way, Squamish 604-390-1122 GillespiesFineSpirits.com @gillespiesfinespirits @gillespies1

2841 Pacific Pl., Abbotsford 778-549-5181 kealysdiamondvodka.com KealysDiamondVodka

7263 Gustafson Rd., Slocan 250-355-2702 kootenaycountry.ca Kootenay-Country-Craft-DistilleryLtd

Friendship, a fun attitude, and a shared love of booze inspired Kelly Woods and John McLellan to start their Squamish-based still.

Their spirits are designed to be cocktail-friendly.

Mason and Nicole Kealy incorporated their Abbotsford distillery in 2010 and launched their first product three years later.

Lora and Kevin Goodwin strive to keep to the100-mile philosophy in their spirit production, using organic heirloom wheat, seasonal flowers and fruits, and spring water from the Selkirk Mountains.

LEMONCELLO

KEALY’S MOONSHINE

FR Cold lozenges, lemon sorbet.

FL Bittersweet, fragrant lemon, pithy.

FE Thin on the palate.

FI Lasting pithy citrus.

BE Serve over ice, after dinner.

BL The colour is a bit jarring, but this is a cool local digestif.

–Shaun Layton

FR Extremely light aroma, hints of citrus.

FL Pepper spice and grain.

FE Light-medium body.

FI Short and dry, extremely clean. BE A great mixing vodka. Preferred lemon twist in a Martini. BL An excellent base spirit for simple classic vodka cocktails such as a Collins, Caipiroska, or any drink containing citrus.

–Scott Barber

KOOTENAY COUNTRY GIN FR Fruity, citrus notes.

FL Understated, subtle juniper.

FE Soft and delicate.

FI Clean, lush.

BE Simply. Makes an excellent Negroni.

BL Very easy drinking.

A bit dangerous....

–Josh Pape

65

Other products include: Gastown Shine Vodka, Sin Gin, Aphro Chili Chocolate Elixir.

No other products.

Other products include: Valhalla Vodka, Kootenay Country Honey Vodka, seasonal flavoured vodkas.

Tasting Room yes

Tasting Room no

Tasting Room yes

LEGEND DISTILLING

THE LIBERTY DISTILLERY

LONG TABLE DISTILLERY

3005 Naramata Rd., Naramata 778-514-1010 LegendDistilling.com @legendnaramata

1494 Old Bridge St., Vancouver 604-558-1998 TheLibertyDistillery.com @TLDistillery

1451 Hornby St., Vancouver 604-266-0177 LongTableDistillery.com @LongTableDistillery @LT_Distillery

In a former doctor’s office on the Naramata Bench, Dawn and Doug Lennie created Legend together, drawing on the local bounty of the Okanagan for the base and flavours of their gin and vodkas.

With prime real estate on Granville Island, Liberty is open for tours, tastings and daily cocktails showcasing their vodka, different expressions of gin, and various white whiskies.

Gin is at the heart of Long Table, with London dry-style, cucumber and barrel-aged varieties fueling its many awards. This downtown Vancouver distillery also produces vodka, as well as seasonal liqueurs.

MANITOU

66

ENDEAVOUR OLD TOM GIN

LÅNGBORD AKVAVIT

FR Fresh mandarin peel.

FL Slight sweetness that is packed with fresh mandarin and a light finish of sumac.

FE Light.

FI The mandarin lingers on the back palate.

BE A good substitute for Cointreau or Triple Sec. BL A lovely liqueur that packs a citrus punch with a touch of spice.

–Wendy McGuinness

FR The barrel is quite evident — hints of coriander, slight juniper, and violets. FL Woodsy botanicals — cinnamon, cinchona, with small juniper presence. FE Silky from the barrel, with some tannin. FI Muted, with lingering sweetness and spice. BE Screams for stirred classics such as a Martinez. BL For whiskey lovers you want to convert to gin.

–Shaun Layton

FR Caraway! Anise, citrus.

FL More spices, fennel.

FE Light up front, lots of back palate.

FI Clean with lingering spices.

BE From the freezer, neat. Sub for gin – especially in a Corpse Reviver No. 2!

BL A cool alternative to gin.

