The Alchemist ON • Issue 22 • Spring/Summer 2024

It’s what everyone is drinking now

ROTO REVOLUTION

Distilling flavour from, well, anything

HOME BAR

The magic of clarification

LGBTQ+ LIQUOR

Out, proud and inclusive

MARTINI MADNESS

The

The fabulous inclusivity of Squirrel Friendz vodka by Charlene Rooke

The bars you need to know in the Crescent City right now by Charlene Rooke

The ultimate classic cocktail has never been so cool by Kate Dingwall

Distilling flavour through technology and imagination by Christine Sismondo

Around the world with Japan’s signature whisky by Charlene Rooke

Rick O’Brien

Contributors

Joanne Sasvari is the editor of The Alchemist, Vitis and YAM magazines. She is a WSET-certified writer-editor who covers food, drink and travel for a variety of publications, and is the author of several cookbooks, including the recently released Okanagan Eats

Matthew Benevoli is an awardwinning mixologist, industry veteran and mentor. He has a passion for creating custom and unique cocktails and loves storytelling through them.

Evelyn Chick is the Torontobased founder of the event space Ahma, snack bar SIMPL THINGS and cocktail consultancy Love of Cocktails. She is also author of the book For the Love of Cocktails

Kate Dingwall is a WSET-trained wine professional and a writer, editor and photographer covering spirits, food, culture and travel for publications such as Food & Wine and Serious Eats.

Reece Sims is a retired awardwinning bartender, avid destination distillery-goer and the owner of SIP Spirits, an agency that works with beverage brands. Follow her on Instagram @reecesims.

Christine Sismondo is a National Magazine Award-winning writer who covers spirits, wine, bars and cultural history for numerous publications, and is the author of America Walks into a Bar.

Charlene Rooke is a certified Specialist of Spirits and a Moonshine University-trained craft distiller who writes for enRoute, Taste and Food & Drink.

Allie Turner is a lifestyle journalist specializing in beauty and fashion, but a serious love for the people in Vancouver’s hospitality industry keeps her coming back to food and cocktail writing.

Editor’s letter

Sometimes—well, most of the time, really—all we crave is an icy-cold Martini. We're thirsty for the botanical bite of the gin, the delicate floral essence of the vermouth, maybe the tiniest splash of salty brine. And it seems we’re not alone. Although the Martini has been around for at least a century and likely longer, it has never been trendier than it is right now. (Unless you include the syrupy “tinis” of the 1990s, which we don’t.)

In her piece “Make it a Martini,” writer Kate Dingwall explores the trend and some of the creative and luxe variations on the Martini that are being stirred up (never shaken) across Canada. And in Tasting Panel, Reece Sims taps bartenders in Toronto and Vancouver for their favourite Martini gins and the recipes they’d make with them. Enjoy! We sure plan to.

Also in this issue: Our Home Bar columnist Matthew Benevoli explains the craft, science and magic behind clarifying cocktails. In Still Life, Charlene Rooke discovers Squirrel Friendz, the world’s first 2SLGBTQIA+-owned and -operated spirits brand. She also follows the evolution of Nikka Whisky on a malty pilgrimage around the world. We check out cool bars near and far, including a visit to Canada’s No. 1 Bar Pompette with Evelyn Chick, a trip down the boozy rabbit hole at The Alice in Oxford with Allie Turner, and a tour of NOLA’s top joints with Charlene Rooke. Meanwhile, Christine Sismondo introduces us to the rotovap, the gadget we didn’t know we needed and now think we can’t survive without, if only we could afford it.

Plus we round up some of Canada’s recent awardwinning bars and bartenders and cover the latest spirited news from here and around the world. For more, visit thealchemistmagazine.ca.

—Joanne Sasvari, Editor

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EDITOR: Joanne Sasvari jsasvari@glaciermedia.ca

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BAR BITES

NEWS AND NOTES FROM BEHIND THE BAR AND AROUND THE WORLD OF COCKTAILS AND SPIRITS

HOT SPOTS—COMPTON AVE.

Whenone of the city’s best known and most highly acclaimed bartenders opens a new joint, everyone sits up and takes notice. In Toronto, that bartender is Frankie Solarik, famously of Bar Chef, Prequel & Co. Apothecary and the Netflix show Drink Masters; the bar is Compton Ave., an ode to all things London, a city that just happens to have one of the best cocktail scenes in the world.

Compton Ave. has a richly clubby vibe inspired by a posh townhouse in one of London’s tonier neighbourhoods. Think tufted leather banquettes, rich brocades, glittering chandeliers, mahogany-hued finishes and 19th-century paintings from Solarik’s personal collection, including the original 1855 “Portrait of a Lady in Black” by Austrian artist Heinrich Hollpein Oh—and don’t forget the polite, waistcoated staff.

As you can imagine, the bartender The New York Times called a “legendary experimentalist” has also crafted a pretty exciting cocktail list. It includes four twists on the Martini, among them a Smoked Olive Martini to delight all the dirty drinkers, plus classics like the London Fog and Mayfair Sour, well-balanced non-alc drinks and a rotating selection of draught cocktails such as the nitro-infused Espresso Martini. Tea appears in several cocktails, too, and the bar also boasts an impressive selection of gins as well as upscale British pub food like the roasted bone marrow with housemade crumpets.

Facebook.com/Compton Ave. photo

Solarik is known not just for his modern mixology, but for creating immersive experiences, and that’s just what he’s done here once again.

Compton Ave. is located at 1282 Dundas Street West. comptonave.com

SHAKING UP THE AWARDS WORLD

If it’s spring it must be competition season and Canada’s best bars and bartenders are winning awards all over the place. Here are just a few that have made news the past few months.

WORLD’S MOST IMAGINATIVE BARTENDER

Elise Hanson, bar manager at Bar Raval and the founder and executive director of Higher Harvests in Toronto, has won the prestigious Most Imaginative Bartender competition, presented by Bombay Sapphire and Tales of the Cocktail Foundation. Her winning cocktail, The Happy Place Project, earned her a $20,000 creative grant for Higher Harvests, which turns Toronto rooftops into gardens for growing fresh, organic produce.

DIAGEO WORLD CLASS CANADA

Each year, some 10,000 bartenders compete in World Class, with Canada always among the top competitors— three of our bartenders have taken the global title since we started competing in 2013 (Kaitlyn Stewart, James Grant, Jacob Martin). So winning World Class Canada is no small thing. This year’s newly crowned World Class Canada Bartender of the Year is Keegan McGregor from The Highwayman in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He represents Canada at the World Class Global competition in Shanghai, China, from September 9 to 13.

NORTH AMERICA’S 50 BEST BARS

This year, Canadian bars took seven places on this prestigious list, our best showing to date.

For the third year in a row, Toronto’s Civil Liberties was named Best Bar in Canada and placed at number 21. Vancouver’s Botanist Bar also placed in the top half

Bar Raval’s Elise Hanson has been crowned the world’s Most Imaginative Bartender. Photo courtesy of Bombay Most Imaginative Bartender

at number 24, while The Keefer Bar reentered the list at number 49. Toronto’s Bar Pompette ranked number 29 and Bar Mordecai ranked number 40. Two Montreal bars also placed: Cloakroom at number 39 and Atwater Cocktail Club at number 50, with Atwater’s Kate Boushel winning the Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award.

In addition, Vancouver’s Laowai was one of just three finalists among hundreds of contenders in the hotly contested Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award, and author and bartender Evelyn Chick won the Campari One to Watch Award.

A TIPSY TAKE ON TEA AT THE EMPRESS

Afternoon tea at the Fairmont Empress is one of Victoria’s bucketlist experiences, served in one of the city’s most iconic spaces, the hotel’s soaring and ornate tea lobby. But now, says Maeve Fogarty, “We’re twisting afternoon tea on its head.”

Each night the tea lobby is transformed into the city’s most glamourous cocktail lounge for Sunset Sips. “Everything on the Sunset Sips menu has a tea component,” says Fogarty, a tea and wine sommelier who is also the hotel’s director of restaurants and bars. “They wanted to do tea, but tea doesn’t make sense at 8 p.m.”

