Say that three times fast… we did, last Sunday at the Edible BC ‘Sushi, Sake and Summer’ fundraiser for the Crabtree Corner facility.  To compliment Sushi Chef Tojo’s creations and toast Evaleen Jaager Roy’s new book, we concocted something, that by all accounts ‘tastes like summer’:

Tastes like Summer

2 shiso leaves
0.25 cup chopped cucumber
2 oz Victoria Gin
2 oz pear nectar

Muddle shiso and cucumber.  Add Vic Gin and pear juice and shake on ice.  Garnish with half a shiso leaf.  Shiso-licious!

Paul the Octopus may have ’spoken’, but nothing’s in the bag for the FIFA final today.  Here are a couple inspired cocktails to help you celebrate… or stage your own face-off.

Chris McDonald of Toronto’s Cava presents a strong player with a sharp cross and excellent mid-palate play.  Steve Da Cruz of Vancouver’s Corner Suite brings you a powerful striker that quickly sets a tempo and paints the pitch orange. You be the ref — or play Paul — for this one.

Catalan 75

~ created by Chris McDonald, Cava Restaurant

1 oz Victoria Gin
1 oz lemon juice
½ oz simple syrup
one dash grappa cherry syrup
3 oz Codorníu Cava Clasico

Shake first four ingredients over ice.  Strain into large flute.  Top with Cava and garnish with a lemon twist.

Dutch Old Fashioned

~ created by Steve Da Cruz, Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe

2 oz Victoria Gin
2-3 lumps of unbleached sugar
a few dashes orange twisted & bitter
a few Griottines (primo brandied cherries) * if you use ghetto maraschino cherries instead, you get an automatic red card!

Muddle ingredients and stir together on ice.  Strain over fresh ice.  Garnish with a wheel of orange in the drink.  Rub lemon peel on the rim and dropped in with a cherry.

Last Monday, we celebrated the creativity and community of Toronto’s bar scene & the LCBO’s special promotion of Vic Gin with a Shakedown!

Fourteen of Toronto’s most talented mixologists each shook love into two cocktails behind the beautiful bar at Böhmer on Ossington Avenue.

The fabulous Thirsty Traveller Kevin Brauch hosted with passion.

Kevin also joined the judging panel with Bob Blumer (Surreal Gourmet), James Chatto (celebrated writer and editor, seen here), Chris Johns (Globe & Mail) & Christine Sismondo (Toronto Temperance Society).

Our mixologists were Elan Marks (The Drake) & Trevor Burnett (freelance consultant)

Gavin MacMillan (Bartender One) & Renata Clingen (Böhmer)

Elizabeth Savage (Marquis at the Hilton) & Adrian Stein (Oliver Bonacini Cafe Grill)

Rob Montgomery (Miller Tavern) & Brock Shepherd (Burger Bar)

Dave Mitton (The Harbord Room) & Simon Ho (The Drake)

Moses McIntee (Sidecar) & Clinton Pattemore (Toronto Bartending)

and Nishan Nepulangoda (Blowfish) & Scott McMaster (Colborne Lane)

Competitors presented two version of the same cocktail: one “fit for a queen” and the other “so easy the queen could make it”.  As James Chatto noted in his recent blog post:

The standard of the competition was impressively high throughout and the powers of imagination shown were astonishing.

Congrats Moses McIntee whose ‘Olde Vic’ will be featured on an LCBO neck tag. Again, from James:

It was a fascinating cocktail, like a complex, full-bodied extrapolation of a Negroni made with gin, Campari, bittersweet earl grey tea syrup and served in a Martini glass topped with a creamy head of Earl Grey tea foam.

Congrats as well to Adrian Stein who received a special jury award for the cocktail that best showcased Vic Gin and to Rob Mongomery whose ceramic bathtubs, tea sandwiches, and hot gin punch won a special jury award for best presentation.

The mixologists inspired us and each other.  We were honoured to be a part of this… We say this because it did become about more than Vic Gin.  You guys were shaking love.  A huge thanks from the Vic Gin family!

All photos by Zach Slootsky of takemorephotos

In preparation for Victoria Day we got busy on a cocktail fit for a Queen… and fit for Adam McDowell, columnist at the National Post.