Very well made spirit.

–Josh Pape

Other products include: Shadow in the Lake Vodka, Doctor’s Orders Gin, Defender Island Smoked Rosemary Gin, Slowpoke Flavoured Vodka.

Other products include: Truth Vodka, Endeavour Gin, Endeavour Origins Gin, Railspur No. 1, 2 & 3.

Other products include: London Dry Gin, Cucumber Gin, Barrel Aged Gin, Texada Vodka, Amaro No. 1 – Linnaeus, Limoncello.

Tasting Room yes

Tasting Room yes

Tasting Room yes

MAD LABORATORY DISTILLING

MAPLE LEAF SPIRITS

MERRIDALE ESTATE CIDERY

119-618 East Kent Ave., Vancouver MadLabDistilling

948 Naramata Rd., Penticton 250-493-0180 MapleLeafSpirits.ca MapleLeafSpirits @MapleLeafSpirit

PO Box 358, 1230 Merridale Rd., Cobble Hill 250-743-4293 MerridaleCider.ca @merridalecider

Truly handmade using a small homebrew mill and a pump, Mad Laboratory’s vodka is tripledistilled and carbon filtered from Armstrong barley and Champagne yeast.

Originally from Germany, and now based in the Okanagan, Jorg Engel has created a range of fruit-based liqueurs, brandies and grappas, produced from distilling 100 per cent B.C. fruit.

This Vancouver Island cider business applied their traditional fruit focus to distilling, creating a range that includes gin, fruit brandies, a rested whiskey, and even a carbonated vodka.

MAD LAB VODKA

PEAR LIQUEUR

FR Clean, light fragrance of sweet wheat, vanilla, and hints of doughy bread. FL Very smooth, lightly sweet with notes of black pepper, hint of vanilla.

FE Silky and dry. FI Super clean, lightly creamy.

BE Stirred, straight up with a twist. BL Brand new distillery, only the 4th batch made; Mad Lab nailed it.

–Wendy McGuinness

FR Fresh Pear.

FL Sweet pear eau de vie.

FE Quite viscous and round.

FI Long and lingering pear finish.

BE On its own straight up as an eau de vie, could also work as a great liqueur for creative cocktails.

BL Don’t let the cheesy packaging fool you. This is a very well made liqueur.

–Wendy McGuinness

COWICHAN COGNACSTYLE BRANDY FR Cooked fruit and baking spice. FL Warm mulled wine.

Playful spices throughout.

FE A lot of alcohol warmth.

FI Finishes with some spiced brandy notes. Warmth carries through due to 47 per cent ABV. BE After dinner or with chocolate. BL Decent take on the iconic spirit.

–Trevor Kallies 67

No other products.

Other products include: Maple Liqueur, Cherry Liqueur, Canadian Kirsch, Pear Williams, Italian Prune.

Other products include: Cowichan Vodka, Cowichan Copper Gin, Cowichan Gin, Stair’s Pear Brandy, Cowichan Cider Brandy.

Tasting Room opening soon

Tasting Room yes

Tasting Room yes

ODD SOCIETY SPIRITS

OKANAGAN CRUSH PAD

OKANAGAN SPIRITS CRAFT DISTILLERY

1725 Powell St., Vancouver 604-559-6745 OddSocietySpirits.com @oddsocietyspirits @OddSpirits

16576 Fosbery Rd., Summerland 250-494-4445 okanagancrushpad.com @OKCrushPad

5204 24th St., Vernon 267 Bernard Ave., Kelowna 250-549-3120 | 778-484-5174 OkanaganSpirits.com @OkanaganSpirits

This East Vancouver distillery’s three founding self-described “odd” owners are busy producing different expressions of gin, vodka and both white (unaged), and single malt whiskies.

The Summerland winery makes two expressions of gin (one of them for Vij’s restaurant), and a grappa-style spirit.

A family-owned award-winning distillery with a wide range of products to its name, including an absinthe, and both rye and single malt whiskies. Tours and tastings are available in both its locations.

CRÈME DE CASSIS FR Prunes, dried red fruit, berries. FL Dried figs, raisins and currants.