Cocktails are served in elegant glass teapots for one or two, and guests can also order sweet and savoury snacks served on tiered plates, just like at afternoon tea, but all grown up.

Among the half-dozen bespoke cocktails is Tiffany’s Breakfast, a twist on a Breakfast Martini that’s named for the nightclub that used to be tucked away in the basement of the hotel.

“The components of the drink are what you’d see on the breakfast table and a night out at a nightclub like Tiffany’s,” Fogarty says. That includes coffee bitters, grapefruit liqueur and chamomile tea, its floral notes a nod to the Tiffany lamps that used to decorate the nightclub.

“And the nice thing is,” Fogarty adds, “you can have it morning, noon and night.”

TIFFANY’S BREAKFAST

This bright and refreshingly tart update on the classic Breakfast Martini is just one of the tea-inspired cocktails served at Victoria’s Fairmont Empress during its nightly Sunset Sips.

2 oz Empress Oaken Gin

0.5 oz Giffard Crème de Pamplemousse Rose (pink grapefruit liqueur)

0.5 oz Lillet Blanc

0.5 oz Chamomile and Demerara Syrup (see note)

1 tsp marmalade

1 oz lemon juice

4 dashes coffee bitters

Garnish: dehydrated orange wheel

Amy Ho photo

Place all ingredients (except garnish) in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Fine-strain into a small glass teapot. To serve, place dehydrated orange wheel in a teacup (adding some ice if you would like) and pour the cocktail over it. Serves 1.

Note: To make the Chamomile and Demerara Syrup, place 1 cup water and 1 cup demerara sugar in a small pot over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and add 3 chamomile tea bags. Steep for 10 minutes, then discard tea bags. Cool to room temperature before using. Can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Photo courtesy of Fairmont Empress

SPIRITED READS

These three new books will get you inspired to shake up your cocktail routine.

A Quick Drink: The Speed Rack Guide to Winning Cocktails for Any Mood by Lynnette Marrero and Ivy Mix with Megan Krigbaum (Abrams Books)

Marrero and Mix are the founders of Speed Rack, the famed all-women quality-plus-speedplus-insanely-fun bartending competition that raises money for breast cancer charities. Here they’ve gathered more than 100 recipes from more than 80 international bartender competitors. Plus they offer useful tips for batching cocktails, making infusions and syrups, creating new drinks and much more.

NEW SIPS TO SAVOUR

Here are some exciting new products to check out this summer—and they just happen to make great gifts for Father’s Day, or for yourself at any time.

Alberta Distillers Rare Batch Issue No.

1: There’s not much info on this yet, but we’re pretty excited to try it anyway. It will be a limited-edition whisky from the “Distillery of the Decade”—which produces Alberta Premium, the world’s top-selling all-rye whisky—and is scheduled to hit shelves across Canada the last week of June. albertadistillers.com

Cabin Gin 2024 Green Label: Okanagan Spirits has just released the first in a new lineup of

The Connaught Bar: Cocktail Recipes and Iconic Creations by Agostino Perrone with Giorgio Bargiani and Maura Milia (Phaidon Press)

The Connaught is one of the world’s most beautiful, stylish and iconic bars, thanks in part to its elegant cubist décor, but mostly down to Ago Perrone, its director of mixology since 2008, and his talented team. This gorgeous book includes recipes for 100 cocktails, mainly twists on the classics, as well as 120 additional recipes for the homemade syrups, infusions and garnishes that make them so memorable.

The Cocktail Parlor: How Women Brought the Cocktail Home by Nicola Nice (Countryman Press)

For much of drinks history, cocktail manuals were written by men for other men working behind the bar and serving mainly men in front of it. Yet many of our most famous cocktails were perfected at home by women in their cocktail parlors. Here Nicola Nice, a sociologist and spirits entrepreneur, profiles some of those influential hostesses and the cocktails they popularized.

seasonal small-batch gins inspired by time spent at the family cabin and escapes to other places. It features hints of lemongrass, fresh ginger and Thai lime leaf, reminiscent of trips through Southeast Asia. It retails for $35 (for a 500 mL bottle), with at least two more in the series expected by the end of the year. okanaganspirits.com

J.P. Wisers 42-Year-Old: As you can imagine, only limited quantities are available of this 42-year-old expression from the Canadian whisky trailblazer. Aged in Speyside single malt casks, Canadian oak barrels and ex-bourbon barrels, it has rich, complex notes of dried fruits and English toffee, dark cherry, roasted nuts, rye, nutmeg and leather with a warm cinnamon finish. Part of The Decades Series, it will be available in June, retailing for $469.99.

Getting tipsy with Bar Pompette

CANADA’S TOP BAR IS JUST A WELCOMING NEIGHBOURHOOD JOINT AT HEART

by Evelyn Chick

Recently named the country’s No.1 bar by Canada’s 100 Best and listed among North America’s 50 Best Bars, Bar Pompette is one of Toronto’s favourite gems. Pompette is inviting and unpretentious, a bar that feels both cozy and elegant. Step inside and it feels like a French café, its minimalist setting featuring a gorgeous marble bar and a romantic patio in the back. And the name “Pompette” in itself, meaning “slightly tipsy,” reflects the bar’s fun, playful personality.

I spoke with co-founders Maxime Hoerth and Hugo Togni, both from France and with highend hotel and restaurant backgrounds, about their passion for the industry, their move from France and what it took to establish such a presence in Toronto.

The journey began with Restaurant Pompette, which was opened in 2020 by French ex-pats Martine Bauer (the chef), Jonathan Bauer (the sommelier) and Hoerth (the barman). Togni joined as bartender and then helped open Bar Pompette in 2021. They later added a bakery, which prepares the fresh bread served at all three spaces. This trio of establishments has such a wonderful synergy, using ingredients that are local and seasonal with an element of surprise.

Bar Pompette’s Nitro Colada (clarified pineapple, coconut water, coconut washed rum, curry leaf, house falernum, nitrogen) is a big step up from your typical tap cocktails. Instagram/barpompette_to photo

Bar Pompette’s cocktail menu is both simple yet full of sophistication. One of my absolute favourites is the Cornichon that’s been on the menu for a good minute. It’s a very drinkable variation on a classic gin Martini with a pickle

distillate offering just the right amount of aromatics to make you want to re-visit again and again.

It’s made using the technique of rotary evaporation, creating a clear liquid that’s bursting with flavour. (See our story on page 24.) But most guests will probably never know the process that goes behind each cocktail.

The Nitro Colada on tap has a scrumptious texture thanks to its centrifuge-clarified pineapple juice and coconut oil-washed rum. Team Pompette wanted something “easy to read on the paper … making sure that the flavour that we like tell on the paper is the flavour that you get in the drinks.” Those “Porsche in the garage” vibes are really working for them.

Despite having advanced gadgets and techniques, the bar remains approachable, making it a beloved spot for both cocktail enthusiasts and neighbourhood folks. During the pandemic, the neighbourhood’s support was crucial, and the bar continues to thrive thanks to loyal locals who frequent the bar, restaurant and bakery.

“At the beginning, we were working like 90 per cent with the neighbourhood. It was really something new for just a few blocks around. They saved us during the pandemic and helped us when we opened the bar,” Togni says.

When asked about the training required for so much attention to detail, Hoerth and Togni point out that it’s about a six-month process to learn the ins and outs of the space, so they invest in their team, educate them on advanced techniques and allow for lots of experimentation. They also work closely with local farmers and seasonal purveyors to put out

Canada’s No. 1 bar, Pompette has the welcoming vibe of a casual French bistro, but serious technique and skill go into every cocktail. Instagram/barpompette_to photo

an ever-evolving menu. And Pompette’s team also frequents industry events to show support for their community.

In essence, Bar Pompette is more than just a bar. It has solidified itself as a neighbourhood institution that has significantly influenced Toronto’s cocktail landscape, as well as making noise globally. With a focus on authenticity, community, quality and seasonality, Pompette is that sort of quiet giant you would not want to miss.

