Come warm your winter spirits with us over the next couple months.

First off, we’re at the Victoria Whisky Festival pouring our baby girl: Craigdarroch Spirit.  She’s growing up beautifully.  Come for an formal introduction or to meet her again — January 19-22 at the Hotel Grand Pacific.

Then, from 12-15 February, find us at the second Tales of the Cocktail in Vancouver at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel.  As Tales’ founder Ann Tuennerman affirms:

Vancouver is such a rich, vibrant cocktail city. We couldn’t help but come back for a second year.

We’re participating at Tales’ Meet the Maker event on Monday the 13th, 12-2pm and pouring everything we’ve got!

The first five rows will get whet (ahem).  Hope you can join us!

‘Tis the season and bells are ringing — sleigh bells and wedding bells.  We’re celebrating.  Not only is the whole Victoria Spirits family together — the first time in almost a year and a half — but Mia and Nicholas are getting married!

In the true Spirit of Victoria, they’re throwing a cocktail party to get hitched.  Solomon Siegel will be mixing magic through our party.  Here’s his nuptial cocktail list (many on our recipe pages and more coming soon):

The Hartland Cocktail
Vic Gin, Poire William, Amaro Montenegro, grapefruit bitters, lemon juice & bubbly

Champagne Cocktail
Bubbly, sugar & bitters

The Aviation
Vic Gin, Luxardo Maraschino, lemon juice & crème de violette

Gin, Tea & Tonic
Vic Gin, green tea, tonic water & orange bitters

Martini
Vic Gin, vermouth & orange bitters

Affinity
Scotch, sweet vermouth, dry vermouth& bitters

Penicillin
Blended Scotch, smoky Scotch, lemon juice, honey syrup & Giffard ginger

Scotch Old Fashioned
Scotch, sugar & bitters

Ask me how do I feel
Ask me now that we’re cosy and clinging
Well sir, all I can say, is if I were a bell I’d be ringing!

Wishing you all the precious gift of time this holiday season.  May you spend it with the ones you love.

It’s been one month since Art of the Cocktail and we can still taste it!

Phil and Valerie bust a gut at our table, as Bryan pours on

We learned a lot, made new friends, and hosted a number of sessions and tours — including our Dr. Strangelove-themed Gin seminar with Solomon Siegel, enjoyed by Canadian House & Home’s Amy Rosen, among others.

To relive the magic, here are two featured cocktails from the event.  The first by Solomon of Hotel Rialto’s Veneto and the second by Moses McIntee, winner of our 2010 cocktail competition and so delicious, it’s worth reposting.

The Rialto Cocktail

60 ml  Victoria Gin
15 ml  Giffard Lichi-Li liqueur
10 ml fresh lemon juice
15 ml Silk Road Lapsang Souchong syrup*
2-3 dashes Bitterman’s Xocolatl Mole bitters

*To make the Lapsang Souchong syrup brew very strong Lapsang Souchong tea (steep over an hour) and then make a 1:1 simple syrup using the tea instead of water.

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.  Garish with a piece of very dark chocolate

Solomon shares The Rialto with the thirsty and adventurous

The Olde Vic

1.5 oz Victoria Gin
0.5 oz Campari
0.5 oz burnt Earl Grey syrup*
3 dashes twisted & bitter

*for syrup, heat 200ml water & 200ml sugar until dissolved. Add 2 tea bags (or loose equivalent) & boil for 5 mins. Let cool & remove bags.

Combine ingredients in mixing glass with ice.  Stir until chilled. Strain over new ice in an old fashioned glass & garnish with lemon peel.

See you all next year!

Last Sunday, Lauren Mote was shaking love at the “Farms to Forks 2″ event with Growing Chefs.  In preparation — and in tune with the harvest — she was roasting Williams (aka Bartlett) pears.

Here’s the recipe, courtesy of Lauren and the team at Kale & Nori Culinary Arts — the fab boutique catering and events co.

Willy’s Fizz
1.5 oz Victoria Gin
1 oz black cardamom & smoked black pepper syrup
0.75 oz lemon juice
2 dashes Bittered Sling “Peach & Pepper” Bitters
1 oz Parson’s Farm William’s Pear purée (roasted)
Soda

Shake all ingredients (except the soda) together, strain into a Collins glass with ice, and top with soda.  Swizzle, stick a straw in it, and let your taste buds melt with joy.

Gavin MacMillan, masterful mixologist at Bartender One, shares this indulgence.  It’s heavenly and not without historical precedent.  Why 5:32?  It’s the exact time Prohibition was repealed on December 5th, 1933.

5:32

2 oz Victoria Gin
1/2 oz St Germain Elderflower Liqueur
3/4 oz Meyer lemon juice
2 dashes grapefruit bitters
2 dashes lemon bitters
1 inch of cucumber, muddled

Shake and double strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Top with grapefruit foam.

How seriously does Gavin take his Prohibition-inspired cocktails?  We have it on good authority that he’s soon opening a bar called Repeal.  We like what we hear!  Stay tuned, Toronto.  And best of luck, Gavin!

We just came through our first Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans and were blown away by the organisation, talent, and scale of the event.  It was impossible to see, hear, and drink everything — but we sure tried.