FE Rich. A bit cloying, but not overwhelmingly so. FI More balanced than expected.

BE In an El Diablo with Dickie’s ginger beer. Kir Royale (go easy, it’s quite concentrated).

BL The best cassis you’ll likely ever try.

–Josh Pape

NARRATIVE SPIRIT OF THE VINEYARD FR Fresh, white petals.

FL Pears, Gewurtztraminer.

FE Lush, creamy, round.

FI Dry with long pepper.

BE Neat, or subbed in for the vodka in a Vesper.

BL Approachable—for a grappa.

–Josh Pape

MARASCHINO LIQUEUR FR Sour cherry.

FL Sweet cherry with underlying almond.

FE Mouth-coating.

FI Relatively short.

BE In a Last Word cocktail.

BL Very excited to see this product. A popular ingredient in classic cocktail recipes, it is great to have a local iteration.

–Robyn Gray

68 Other products include: Wallflower Gin, East Van Vodka, Bittersweet Vermouth, White Rye Mongrel, Oaken Wallfower Gin.

Other products include: Narrative Gin Twelve Botanicals, Narrative Spirit of the Vineyard, Vij’s Bolly Water Gin.

Other products include: Fruit Liqueurs, Gin, Vodka, Single Malt Whisky, BRBN (Corn) Whisky, Taboo Genuine Absinthe.

Tasting Room yes

Tasting Room yes

Tasting Room yes

OLD ORDER DISTILLING COMPANY

PEMBERTON DISTILLERY

SHELTER POINT DISTILLERY

270 Martin St., Penticton 778-476-2210 | OldOrderDistilling.ca OldOrderDistilling @Old_Order_Distilling @OldOrder_Spirit

1954 Venture Pl., Pemberton 604-894-0222 PembertonDistillery.ca pemberton.distillery @pembydistillery

4650 Regent Rd, Campbell River 778-420-2200, ShelterPoint.ca ShelterPointDistillery @ShelterPoint_Distillery @ShelterPoint

At their Penticton distillery, Graham Martens and Naomi Gabriel take barley from Vanderhoof, malt it in Armstrong, then distill it with spring water from Anarchist Mountain.

Master distiller Tyler Schramm uses local organic Pemberton potatoes as the base for his extensive range of spirits and liqueurs.

The first batch of single malt from this Campbell River distillery was released this summer, created with barley grown on site and distilled in copper pot stills shipped from Scotland via the Panama Canal.

BLACK GOAT VODKA FR Sweet, lightly toasted grains.

FL Vanilla, tropical fruits, white pepper.

FE Silky and soft.

FI Sweet, shorter.

BE As your favourite highball.

But darker.

BL Bit gimmicky. If you want black vodka, go for it!

–Josh Pape

SCHRAMM ORGANIC ABSINTHE

CANADA ONE ARTISAN VODKA

FR Fennel, anise, could be mistaken for Yellow Chartreuse.

FL Hints of hemp seed, anise is not overpowering, bright fennel, hops, warm wormwood.

FE Perfect amount of silkiness.

FI Finishes hot, bright, non offensive. BE Neat, or in a cocktail emphasizing citrus.

BL A must try! Super fresh, it’s 60 per cent ABV, so go easy.

–Scott Barber

FR Quite neutral. Very clean, a hint of spring flowers.

FL Heaps of anise, black pepper, mace.

FE Buttery feel, in a great way.

FI Coriander and black pepper, long, pleasant finish.

BE Very cold and crisp classic Martini, no garnish.

BL This one was a real surprise; thumbs up!

–Shaun Layton

Other products include: Heritage Vodka, Legacy Gin, Genesis Whisky, Wicked Brew, Blessed Bean.

Other products include: Schramm Organic Potato Vodka, Schramm Organic Gin, Organic Single Malt Whisky, Kartoffelschnaps.

Other products include: Shelter Point Single Malt Whisky, Sunshine Liqueur, Yo! Off the Wall Spiced Vodka.