“We wanted to have a good bar,” says Hoerth. “The best reaction is when people come here, have a couple of drinks, and say, ‘That’s some really good stuff you do here.’”

You can’t help but fall in love with everything Bar Pompette has to offer.

Squirrel Friendz isn’t just a spirit brand; it also promotes inclusivity and community, often by hosting drag events. Photo courtesy of Squirrel Friendz

Nuts for inclusive vodka

CANADA’S FIRST OUT-AND-PROUD 2SLGBTQIA+ OWNED AND OPERATED BRAND IS BECOMING SQUIRREL FRIENDZ WITH COCKTAIL FANS IN B.C. AND BEYOND

by Charlene Rooke

It all started with a night out at a casino, after which Kyle Aszalos woke up with what he thought could be a million-dollar idea.

“Cocktail kits!” he said to his partner, Jeremy Fischer. That pivoted to producing their own spirits to put in the kits, and “then we scrapped the kits,” Fischer laughs.

The co-founders of Squirrel Friendz vodka are celebrating the brand’s one-year anniversary this summer, with entry into BC Liquor Stores in May and a bold, colourful presence on many private-store shelves and back bars.

“We went with vodka because it’s the quickest to get to market,” Aszalos says of sourcing the crisp spirit, in all-natural flavours with no added sugar, from commercial distillery Orchard City Distilling Co. in West Kelowna. Quick was important, because it meant they could quickly start making a difference.

The brand’s Inclusive Vodka, plus lemon lime and cucumber mint vodka bottlings, stand out for more than their great taste and style (with bright and colourful modern labels courtesy Foe Creative in Victoria). Squirrel Friendz is the first proudly 2SLGBTQIA+ owned and operated spirits company in Canada, with spirits as sippable over ice as they are topped

Squirrel Friendz vodka is available in three cocktail-friendly flavours, from left: lemon lime; the original Inclusive Vodka; and cucumber mint. Photo courtesy of Squirrel Friendz

with soda or shaken into fabulous cocktail creations. (Find recipes at squirrelfriendz. com/cocktails and on Instagram @squirrel. friendz.)

It’s a move that Debbie Shing, a co-founder of the drinks-industry diversity, equity and

inclusion organization Vinequity, applauds. “Recent 2022 data by Statistics Canada shows that four per cent of all Canadians identify as 2SLGBTQ+, and that percentage increases staggeringly to 33 per cent of all Canadians between the ages of 15 to 34. The highly gendered coding of some on-premise chains and mainstream brands on our shelves simply does not reflect the values and intersectional identities of our shifting population properly any more,” says Shing.

Squirrel Friendz walks the walk of inclusivity by donating to local organizations to empower 2SLGBTQIA+ people. In B.C., their partner is Qmunity, a resource centre with provincewide services for youth and adults identifying with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. “We’re giving a voice back to a community that is under-represented in the liquor industry,” says Fischer.

Sons of Vancouver distiller and partner Jenna Diubaldo, who identifies as queer, concurs. “Coming from the non-profit sector in my previous career, I’ve always thought that a

Squirrel Friendz co-founder Jeremy Fischer says the brand also supports charities like Qmunity.

Photo courtesy of Squirrel Friendz

distillery as a social enterprise that benefits social causes is something that could make sustainable change,” she says. “More visibility for typically underrepresented groups in this industry is something we’re definitely starting to see more of.”

Fischer has a long career history in hospitality, and notes that 2SLGBTQIA+ team members—from bussers and barbacks to bar managers and owners—help power bars and restaurants everywhere. Squirrel Friendz is at its cheeky best when it partners with local establishments. “That’s where we can do a lot of fun events, like putting on drag shows and drag brunches,” says Aszalos. (Drag fans know that so-called squirrel friend queens, um, hide their nuts.) The name is “a conversation starter,” laughs Fischer, who says the brand is all about friends gathering together to build community and have a good time.

The Squirrel Friendz commitment goes beyond rainbow-emblazoned bottles or Pride events, Fischer and Aszalos emphasize. “We are a brand that charities like Qmunity can always trust and count on to support them, and share their stories and projects,” Fischer says, of the commitment to empower the 2SLGBTQIA+ community year-round. “We’d love to work with other brands, to show them how to truly be allies of this community.”

At Vancouver Cocktail Week, Squirrel Friendz poured a drink called the Cucumber Spice Oasis (cucumber mint vodka, jalapeño syrup, pineapple juice). Living Room Creative photo

LIME WEDGE

VODKA

LEMON

Where to drink right now in New Orleans

POST-MARDI GRAS AND BEFORE TALES OF THE COCKTAIL

IS THE BEST TIME TO VISIT NOLA: THE COCKTAIL SCENE IS HOT, AND THE WEATHER NOT-YET SWAMPY

by Charlene Rooke

BAR STARS

A giant chandelier glitters over the lobby bar at the Four Seasons New Orleans, inspiring its name. Photo courtesy of Four Seasons New Orleans

CHANDELIER BAR

This gem of a lobby bar at the Four Seasons New Orleans serves a Chandelier Martini as glittering and towering as the room’s gigantic crystal crown. Three gins (a London Dry, a wetter botanical and an Old Tom). Three garnishes (a pick of olives, a fat lemon zest and a strip of pickled mirliton, a NOLA delicacy that’s jicama or chayote-like). Add 24 stirs and six dashes of something called Chandelier Magic (a house bitters, in which local Herbsaint liqueur plays a role) in a chilled glass approaching fishbowl size, and it’s a choose-your-own adventure in drinking. That’s the only drink you’ll need, but from the

As the Legend Goes menu, choose a refreshing Roffignac (a Cognac-and-raspberry highball spritzed with soda), a refreshing classic on the come-up. fourseasons.com/neworleans/ dining/menus/chandelier-bar-drinks

The Brandy Crusta is the crown jewel at Jewel of the South. Facebook.com/jewelfothesouthnola photo

JEWEL OF THE SOUTH

A 20-year vet of the New Orleans bar scene, coowner Chris Hannah presides most nights over this restaurant bar, shaking up his perfected Brandy Crusta and other iconic drinks. Though you can hit it on a Wednesday for Casual Caviar happy hour, or dine lavishly on the likes of tripe, pig head and beef tongue made into savoury dinner mains, the bar itself hits hard enough to have landed at No. 5 on North America’s 50 Best Bars and be named the Best Bar in the South in 2023. jewelnola.com

Manolito has perfected the art of frozen and blended drinks. Instagram.com/manolitonola photo

MANOLITO

Jewel of the South’s Hannah also co-founded this French Quarter Cuban-themed bar, named for Manuel “Manolito” Carbajo Aguia, a beloved colleague who presided at Havana’s legendary La Floridita bar. Manolito not only sees no stigma in frozen and blended drinks, it perfects the art: Just try the frozen amaretto sour and try to deny it. The tiny bar will be briefly closed this spring while it mercifully renovates and expands from the existing two dozen seats. manolitonola.com

CURE

After the wrath of Hurricane Katrina receded, the local culinary scene was reborn: Cure is

widely regarded as the site of the cocktailaissance. The entry is lined with cabinets of dusties and curiosities collected by owner Neal Bodenheimer, and the reserve cocktails list is rich with rare options like a Mai Tai with rums from Jamaica, Martinique and Grenada that never make it to Canadian shores. On the current seasonal drinks list: a buttery-soft, rice-washed Magnolia Martini (featuring a floral-kissed gin from Wonderbird Spirits in Mississippi, created by brand ambassador and Cure bartender Gina Hoover) is a standout. Bodenheimer also owns Peychaud’s, a tony bar named for the cocktail-bitter pioneer. curenola.com

The cocktails at Cane and Table explore the dark and complicated history of of the rum trade. Charlene Rooke photo