The centre of the action: The Hotel Monteleone

We participated in the ‘Meet your Craft Distiller’ section.  Many came to meet us, again and again.  Besides our familial charm, they were certainly returning for the cocktail: an awesome concoction created by our collaborator, Solomon Siegel of Hotel Rialto’s Veneto.

West Coast Cocktail

2 oz Victoria gin
3/4 oz Martini Bianco vermouth
4 dashes Strega

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a skewer with smoked salmon lox and smoked applewood cheddar. Dip the garnish in the drink and enjoy.

Victoria was also well represented by Shawn Soole of Clive’s Classic Lounge, nominated by Tales as one of the world’s best hotel bars.  It was also wonderful to see many of our pals from our Toronto Cocktail Comp.

We were inspired.  Moreover we are thrilled by some very promising new connections.  Sincere thanks to Tales for putting on an extraordinary event and for inviting us to participate.

The International Indian Film Academy Awards are coming to Toronto this month and the Fairmont Royal York will be welcoming international delegates, fans, and cinema royalty in style.

Among other treats, and as featured in the Hindustan Times(!), their Library Bar will be shaking up a Raj Kapoor in celebration.

Raj Kapoor

2 oz Victoria Gin
1 oz dry vermouth
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz simple syrup
1/2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger

Shaken on ice and strained into a chilled martini glass. Garnished with crystallized ginger and slivered red jalapeno.

Catch Raj at the Bar, and other Royal York IIFA events, June 22-26.

We had an outstanding time at the Island Chefs’ Collaborative Food Fest last Sunday.  Three Cheers for local food, farms, and firewater!

… and Family:  Valerie, Bryan & Anna at The ICC Food Fest

We spent the afternoon muddling ourselves delirious with a mountain of beautiful cucumbers from Sun Wing.  As requested, here is the recipe so you can muddle your own:

The Butchart Garden** (aka, Sun Wing Delight!)

2 oz Victoria Gin
2 oz fresh pressed apple juice
2-3 pieces of cucumber
1/2 oz elderflower cordial
+ a dash of bitters, if you like

Muddle cucumber, add remaining ingredients, and shake with ice.  Strain & garnish with a slice of cucumber or a flower.

A sea of ICC oysters & a Butchart Garden **first created and named by Vancouver’s Shangri-la Hotel for Vic Gin

[We have other swank, but totally doable, cocktails here.]

Meanwhile, in Toronto, Tipicular Fixin’s was spoiling guests at Toronto Taste.

For their Rhubarb Caramel Lemonade, the Team used rhubarb from a farm in Innerkip, Ontario, and edible flowers from the Under Ground Organics farm in Millgrove, Ontario.  They looked and tasted beautiful.

Thank you for joining us…thinking global & celebrating local!

[& Kudos to Carmen from Charelli's for the first couple of pics.]

… and pickles leeks(!) for the Oakville’s Girls Night Out event.  Tipicular Fixin’s Whitney and Trevor have graciously agreed to share their dynamo cocktail recipes here.

Rhubarb Lemonade

1 oz Victoria Gin
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz rhubarb syrup
10 dashes twister & bitter

Place ingredients in a shaker filled with cracked ice. Shake vigorously and strain into your favourite martini glass.

If you’re feeling energetic, Whitney suggests hitting your local farmers’ market for an edible organic flower garnish – and for the rhubarb for your homemade syrup, of course.

Moonstone #3

2 oz Victoria Gin
1/4 oz pickling liquid
1 Tipicular Fixin’s pickled Wild Leek

Place Gin and pickling liquid in a shaker filled with cracked ice.  Shake and strain into a martini glass or coupette. Garnish with a pickled wild leek.

Every cocktail has a story. Trevor shares:

The wild leeks we picked ourselves from a forest on my Aunt’s 100 acre farm in Midland and we then pickled them earlier in the week.  It was a ton of work, but loads of fun.  We garnished our Victoria Gin Classic Martinis with them and the crowd loved it.  Some asked that we add some of the pickle juice to make Dirty/Gibson Martinis and we decided to name it Moonstone #3, Moonstone Road and Line 3 is where the farm is located in Midland, Ontario.

Thanks for sharing your creativity and for making us shine, you two!

Whatever you think of the Royals, we love a happy marriage — G&T, PB&J, R&R…  Some things are meant to be together.  Seizing any opportunity to overdress, we also enjoy pomp and circumstance.  And with Will’s fresh-faced great-great-great-great granny on our bottle, we’ve gotta raise a glass.

Is that a family resemblance?  It’s the nose, right?

So what to drink to celebrate the hats, the love, the pomp, and the matrimony this weekend?  We’ve got just the thing for you to put on.

Royal Blue Moon / aka: something old, new, bubbly, and blue

(makes two, of course)

4 oz Vic Gin
2 dashes of crème de violette
2 oz dry vermouth
2 dashes of twisted & bitter, orange bitters
bubbly

Shake your new Vic Gin with your blue crème de violette, that old vermouth in the fridge, and bitters with ice.  Pour into champagne glasses (ours are oldies) & top with bubbly, which you may have to borrow from a friend — tell them we sent you.  (We also borrowed a silver tray from our Auntie Marnie and believe the Queen would approve.)

Will, Kate, we wish you all the best, including some Vic Gin during your upcoming Canadian honeymoon.  Who knows, Charles & Camilla got lucky and anything can happen in a blue moon.