Bar Bites

Vancouver’s winning cocktail

November 5, 2018 No Comments

Another day, another competition under the belts of Vancouver’s extraordinary bartenders.

To chants of “Back to back!” on Thanksgiving weekend, Chris Enns of the Lobby Bar at the Fairmont Pacific Rim made it into the top-20 round at the Diageo Reserve World Class competition in Berlin. Australia’s Orlando Marzo took home the overall title this year, but Enns made it all the way to number eight in the world, with a trio of Vancouverites cheering him on—last year’s global winner, Kaitlyn Stewart of Royal Dinette, as well as previous World Class Canada winners Lauren Mote and Grant Sceney. “Until next time, friends,” Enns said on Facebook. “May your hearts be filled with love and your glasses filled with World Class cocktails.”

Bar Bites, Recipes

Hay, Hoe, Let’s Grow

November 4, 2018 No Comments

Created by Max Curzon-Price of the Botanist at Fairmont Pacific Rim.

• 2 oz Bombay Sapphire gin
• 1 oz acidified parsnip juice
• 0.75 oz bee pollen syrup
• 3 dashes Hay and Burdock Root Bitters
• 1 egg white

Bar Bites

Sipping Tofino

August 10, 2018 No Comments

Wolf in the Fog’s bar manager Hailey Pasemko. Wolf in the Fog photo

When you’re surrounded by wild bounty the way Tofino is, it only makes sense to use it however you can. And so Wolf in the Fog’s bar manager Hailey Pasemko transforms huckleberries into bitters, infuses gin with salal or spruce tips, and fat-washes vodka with salmon.

Now she’s looking beyond Tofino, to the great spirits being produced across B.C., for her new “Local Legends” cocktail program.

Bar Bites, Recipes

Locals Only Negroni

August 9, 2018 No Comments

Created by Wolf in the Fog bar manager Hailey Pasemko, this variation on the classic uses all B.C. products.

• 1 oz Sheringham Seaside Gin
• 1 oz Odd Society Bittersweet Vermouth
• 1 oz Legend Distilling Naramaro

Bar Bites

World class city

August 3, 2018 No Comments

Home Team cocktail. Photo courtesy of Chris Enns.

With Christopher Enns’ recent win in Montreal, that’s four times Vancouver bartenders have taken home the prestigious title of Diageo Reserve World Class Canada champion since the competition started in 2013.

Enns, who mans the shakers at the Fairmont Pacific Rim’s Lobby Lounge, also recently won the Woodford Reserve Manhattan challenge in New York. “It’s been very busy, that’s for sure,” he says.

Bar Bites, Recipes

Home Team

August 2, 2018 No Comments

Chris Enns prepared this cocktail for the World Class Canada 2018 national finals. “This drink came from the Wanderlust challenge where we came up with a cocktail inspired by both home and an away location,” he recalls. A twist on the Sazerac cocktail, the Home Team is inspired by the feeling of “home” he found at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, as well the home-team support among the World Class bartenders. Here it is served in a Scottish quaich cup; however, a chilled Old Fashioned or Sazerac-style glass would be fine.

Bar Bites

Mark your calendars

July 16, 2018 No Comments

Sure, you could enjoy cocktails alone in your back yard. Or you could join the crowds having fun at these great events here at home and abroad over the next few months.

Deighton Cup

Don your fancy chapeaux and hoist your glasses! The ponies hit the track once again on July 21 for the 10th annual Deighton Cup at Hastings Racecourse. Some 5,000 people gather at the track to gamble on the ponies while enjoying swish fashion, buckets of bubbly, fine cigars, gourmet cuisine and, of course, cocktails. The event includes an annual mixology competition, plus sweet summer sippers to enjoy trackside. deightoncup.com

Bar Bites

Patio at the Parq

July 13, 2018 No Comments

We’re always excited to see a new patio in town, especially when it’s one that serves great cocktails. And so we’re thrilled that D/6 Bar and Lounge at Parq Vancouver has flung open the big glass doors onto its vast new patio space.

Located on the sixth floor of the DOUGLAS boutique hotel, the D/6 patio has great views of the city skyline and offers locally inspired cocktails like the Douglas Fir, which is made with Douglas fir-infused gin from Yaletown Distilling Company. (The gin is also available in all the guest rooms.)

Even better news: The patio is covered, so guests can enjoy the views and the cocktails come rain or shine.

Bar Bites, Recipes

Douglas Fir

July 12, 2018 No Comments

Find this signature cocktail at the D/6 Bar and Lounge at Parq Vancouver.

• 1.5 oz Douglas Fir-Infused Gin from Yaletown Distillery
• 0.5 oz Cointreau
• 0.5 oz dry vermouth
• 0.5 oz sweet vermouth
• 3 drops of Bittered Sling Orange Juniper bitters

Stir ingredients over ice. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a dehydrated orange slice and a Douglas fir tip. Serves 1.

Bar Bites

B.C.’s most spirited festival

March 24, 2018 No Comments

Clear your schedule for the BC Distilled festival.

BC Distilled is the biggest artisan and micro-distillery event in Canada and a must for anyone interested in spirits and cocktails. It is April 14 at the Croatian Cultural Centre, with a trade tasting from 2 to 4:30 pm followed by the public event, 6 to 9 pm.