CANE & TABLE

The so-called proto tiki movement may have been born here at this modern Caribbean restaurant (also founded by Bodenheimer), which serves a respectful look at the dark and complicated history of the rum trade and associated cocktail history. For instance, the Common Ground combines American bourbon and Caribbean rum with tiki-staple orgeat and citrus for an entirely nouveau highball. Other drinks use Mexican sotol and Japanese whisky inventively with tropical flavours from banana to nuts. Or just order the house Hurricane & Table, many cuts above the Bourbon Street staple. caneandtablenola.com

The Side Quest cocktail at Cure. Charlene Rooke photo

LOOK BEYOND THE SIGNS

THE WINE BAR AT EMERIL’S

Yes, the posh spot next to the flagship Warehouse District Emeril’s is called The Wine Bar at Emeril’s, but you’d best order the Reserve Martini: vodka fat-washed in local-fave Zapp’s chips, caper-infused gin and garnished with a bump of caviar balanced on a chip. The Chicory Manhattan with sweet potato, pecan and cane vinegar is another knockout. emerilsrestaurant.com/the-wine-bar-at-emerils

Barrel Proof’s back bar. Instagram.com/ barrelproofnola photo

BARREL PROOF

Barrel Proof touts itself as a whiskey bar—and indeed, has 400-plus on the back bar—but it’s

so much more. It eschews the old-school men’s club thing for cool Garden District dive-bar vibes, so while your fellow patrons sip cheap Mexican lager and craft IPA, gorge on rare Japanese drams or unfamiliar amari, like the wicked Marseille from Brooklyn’s Forthave Spirits. drinkbarrelproof.com

THE CLASSICS

No cocktail tour of NOLA is complete without a stop at Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29, a tropical cocktail historian’s fever dream with great happy hour snacks and beyond-canon drinks like a spicy, gin-based Outcast of the Islands served on a grog-cone of shaved ice. A namesake drink at the dark, moodily muraled Sazerac Bar is a must, as is A Drink (one drink only!) at the busy, buzzy revolving Carousel Bar, where more than one tipple risks tipping over upon exit. Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar, named for a privateer (some say pirate) and located in one of the oldest bar buildings in the U.S., is at the edge of the French Quarter and makes a good nightcap spot, though the purple Voodoo Daiquiri is not a gentle goodnight drink. Arnaud’s French 75 Bar is a great place to sip classics and snack on snacks like soufflé potatoes, from one of the city’s great old-school restaurants.

The Reserve Martini at Emeril’s is a winning choice. Charlene Rooke photo

The Outcast of the Islands cocktail at Latitude 29. Charlene Rooke photo

Make it a Martini

SHAKEN, STIRRED OR STEAMING WITH DRY ICE— THE CLASSIC

COCKTAIL HAS NEVER BEEN SO COOL

by Kate Dingwall

Drink trends come and go—remember the Negroni Sbagliato? Frosé?—but through it all, the Martini persists. For over 100 years, fans of the drink (James Bond, Lucille Bluth, Carrie Bradshaw, Winston Churchill) have sipped fervently and ask for theirs by specifics: bone-dry, brine-packed, with olives or a twist.

Recently, the drink’s popularity has been pushed into overdrive. “The Martini has become really trendy,” says Calum Wilson, director of food and beverage at the downtown Toronto hotel Revery. “It’s having a huge resurgence right now.”

TWISTS ON TRADITION

It’s not just standard combos of gin, vermouth and olives—this new guard of ’tinis is bigger and flashier than ever before. Maxime’s in Toronto adds dry ice to the shaker so smoke billows over the glass. At Library Bar, the Birdbath Martini costs $75 and includes sturgeon caviar.

Other Martinis consider more surrealist or cerebral concepts, like cultural traditions or sense of place. Cantonese-American restaurant Bonnie’s in Brooklyn adds drops of MSG, for instance. Meanwhile the Lunar at Suyo Modern Peruvian in Vancouver captures the motion of the ocean: Islay gin, oyster shell and a liquid “moon” made with kombu, aquavit and ponzu. Botanist Bar’s equally

oceanic version highlights coastal gin, chive oil, oyster leaf (a briny wild herb) and sea asparagus.

“Martinis are, without a doubt, making a comeback,” says Max Curzon-Price of Suyo. “Excitingly, they’re often in new forms. Just as we saw with the Old Fashioned, it’s transcending its specific recipe. The bones are the same, but bartenders seem to be playing with the delicate profiles of a spirit stirred with a little vermouth. I’ve seen sotol served with Spanish vermouth and shochu versions—a take on the ever-more-popular low-ABV Martini.”

THE BONES ARE THE SAME, BUT BARTENDERS SEEM TO BE PLAYING WITH THE DELICATE PROFILES OF A SPIRIT STIRRED WITH A LITTLE VERMOUTH.

LEFT: The Dirty Martini at Le Tigre in Toronto is just one of countless variations on a cocktail that, more than any other, is an expression of the drinker’s personality. Rick O’Brien photo

RIGHT: At Vancouver’s Suyo Modern Peruvian, the Lunar is a play on the Martini that captures the essence of the moon in its briny depths. Chelsea Brown photo

pandemic, a Martini romanticizes the night out—it’s strong, sexy and says, we’re back, baby.

Flip through Instagram and the see-and-beseens are sloshing around Martinis, carrying them with the importance of a Fendi bag. “Skewered olives in cute stemware are all over social media these days, backdropped by nice manicures and tablecloths,” says Granicolo. “Instagram and TikTok are really influencing popularity, but I’m all for that—it spreads the gospel and keeps people drinking in cocktail bars.”

And with inflation, a lethal Martini offers a serious bang for your buck. “People are tight on spending at the moment, especially during this economic shitstorm,” says Granicolo.

Other bartenders flex technique through their Martini. “There’s a gherkin Martini at Bar Pompette that excites me every time I go there—it’s made with a dilly house distillate or a centrifuge? Mixology!” says Cry Baby Gallery and Le Tigre’s co-owner Robert Granicolo, who has made over 45,000 Martinis. “The Coldroom in Montreal makes the best dirty Martini [gin, Lillet, amaretto and bay leaf tincture] I’ve ever had.”

Granicolo has used the popularity of the Martini to drag quirkier (and sometimes tackier) riffs from their graves. At Cry Baby Gallery, a lychee Martini (made with tequila, Calvados and lychee-infused agave) has become one of the most popular cocktails on the menu. (Though the Appletini didn’t quite take off.)

Why is now the time for a Martini boom? After several years stuck at home during the

If your dining-out budget has been skewered, a Martini is easy to make at home. “Throw a bottle of vodka in your freezer and dump it in your glass—boom!” says Granicolo. “It’s so much easier and cost effective than the six-ingredient clarified cocktails you find at most cocktail bars.”

BEYOND TRENDS

While Martinis are popular right now, can they fall out of fashion? Could a Martini ever be uncool? “I hope not,” says Amber MacMullin of Proof in Calgary.

“There’s an enduring appeal to a Martini that extends beyond trends,” hypothesizes Rahil Hoque, COO of Ascari Hospitality Group. “The beauty of a good Martini is hidden in its straightforward composition and simplicity, which makes it truly timeless. Plus, its versatility and ability to be personalized to one’s taste make it a perennial favourite. As long as there are cocktail enthusiasts, the Martini will continue to evolve and inspire.”

At The Library Bar in Toronto, the opulent Birdbath Martini is made with bespoke gin and comes with a sturgeon caviar garnish. Rick O’Brien photo

THE BEAUTY OF A GOOD MARTINI IS HIDDEN IN ITS STRAIGHTFORWARD COMPOSITION AND SIMPLICITY, WHICH MAKES

IT TRULY TIMELESS.

He’s got a point: The Martini is endlessly malleable to your mood, making it nearly impossible to grow weary of the drink.

Darren Kaushal, beverage operations manager at Vancouver’s Glowbal Group (Black + Blue, Rileys), notes, “It’s a whole different experience if you add a twist or take it shaken, not stirred. Gins with botanicals have completely different profiles from gins with citrus notes. It’s such a personal drink and you can discover your (new) favourite as your palate changes.”