Tasting Room yes

Tasting Room yes

Tasting Room spring through fall

69

SHERINGHAM DISTILLERY

SONS OF VANCOUVER

2631 Seaside Dr., Shirley 778.528.1313 SheringhamDistillery.com @sheringhamdistillery @SheringhamBC

STEALTH DISTILLERIES CORPORATION

1431 Crown St., North Vancouver 778-340-5388 SonsOfVancouver.ca @SonsOfVancouver

#3-20 Orwell St. North Vancouver 604-916-4103

Jason MacIsaac was a successful chef before he turned distiller, and he brings his local, sustainable attitude towards food to his small batch spirits.

James Lester and Richard Klaus have added a tasting room to their North Vancouver distillery where you can try their Vodka, Chili Vodka, and signature No. 82 Amaretto.

Master distiller Randy Poulin and Stealth president John Pocekovic have set up shop in North Vancouver, making vodka from field dried Okanagan corn, milled on site.

AKVAVIT FR Citrus and anise.

FL Spicy caraway.

FE Oily and mouth-coating.

FI Sweet and warming. Long.

BE As an aperitif before a good meal, especially fish.

BL A beautiful medley of botanicals that sing in perfect harmony. A great twist on the Scandinavian spirit.

–Robyn Gray 70

BARREL AGED AMARETTO FR Kalamata olives and vanilla.

In a good way.

FL Marzipan, vanilla, with a touch of stone fruits.

FE Velvety, lingering.

FI Sweet, fresh.

BE Go old school: Godfather would be cool (with Scotch) — add a lemon twist to balance it.

BL Delicious. More complex than the original version.

–Josh Pape

VODKA FR Sweet and creamy.

FL Some hints of vanilla, cotton candy.

FE Thick and creamy for a vodka.

FI A mild sharpness.

BE Mixed drinks. Would be hard for this to flow in a Martini.

BL This 100 per cent corn vodka is approachable, for sure.

–Trevor Kallies

Other products include: Sheringham Vodka, Seaside Gin, William’s White.

Other products include: Vodka Vodka Vodka, No. 82 Amaretto, Chili Vodka.

No other products.

Tasting Room by appointment

Tasting Room yes

Tasting Room yes

URBAN DISTILLERIES

VICTORIA DISTILLERS

VON ALBRECHT & ASSOCIATES

325 Bay Ave., #6, Kelowna 778-478-0939 UrbanDistilleries.ca @UrbanDistilleries @SpiritBearVodka

9891 Seaport Pl., Sidney 250-544-8217 VictoriaDistillers.com @VicDistillers @DrinkVicGin

2220 Vauxhall Pl., Richmond 604-249-0003 VonAlbrecht.com xfourvodka @xfour_ @XFOUR_Vodka

A trip to France and an unplanned tour of a Cognac distillery put Mike Urban on the path to making his own liquor.

He now owns the largest distillery in the province.

Launched in 2008, Victoria Gin graces bars across the country.

Their first small batch, limited release whisky was launched in early 2015.

The XFour vodka range is distilled from rye and corn in Vernon; the lemonade base for their coolers is made from founder Marcus Von Albrecht’s great-grandfather’s recipe.

BLACKCURRANT LIQUEUR

LEFT COAST HEMP VODKA

XFOUR BREMNER’S BLUEBERRY

FR Grape jelly, port, sour cherry.

FL Welch’s Grape Fruit candy (in a good way).

FE Sweet at first, with a burst of acidity.

FI Tart, fruity, acidic.

BE In classic English cocktail, the Bramble.

BL Buy a bottle, it’ll last for a while. A little goes a long way.

–Shaun Layton

FR Earthy, toasted grains, nutty.

FL Buckwheat, rye spice, roasted walnuts.

FE Silky, balanced, sustained.

FI Pleasant, clean.

BE Chilled, neat or as a Martini with an onion.

BL More flavour than your average vodka, and worth a try.

–Josh Pape

FR Bright blueberry syrup.

FL Dark, thick, and tastes of real blueberries. FE Thick, coats mouth with blueberry and dark fruit flavours. FI Relatively clean and less sweet than front.

BE Interesting addition to a Collins-style cocktail.

BL Fun for a flavoured vodka.

Quality is clear on production.