Imperial Splendour photo by Adam McDowell

Imperial Splendour

1.5 oz. Victoria Gin
2.5 oz. strongly brewed Earl Grey tea, chilled
0.5 oz. fresh lemon juice
0.5 oz. Cointreau
2 dashes Twisted & Bitter orange cocktail bitters

Combine ingredients and shake on ice. Strain into your finest china.  Garnish with an orange slice and a frozen marmalade cube (heat marmalade with equal parts water to dissolve before freezing).

McDowell writes that our Imperial Splendour is:

smooth in texture with a tart and floral nose and nice tea tannins on the palate; it gradually sweetens as the frozen marmalade cube melts.

Not only was the drink featured in the National Post, but also at the First Annual Queen Victoria Lookalike Competition in Toronto — a collaboration between Victoria Spirits and the fabulous Fairmont Royal York Hotel.  (Outrageous photos coming soon!)

Steve Da Cruz at the corner suite bistro de luxe in Vancouver has a soft spot for sorcery.  His Victorian Witch blends Vic Gin with Strega and a dash of Giffard Guignolet.

Steve explains that:

Historically, any cocktail with Strega is called a witch of some sort. It comes from the tale of 800 years ago when there was an assembly in Benevento Italy of all the world’s witches. They flew on their brooms and brought all sorts of far-away delights and charms.

Well we’re charmed and delighted by this one.  Cheers Steve!

Jeff Sanone is serving Victorious at Toronto’s Canoe: an ice cold Vic Gin martini with maple infused cocktail onions.  Victory is yours!

Find it at up on the 54th Floor of the TD Bank Tower in Toronto.  And find Jeff’s Dill Pickled recipe here.

Jacob Sweetapple’s Tiger Lily cocktail arrives on a table-side trolley at the Vancouver Fairmont Pacific Rim & uses dry ice to cool sans dilution.

Looks, and tastes, like magic!  Cheers Jacob.

Perhaps in anticipation of spring, Vic Gin fan and kitchen machine blogger, Helene put her hardware to work on a Vic Gin blended cocktail.

The Blushing Buck (makes two)

3 1/2 oz Victoria Gin
1 chilled blood orange
1 chilled large navel orange
1/2 chilled lime
3 1/2 oz chilled ginger ale (we may even try Prosecco)
3-4 ice cubes

- Cut peel off oranges, remove seeds, and cut into quarters
- Juice lime and add to oranges
- Add ice cubes and purée for 45 seconds
- Scrape puréed fruit down sides of bowl
- Add Vic Gin and ginger ale and mix for 4 seconds on lower speed
- Serve immediately

Find details about her specific methods and machine here.  Your blender may also be up to the job.

Have your own inspired version of the Buck or another special concoction?  Send it on over!   info@victoriaspirits.com

Besides hosting the Mission Emp-possible – Battle of the Chefs at the Empress Hotel in Victoria this week, Kevin Brauch also presented the Empress with a new cocktail.

Valerie, Kevin, and the Bengal Indulgence

Named after the swish lounge where we launched Vic Gin in 2008, the Bengal Indulgence mixes spirits, tea, and some of our Twisted & Bitter cocktail bitters.

Bengal Indulgence

designed by Kevin Brauch for the Fairmont Empress Hotel, Feb 2010

1 oz Mission Hill Reserve 2006 Vidal Icewine
1 oz Premium Vodka (Kevin uses Russian Standard)
0.5 oz Cointreau Liqueur
2 oz chilled, 2 hour steeped Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice Tea
2 dashes Twister & Bitter orange bitters
1 dash Fee Bros lemon bitters

Combine ingredients (in order) over ice in cocktail shaker
Stir for 20 revolutions
Strain into chilled 5 oz cocktail glass
Garnish with three (semi-frozen, chilled) cranberries

In Saturday’s Globe, Chris Johns celebrated the fine sport of mixology.  In particular he notes that:

The entire Fairmont chain has made a considerable investment in its cocktail program over the past couple of years and the results – faster, stronger, better drinks – are impressive.

We’ve got the Fairmont Chateau Whister’s Triple Lutz cocktail recipe, starring Vic Gin, here.  Go, Canada, indeed!