“I’ve always loved that a Martini is both iconic and incredibly malleable,” says James Grant, the beverage director of Fairmont Royal York. “It’s like a fingerprint—every bartender and guest knows how they like a Martini.”

Granicolo agrees—it’s a drink you can project your personality onto. “I enjoy reading a person based on their Martini order. There are some people who can tell you in two or three words exactly what they want. You can also tell when someone has no idea what they’re talking about, but loves the sound of their own voice.”

Sebastian Schwarz, wine and beverage director of Mott 32 Toronto, finds that the Martini is a blank canvas for flavour.

“They’re foundations for experimentation,” he says. “If you were to come by Mott 32 and ask me to make you a Martini, I’d ask you about your favourite things, places you’ve visited and types of food you like, etc.”

He’ll match vermouths, bitters, gins and vodkas to the drinker. “Clean and delicately

chilled vodka with a few drops of artisanal vermouth. A salty ‘dirty’ gin Martini. A fruity lychee refresher. If a spring walk in Japan is what you’d like to experience, then we can make that. With so many flavours and aromas accessible to us, the possibilities are endless.”

“I’m sure the Martini will settle down for a bit and let another cocktail step back into the spotlight for a while,” says Grant. “But it won’t be gone for long, I’m sure.”

Adds Curzon-Price: “Martinis are, and forever will be, cool.”

Suyo’s Max Curzon-Price notes that the modern Martini is “transcending its specific recipe.” Chelsea Brown photo

A Japanese whisky pilgrimage

TASTE THE 90-YEAR LEGACY OF NIKKA WHISKY AT THESE ESSENTIAL STOPS

by Charlene Rooke

Yoichi, Japan, is in many ways similar to Scotland, which is why Masataka Taketsuru chose it as the site for the Nikka Whisky distillery. Photo courtesy of Nikka Whisky

In most parts of the world, the whisky made there (or the brandy, vodka, rum…) is the result of what grows and thrives in a particular place. The century-old Japanese whisky industry is entirely unique: It’s based on one person’s DNA, and his global quest for whisky excellence.

The grandfather of Japanese whisky founded two of its most famous labels more than 100 years ago: Suntory, in 1923; and Nikka, in 1934. In Nikka’s 90th anniversary year, the brand invited a select group of whisky-philes to trace its founder’s path across Japan. Here’s a taste of Nikka whisk-tory.

HOME BASE: OSAKA

In 1918, 22-year-old Masataka Taketsuru was sent to Scotland by his employer, an Osaka industrial-alcohol-producing company called Settsu Shuzo. Taketsuru, who came from a sake-brewing family in the Hiroshima region and studied fermentation in Osaka, was hand-picked to learn the whisky-making trade and bring authentic Scottish customs back to start the Japanese whisky industry.

Visit: Bar K in Osaka, a tiny basement space (typical of many elite but pocketsized Japanese bars) with a massive whisky selection and a focus on Japanese whisky.

Bonus visit: The hardcore Nikka fan tour would stop in San Francisco en route from Japan to Scotland, since Taketsuru hopped off his ship to briefly study winemaking.

HOME ROOM: SCOTLAND

Until 1920, Taketsuru studied at the University of Glasgow and the city’s Royal Technical College and apprenticed at three Scotch distilleries (Longmorn in Speyside, Bo’ness in Falkirk and Hazelburn in Campbeltown). He brought more than indepth Scotch production knowledge back to Japan: He married a Scottish woman, Rita, before he returned to Japan.

Visit: The Pot Still, an 800-bottle-strong whisky bar in Glasgow founded in the 1860s.

HOME OF THE NAME: HIROSAKI

Returning to Japan, Taketsuru discovered that his former employer couldn’t fund his whisky dreams in the austere, post-First World War environment. In 1923, he joined the company that would eventually become Suntory and was instrumental in founding the Yamazaki Distillery between Kyoto and Osaka.

But like every craft distiller with a dream, Taketsuru eventually figured out a way to finance his whisky program. In 1934, he founded the Dai Nippon Kaju (“great Japanese fruit juice”) company to make

Masataka Taketsuru founded Nikka Whisky in 1934. Photo courtesy of Nikka Whisky

LEFT: While waiting to fulfill his whisky dream, Taketsuru created a cidery that is still operational today. RIGHT: A tour guide in a distinctly U.K.-inspired uniform leads visitors around the Yoichi distillery. Charlene Rooke photos

apple juice and cider, and it’s from this era that Nikka (“NIppon KAju”) gets its name.

Today, Nikka Hirosaki Cidery is located in the Aomori region and still produces delicious apple cider plus Nikka Apple Wine, a 22 per cent ABV tipple that’s the love child of apple brandy and aperitivo fortified wine.

Visit: Pub Grandpa, a dark and cozy Hirosaki haunt with a deep back bar of whisky.

HOME OF MALT: YOICHI DISTILLERY

On Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, a peninsula west of Sapporo hemmed in by mountains and jutting into the Sea of Japan was the spot that most resembled Scotland, according to Taketsuru. In Yoichi, he founded the first Nikka distillery and lived on the distillery site overseeing production, with the first whiskies released around 1940.

Ninety years later, advance reservations for free visits are essential, busloads aren’t welcome and tours are mostly in Japanese, but a pilgrimage to Yoichi Distillery is still a must-see.

The now-defunct floor malting Kiln House and the copper pot stillhouse are both still

Whisky slumbers in the barrel cellar. Photos courtesy of Nikka Whisky

direct-fired by coal, meticulously shoveled by some of the army of blue-tracksuited Nikka workers who bustle around the very Scottish-looking distillery compound of red cupola-topped stone buildings. Tour guides wearing red coats and black bowler hats look like they’re straight out of the U.K. Two dozen dunnage-style stone warehouses smell

Nikka’s Yoichi distillery, the copper pot stills are still fired by coal, just as they were 90 years ago. Photos

of the finest angel’s share on earth, and a cooperage is busy re-charring, repairing and readying barrels, everything from new casks made of Japanese mizunara oak to massive sherry butts, American oak barrels and recoopered Scottish-style hogshead casks.

The house where Masataka and Rita Taketsuru lived (she died in 1961, and he lived until 1979) has been lovingly preserved, including the chair where he sat and smoked a pipe every night, their tatami-mat bedroom and the closet with her fur coat and his monogrammed tweed jackets, even the Nikka-emblazoned mugs in their kitchen. (In a one-time corporate

At

courtesy of Nikka Whisky

At Yoichi, visitors can check out artifacts from Nikka Whisky’s 90-year history, then enjoy a rare, distilleryonly dram in the tasting room.Charlene Rooke photos

boardroom concealed above the entryway arch, more quirky artifacts are preserved, including a taxidermied Japanese marten named Ten that wandered into the barrel house decades ago and froze to death: It gave its life to whisky!)

Visit: Most Yoichi visitors stay in nearby Sapporo (about an hour’s drive), where the famous 1950s-vintage temple of Japanese bartending, Bar Yamazaki (named for its late founder, not the whisky), is virtually hidden in an anonymous tower. Have a more modern, but equally divine, cocktail evening at Bar Owl and Rooster (Vancouverites may recognize proprietor Hisatsugu Saito, who previously bartended in Canada and poped up recently at cocktail week), an amari- and absinthefocused bar with immaculate cocktails and intriguing vintage and craft spirits.

MODERN HOME: YOICHI RESTAURANT, MUSEUM AND TASTING ROOM

A modern building at Yoichi houses a restaurant where you can taste not only regional Japanese food, but Scottish specialties (from fish and chips to the shepherd’s pie the founder’s wife made), or a smoked snack plate that comes in a tajinetype dish shaped like a Nikka pot still. Taste

several signature highballs made from Nikka whiskies and its traditional apple wine.

The on-site museum, with fascinating exhibits (in Japanese and English) on the distillery’s history and flagship whiskies, culminates in a legendary tasting room. Choose your tasting-room samples wisely— distillery-only drams recently included Tsuru, a limited-edition 17-year-old blended whisky, as well as a single-cask 10-year-old Yoichi malt.