–Trevor Kallies 71

Other products include: Urban Single Malt Whisky, Spirit Bear Gin, Spirit Bear Vodka, Spirit Bear Espresso Infused Vodka.

Other products include: Oaken Gin, Victoria Gin, Craigdarroch Whisky, Twisted Bitters, Pinot Noir Eau de Vie.

Other products include: XFour Handcrafted Vodka, Xoxolat Chocolate Cocktail, Percy’s Old Fashioned Lemonade Infused Vodka.

Tasting Room yes

Tasting Room yes

Tasting Room no

WAYWARD DISTILLATION HOUSE

THE WOODS SPIRIT CO.

YALETOWN DISTILLING COMPANY

2931 Moray Ave, Courtenay 250-871-0424 WaywardDistillationHouse.com WaywardDistillation @WaywardDH

1450 Rupert Street, North Vancouver (opening soon) 778-996-7637 TheWoodsSpiritCo.com @WoodsSpiritCo

1132 Hamilton St., Vancouver 604-669-2266 YTDistilling.com Yaletown-Distilling-Company @YTDistilling

Harking bark to the earliest recorded alcohols, Comox-based Wayward starts all its products by first creating mead to form the base, and add a touch of sweetness on the nose.

Friends Joel Myers and Fabio Martini’s West Coast version of Amaro uses traditional botanicals such as rhubarb and bitter orange, as well as the more unconventional grand fir.

A successful brewery in the heart of the city, Yaletown moved into spirits in 2013, distilling gin and vodka from B.C. barley. Tours and tastings are available onsite.

DEPTH CHARGE EXPRESSO & CACAO BEAN LIQUEUR FR Sweet coffee. FL Deep off-dry cacao bitterness with coffee overtones. FE Thin and dry. FI Long lasting non-offensive bitterness.

BE On the rocks. BL Not a sweet liqueur. A great balance of bitter and dry.

–Robyn Gray 72

PACIFIC NORTHWEST AMARO FR Woodsy with grand fir.

FL Astringent, with an underlying spiciness. FE Clean and crisp, but with the sense of mouth-coating syrup. FI Spicy with a long lasting bitterness.

BE I tried it in a Negroni and it works surprisingly well. Or serve chilled, neat. BL A great bitter liqueur made with the tradional amaro in mind.

–Robyn Gray

YALETOWN VODKA FR Tropical! Banana, pineapple, bubble gum, vanilla.

FL Savoury, slightly briny, white pepper, yeasty.

FE Nice mouthfeel, slightly sweet.

FI Loads of spice, white pepper, marzipan, coriander.

BE Savoury notes would make for a great Dirty Martini.

BL Great value local product.

–Shaun Layton

Other products include: Unruly Gin, Unruly Vodka, Bourbon Barreled Gin, Drunken Hive Rum.

No other products.

Other products include: Yaletown Gin, Yaletown Mandarin Vodka.

Tasting Room yes

Tasting Room no

Tasting Room yes

ON THE TOWN

MIXOLOGISTS AND DISTILLERS CELEBRATED ALL THINGS SPIRIT-FORWARD AT VICTORIA’S ART OF THE COCKTAIL EVENT IN OCTOBER

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4 1 Stuart Bertrand from the Bard & Banker at the Grand tasting. 2 Kayla Morton from Fine Art Bartending School.

3 Jessica Barwin from Glo Restaurant & Lounge.

4 Michael Pizzitelli, head distiller at Arbutus Distillery.

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THE LAST WORD “WE HAVE SOME BOURBON, LET’S MAKE MANHAT TANS!” MARILYN MONROE AS SUGAR KANE GETS THE PART Y STARTED, MIXING COCKTAILS IN A HOT WATER BOT TLE IN BILLY WILDER’S CL ASSIC COMEDY, SOME LIKE IT HOT.

A CL ASSIC MANHATTAN 2 oz. rye or bourbon 1 oz. sweet vermouth 2 dashes Angostura bitters Maraschino cherries Lemon peel (optional)

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Add the whiskey, vermouth, and bitters to a cocktail shaker with ice.

Rub the lemon peel around the rim of the cocktail glass. Strain the drink into the glass. Add cherries.

Lou Lou Childs photo