It’s also a cool opportunity to individually taste the three component bottlings (vanillaoaked, sherried and peaty malts) that make up Yoichi Single Malt, or not-availablein-Canada bottlings like Nikka Session, blended from two Japanese malts plus Scottish Ben Nevis (also owned, like Nikka, by the Asahi group) whisky.

Visit: Rita’s Kitchen and the tasting-room in the Nikka Museum are the places to imbibe.

BAR BASICS

What you need to know for making the recipes in The Alchemist.

ESSENTIALS

Measurements: For the most part, our recipes are in imperial volume (fluid ounces, teaspoons and cups). We might occasionally use weight (for instance, an ounce of tea leaves for an infusion); in those cases, it will be noted.

Tools: The essentials are a cocktail shaker (cobbler or Boston), mixing glass, jigger, citrus juicer, Hawthorne and fine-mesh strainers, muddler, bar spoon, sharp knife and vegetable peeler. Any special tools will be noted.

Glassware: You could fill your cupboards with different types of glassware, but you only really need three (aside from wine and beer): a stemmed “cocktail” glass, either the V-shaped martini or curved coupe; the short, stubby rocks or Old Fashioned; and the tall, narrow Collins.

SWEETENERS

Simple syrup: This is the basic sweetener in many cocktails; because the sugar is already dissolved, you won’t get a gritty, sandy sludge in the bottom of your glass. To make it: Bring equal amounts of sugar and water just to a boil in small pot over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until sugar is fully dissolved. Remove from heat, cool, and place in a clean jar or bottle. Will keep in the fridge for about two weeks.

Not-so-simple syrup: There are a couple of ways to add flavour to the basic simple syrup process. 1. Replace the water with another liquid, such as tea or juice. 2. Simmer the syrup with spices or hardy herbs such as cloves, cinnamon, ginger or rosemary and let them steep as the syrup cools. 3. Add soft herbs, such as mint or basil, to steep for a few minutes in the hot syrup after it is removed from the heat.

TERMINOLOGY

Double or fine strain: This means straining your cocktail through both a Hawthorne and fine-mesh strainer to remove ice, pulp, seeds and other small fragments that can muddy the texture of shaken drinks.

Dry shake: Shake without ice; this is often used to increase the froth in egg-based drinks like flips and sours.

Long, tall, lengthened: A drink with soda water and ice added to it, typically served in a Collins glass.

Rim: To rim a glass with salt, sugar or spice mixtures, run a lemon or lime wedge around the lip of the glass, then dip it into the seasoning.

Rocks: Served on ice.

Straight, neat: Served without ice.

Twist: A slice of citrus peel, with no pith or flesh attached, used as garnish.

Up: A cocktail served without ice in a stemmed cocktail glass or coupe.

Spirits in da house

HOW THE ROTOVAP IS CREATING A FLAVOUR REVOLUTION

by Christine Sismondo

The first cocktail I had the pleasure of trying in the recently revamped Library Bar at Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York was the Sacred Beast, a spiritforward lowball made with bourbon, mezcal, verjus, lapsang souchong tea and habanero.

Before you get to sip, though, the drink puts on a little show. Atop the glass is a slate coaster that entirely covers the cocktail and supports a small nest of steel wool that the bartender ignites to create a “cinnamon explosion”—sparks sprinting through the threads to create a mini-pyrotechnic display and a puff of baking spice smoke.

It’s a neat trick. The real magic, however, is the flavour profile. Given the ingredient list, you might expect a jacked-up spicy smoke bomb, but instead the Sacred Beast drinks like a mellow and perfectly balanced midcentury classic that delivers plenty of sweet, sour and delightfully fruity notes to tamp down the char. One of the key elements bringing it all together is the habanero distillate, which is made in the basement of the hotel with a fancy piece of equipment called a “rotary evaporator”—a device better known as a rotovap that separates out compounds to create flavour-packed extracts from raw ingredients.

ABOVE: At Toronto’s Library Bar, the Sacred Beast cocktail is topped with a fiery cloud, but the real drama comes from the habanero distillate made using a rotary evaporator (see image to left). Instagram.com/LibraryBarToronto

“Because the rotovap can separate certain compounds such as tannins, colours or spice, you can make an extract that’s focused on one element of a raw ingredient’s flavour,” explains James Grant, beverage director at the Fairmont Royal York. “In this case, the habanero distillate showcases the pepper’s fruity essence instead of the heat.”

Since the habanero is famous for how high it scores on the Scoville scale, few of us are aware that the pepper even has another dimension, but there’s

BECAUSE THE ROTOVAP CAN SEPARATE CERTAIN COMPOUNDS SUCH AS TANNINS, COLOURS OR SPICE, YOU CAN MAKE AN EXTRACT THAT’S FOCUSED ON ONE ELEMENT OF A RAW INGREDIENT’S FLAVOUR.

a seriously tasty tropical fruit side to its personality. Even though few have consciously noted this, the moment you smell its floral aroma and taste the sweet and crunchy fruit, you realize it’s been there all along. It’s magic, thanks to the rotovap.

CULINARY POTENTIAL

Invented in 1950 by Lyman C. Craig, a chemist at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, rotovaps remove solvents with different boiling points, much like traditional distillation. However, unlike a still, rotary evaporation is a very gentle process, which is why it was widely adopted in chemistry labs within a couple of decades.

About 15 years ago, modernist chefs and bartenders realized the rotovap’s gentle process had massive culinary potential, since it can be used to preserve and distill the flavour profile even with extremely delicate ingredients. Thanks to a couple of obstacles though (mostly cost), it’s only now starting to pop up at some bars in Canada.

“The rotovap is on my wish list for next year, for sure,” says Shawn Soole, bar

At Toronto’s Bar Pompette, the rotovap is used to create distillates from ingredients such as the Mexican guava seen here, used in the Smack’A Guava cocktail. Facebook.com/Bar Pompette photo

OTHER

THAN PEOPLE IN THE INDUSTRY WHO ASK QUESTIONS, ALMOST NO ONE KNOWS WHERE THE FLAVOURS COME FROM

Mother, Civil Liberties, After Seven and Bar Pompette.

Plus, because it takes hours to make even relatively small quantities, there’s a labour cost involved. At the Royal York, Nick Incretolli, former head bartender at the hotel’s Clockwork Champagne and Cocktail Lounge, took a break from working behind the wood and is now in charge of the lab full-time. Rotovap operators may well be the new unsung heroes of the cocktail program.

FLAVOUR PACK

manager at Clive’s Classic Lounge in Victoria. “The only one I’m aware of on the West Coast is at Botanist Bar [at the Fairmont Pacific Rim]. Between cost and our tyrannical liquor inspectors, I think a lot of people aren’t even considering it.”

Although rotovap distillates are closer to refined versions of infusions than new-make spirits, British Columbia, after years of hassles, only allowed aged cocktails and infused spirits in bars in late 2016. In Ontario, bar owners seem to be less concerned about problems, but there’s still a hefty price tag (five figures) attached to a rotovap, which is partly why there are only a few in Toronto—at

“Other than people in the industry who ask questions, almost no one knows where the flavours come from,” says Hugo Togni of Bar Pompette, whose first big rotovap feature contained a Thai curry extract. Cornichon and birria have since been added to the program.

Togni says he thinks of these extracts as “flavour packs” and uses them the same way a chef would use spices in the base of a sauce.

“I mean, if someone wants to know, we can tell them,” Togni continues. “But more people don’t really think about the guy downstairs distilling for five hours and stuff like that. At the end of the day, all they want is a great cocktail.”

And, at Pompette, they’re certainly going to get exactly that.

Sip clearly now

WITH CLARIFIED COCKTAILS, BOTH THE PROCESS AND THE RESULT ARE A LITTLE BIT MAGICAL

Story, photos and recipes by

Clarifying cocktails may seem like a modern technique, but it actually dates to 1700s England, when milk punches were batched in large quantities in advance of parties.

Long before refrigeration, milk washing was a way to preserve the essence of fresh ingredients and stabilize deeper flavours from fresh juices, herbs and spices, all while making them shelf stable. (It was also believed to reduce the effects of acids in the stomach.)

The fresh citrus juice in the punch (or other beverage) instantly causes curds to form when it’s combined with high-fat milk. Solid particles attach to the fats, creating a goopy and unpleasant mixture that is strained through cheesecloth, leaving behind a clear liquid with rich texture and smooth flavour. You may as well have a drink while you wait, though,

From this unlikely looking mixture, a magical transformation occurs when the fats and acids interact with each other.

Matthew Benevoli

The process of clarifying this Piña Colada Punch creates both smooth texture and visual intrigue.

because filtering is a slow process as the liquid passes through the dense curds. Patience is key.

Once straining is complete, the liquid is transferred to a clean, sealable container, where it can last indefinitely. When served, it looks to be a simple stirred drink, but it has become greater than the sum of its parts, a silky-textured cocktail with all the unpleasant bitter notes removed.

Serve it to an unknowing guest, and you’re sure to see both confusion and delight as they taste what is truly a magical transformation.

For any questions or additional tips, please reach out to @m.benevoli on Instagram.

HOW TO CLARIFY A COCKTAIL

2 5 3 6 4 7

1. Build your cocktail or punch recipe (such as the Piña Colada Punch here) in a large vessel.

2. In a second large and sealable vessel, add whole milk. For the process to work, the milk must have a high fat content and should be equal to 25 per cent of the volume of your cocktail, in other words, a 4:1 ratio of cocktail to milk.

3. Slowly pour the cocktail over the whole milk. It will begin to curdle almost immediately. (Note that it’s essential to pour the cocktail over the milk and not the other way around—it won’t mix properly.)

4. Seal container and place in a refrigerator for at least one hour and up to 24 hours—the longer you leave it, the deeper the flavour development.

5. Place a strainer lined with multiple layers of cheesecloth or a coffee filter over a large vessel.

6. Gradually pour the curdled mixture into the strainer and allow the liquid to filter into the vessel. This will take some time. Top the strainer up as needed and change to a new filter when the current one is filled with curd mixture. (You may also need to refilter the entire batch one or more times to achieve the desired clarity.)

7. Transfer the cocktail to a clean sealable container and store in the refrigerator, and serve as desired.

PI Ñ A COLADA PUNCH (WITH A BARREL-AGED VARIATION)

In the clarified milk punch below, the lime juice and bitters create deeper layers of flavour, complementing the pineapple and rum. Note that you can adjust the recipe to your own taste; just make sure to preserve the ratio of 4:1 punch to whole milk.

425 mL rum (white, spiced and/or dark rums—all three styles were used for this punch)

350 mL coconut milk

700 mL pineapple juice

25 mL lime juice

7 dashes aromatic bitters

7 dashes cocoa bitters

375 mL whole milk (3.25% butterfat)

Optional garnish: fresh or dehydrated lime wheel

Place all cocktail ingredients (except milk and garnish) in a large sealable container and shake well to combine.

Place milk in a second large, sealable container and pour the cocktail over it.

Seal this container and place it in a refrigerator for at least one and up to 24 hours; two is ideal.

Line a strainer with multiple layers of cheesecloth (or use a coffee filter) and place it over a large vessel. Slowly strain the mixture through it, replacing the cheesecloth if it gets too clogged. You may need to repeat this a few times to achieve perfect clarity.

To serve: Stir the cocktail with ice and serve “up” in a cocktail glass or coupe, or pour it over ice in a rocks glass. If you like, garnish with a fresh or dehydrated lime wheel.

Makes 1.5 L or 10 drinks at 5 oz per drink.

Note: If you want to take this cocktail to the next level, barrel-age some or all of it for a few days or weeks to develop even more complexity of flavour and aroma. Find detailed instructions on barrel-aging at thealchemistmagazine. ca/category/home-bar/.

Matthew Benevoli’s recipe for Piña Colada Punch (above left) includes a barrel-aged option (above right).

’Tini talks

THE BEST GIN FOR MARTINIS, ACCORDING TO THE EXPERTS

Compiled by Reece Sims

DIRTY GIN MARTINI

Recipe by Chanelle Gabino (@chantigabino). Why three olives for garnish? “Because I want an olive at the beginning, middle and end of the drink.”

2.25 oz Roku Gin

0.75 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino

Extra Dry Vermouth

0.5 to 0.75 oz Cerignola olive brine

Garnish: lemon zest, 3 olives

Place gin, vermouth and olive brine in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake or stir depending on preference and occasion. Strain into a chilled coupe. Spritz with lemon oil and discard the zest. Skewer 3 olives and use them to garnish the drink. Serves 1.

Was it bartender Jerry Thomas, at San Francisco’s Occidental Hotel in the 1860s or was it Tartini di Taggia at New York’s Knickerbocker Hotel in 1911 who invented the Martini? And is it a 5:1 ratio of gin to dry vermouth or equal parts that is the correct recipe these days?

While it seems that the Martini’s origins and recipe are, well, mixed, few cocktails rival the

iStock/Getty Images Plus/5PH photo

Martini in its ability to showcase the intricate nuances of a spirit, with each ingredient playing a crucial role in crafting the perfect sip. From the classic dry Martini, with its clean, bracing profile, to innovative twists incorporating a spectrum of botanicals and garnishes, gin Martinis provide a platform for both convention and creativity.

We recently chatted with our panel of industry experts to see what gin they’re currently drinking

and their preferred Martini specs. The tasting panel for this edition features Evelyn Chick, Chantelle Gabino and Dash Tune from Toronto, Ontario, and Soren Schepkowski, Zoe Bates and Robyn Gray, from Vancouver, B.C.

EVELYN CHICK

PLYMOUTH ENGLISH GIN

41.2% ABV, $45.99 IN BC / $47.80 IN ONTARIO, 750 ML

“Plymouth is always my go to [for Martinis],” remarks Evelyn Chick, owner of Simpl Things, Ahma and Love of Cocktails. “It has a slightly higher ABV, is perfectly juniperforward and has some cardamom and coriander notes. Texturally, too, it’s got some nice body fit for any Martini preference whether it be 50:50, 2:1, with orange bitters, or even with a bit of olive brine for those who like a dirty Martini.”

When asked about her preferred recipe for a Martini, Chick notes, “For me, as I’m getting older, I prefer a 50:50 Martini with a twist. Depending on the gin I will select a different style of vermouth.”

Why Plymouth English Gin for a Martini:

“Right now I’m into the Plymouth English Gin and Guerra Dry Vermouth combination with a lemon twist and an olive. The subtle olive break in between sips is just a hit of salinity that ties the drink all together. But to me, Martinis are such a personal experience. At our cocktail bar we have a ‘Make Your Martini’ sheet that allows guests to choose their own adventure. They can really dive into preferences and pick their own specs and garnishes.”

CHANTELLE GABINO ROKU GIN

43% ABV, $50.99 IN BC / $55.20 IN ONTARIO, 750 ML

“Lately, I’ve been loving experimenting with Roku Gin because it offers a unique botanical structure to complement the occasion or

GIN MARTINI

1.5 oz Plymouth Gin

1.5 oz Guerra Dry Vermouth Garnish: lemon twist and olive Recipe by Evelyn Chick (@evelynchick).

Stir with ice in a mixing glass and strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist and an olive. Serves 1.

style of cocktail I’m making or drinking,” says Chantelle Gabino, beverage manager for Recipe Unlimited Corporation. “I like to vary the ratios and method based on if I’m drinking this with food or alone, indoors or outdoors and if it’s hot or cold outside.”

Why Roku Gin for a Martini:

“Six of the botanicals found in Roku are distinctively unique to Japan, in addition to the eight traditional gin botanicals,” says Gabino. “The ones that stand out to me are sansho¯ pepper, cherry blossom [sakura flower], sakura leaf, yuzu peel and sencha tea.”

50/50

iStock/Getty

ImagesPlus/ HausOnThePrairie photo

iStock/Getty Images Plus/bhofack2 photo

DASH TUME

SIPSMITH LONDON DRY GIN

41.6% ABV, AROUND $49.50 IN BC (SPEC PRODUCT) / $45.25 IN ONTARIO, 750 ML

“For my classic gin Martini, I like to use a juniper- and citrus-forward gin with a gentle body to highlight the flavours and which will stand up well alongside the vermouth,” says Dash Tume, head bartender at Toronto’s Bar Pompette. “I like my Martini pretty wet with a 2:1 ratio of freezercold Sipsmith gin to extra-dry Italian vermouth with a dash of orange bitters.”

In terms of crafting the optimal gin Martini, Tume suggests that imbibers should “stir longer than you think, until it’s super cold and smooth on the palate, and serve it up in your most elegant stemware and garnish with a twist of lemon peel. I prefer to leave the twist on the side.”

WET MARTINI

Recipe by Dash Tume (@dasht______).

2 oz freezer-cold Sipsmith London Dry Gin

1 oz extra-dry Italian vermouth

1 dash orange bitters

Garnish: lemon twist

Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled coupe. Express the oils of a lemon twist over the cocktail, and garnish with the twist on the side. Serves 1.

Why Sipsmith London Dry Gin for a Martini: “I like Sipsmith London Dry Gin because its warm juniper notes shine in a Martini with a citrusy middle tone and a subtle hint of green herbs in the background support the velvety texture that I look for in a Martini,” notes Tume.

SOREN SCHEPKOWSKI THE BOTANIST ISLAY DRY GIN

46% ABV, $54.99 IN BC / $58.99 IN ONTARIO, 750 ML

“To me, a Martini should be bracingly cold with a good kick,” notes Soren Schepkowski, bar manager at Mount Pleasant Provisions in Vancouver. “To get it that cold you need to stir it for a long time, which adds a ton of water and can kill some of the flavour.

The Botanist Islay Dry Gin being a higher proof spirit helps it keep its character and delivers that bite. This makes

Kate Chernoff photo

it a great gin for any cocktail, but works especially well in a Martini.”

Why The Botanist Islay Dry Gin for a Martini: “Made from one of my favourite scotch producers, Bruichladdich, on the isle of Islay in Scotland, The Botanist Islay Dry Gin uses 22 locally foraged botanicals

Recipe by Soren Schepkowski (@big.cocktail.guy)

2 oz The Botanist Islay Dry Gin

0.75 oz dry vermouth

2 dashes orange bitters

Garnish: lemon twist

Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist. Serves 1.

making it a true expression of where it comes from,” Schepkowski says. “The gin has great layered complexity and concentration, easily enjoyable on its own, but benefits from a touch of vermouth.”

ZOE BATES

SAIGON BAIGUR GIN

43% ABV, $64.99 IN BC / $74.95 IN ONTARIO, 700ML

Zoe Bates, bartender and marketing manager at Vancouver’s Laowai Cocktail Bar, prefers, in her words “a good wet gin Martini.” For those who aren’t up on their martini

MARTINI

Recipe by Zoe Bates (@zoeabates)

2 oz Saigon Baigur Gin

1 oz dry vermouth

Garnish: lemon twist

Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled coupe. Express the oils of a lemon twist over the cocktail, then garnish with the twist. Serves 1.

GIN MARTINI

iStock/Getty Images Plus/bhofack2 photo

WET

iStock/Getty Images Plus/ Mustafa Bugra Celik photo

GIN MARTINEZ

Recipe by Robyn Gray (@robynagray)

2 oz freezer-cold Sipsmith London Dry Gin

1 oz extra-dry Italian vermouth

1 dash orange bitters

Garnish: lemon twist

Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled coupe. Express the oils of a lemon twist over the cocktail, and garnish with the twist on the side. Serves 1.

iStock/Getty Images Plus/5PH photo

lingo, “wet” is a term that describes the use of a high proportion of dry vermouth. While there’s no exact agreed-upon proportion that makes a Martini wet, Bates’s version would be a 2:1 ratio of gin to vermouth.

“I’m excited and love to use Saigon Baigur Gin in my Martinis,” notes Bates. “It’s the first gin to be distilled in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and features 12 locally sourced botanicals that give it an exceptionally unique flavour that comes through in cocktails.”

Why Saigon Baigur Gin for a Martini: “Some of the more unexpected botanicals it uses are dragon fruit and bird’s eye chilis, giving it a little bit of fruity sweetness and subtle spice,” Bates says.

ROBYN GRAY

COPPERPENNY 005 SOCIAL PROJECT GIN

43.0% ABV, $57.00, 750 ML (ORDER DIRECT FROM THE DISTILLERY)

“I am an enormous fan of the Martinez, which is the precursor to the modern-day dry Martini,” says Robyn Gray, lead bartender at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Lobby Lounge. “The

reference of ‘dry’ in a Martini originally referred to the drink being prepared with dry vermouth instead of the sweet vermouth as we see with the Martinez. Then nomenclature changed and ‘dry’ became a descriptor for the amount of dry vermouth to be used rather than the type.”

Why Copperpenny 005 Social Project Gin for a Martinez: “Copperpenny 005 Social Project Gin is made by Copperpenny Distilling Co. in North Vancouver,” says Gray. “This local gin features gentle citrus flavours and exotic Mediterranean spices including Bulgarian juniper, Egyptian coriander and Moroccan grains of paradise. Well rounded, this gin is specifically designed for use in cocktails.”

If you’re based in Vancouver, learn more about All Things Martini at Copperpenny Distilling Co’s seminar series on Sunday, June 9, from 3 to 5 p.m. Details and tickets at copperpennydistilling.com.

The Canadian Professional Bartenders Association is a member-run non for profit society committed to establishing and upholding the highest standards in the proud trade of the career bartender. We consider continuous education, pride in service and principled responsibility to be the cornerstones of our profession, ideals we foster by building and maintaining community. The CPBA regularly organizes and executes educational seminars, competitions, product salons and meet-ups, and acts as a liaison between corporate brands and member businesses.

Hospitality is our business, and we love it.

LAST CALL

GREAT WORLD BARS WE LOVE: THE ALICE AT THE RANDOLPH HOTEL

Touches of Wonderland can be found throughout Oxford. The centuries-old city has long been home to some of the world’s top minds, yet it also fully embraces the playful madness of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The book’s author, Lewis Carroll (born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), was a mathematician at Oxford University and touches of the city and its people made their way into his work. Now, nearly 130 years after Alice was first published, the city pays back that love in kind by incorporating Carroll’s work into its culture.

A good cocktail bar should feel like stepping through the looking glass and that’s exactly you will experience at The Alice, located inside the historic Randolph Hotel, a building as old as the story itself.

The Randolph’s primary dining room and bar, The Alice incorporates its namesake theme through illustrations created by John Broadley and inspired by the work of British cartoonist Osbert Lancaster, a former resident of The Randolph who paid for his keep in paintings. The artwork is hung against the backdrop of an updated Art Deco brasserie with mosaic tile floors and millennial-pink tufted leather couches. But true to Wonderland standards, The Alice also contains a White Rabbit warren collection of secret rooms and surprises to be found, each with its own distinct esthetic and slight touch of whimsy.

The Snug lounge, for instance, is opulent, eclectic, cozy and intimate, tucked between the brasserie and a private dining room

At The Alice, there are delightful surprises around every corner. Photo courtesy Graduate Hotels

that features a stained-glass rendition of the book’s croquet scene. (There’s also a bar called The Morse, in honour of Colin Dexter’s fictional, Oxford-based inspector.)

The Alice-inspired cocktails are simple but precisely and perfectly balanced. For instance, in The Queen of Hearts, rhubarb, lemon, grenadine, Chambord and gin combine for a light, yet spirit-forward pink dream. But be warned: Too many, and you may find yourself down the rabbit hole. graduatehotels.com/ oxford-uk —Allie Turner

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