Signed, sealed, delivered: our spirits are now south of the border!  Long have we teased our American friends – tantalizing palates at Tales of the Cocktail, at competitions, and events, but leaving nary a bottle in our wake.  Well now we’re playing for keeps.  Victoria Gin, Oaken Gin, and Left Coast Hemp Vodka will be on shelves soon!

Our foray into the States begins with the Manhattan Cocktail Classic – the perfect event to introduce enthusiasts to a primo taste of the Canadian West.  We’ll be pouring at the Industry Invitational – Sunday, May 19th from 11am to 7:30pm – at the Andaz 5th Avenue Hotel.

Later this summer we’re back at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans with two special events: “Gin & Tonic is Only the Beginning” and “Wild Foraged Cocktail – the Canadian Shield” with many of our local pals.  If you’re in NOLA, come say hello!

It feels so great to stretch our legs south of the 49th.  We will keep you posted on our Find pages as the bottles hit shelves.

Sharpen those pencils, get out that Pink Pearl eraser, it’s back-to-school time, and we’ve got a history lesson for you.  If you skipped the Classic Canadian Cocktails seminar at Tales of the Cocktail this summer, not to worry, we got a copy of the teaching notes.  Canadian history has never been more delicious and packed with such practical lessons.

The Tales seminar presented Canada’s rich and varied cocktail past, starting with “Whoop up Bug Juice”, created in 1869 in Lethbridge.  Though oddities abound, the seminar emphasised cocktail innovation with a lasting impact on our drinking lives.

First up, Danielle Tatarin, from Designer Cocktail Company and The Keefer Bar, presented Canada’s contributions to the Bloody Caesar.

Though iterations appeared in (Harry’s) New York Bar in 1921 and (sans booze) in Burke’s Complete Cocktail and Tastybite in 1936 and The Standard Bartender’s Guide in 1965, the Canadian standard was developed in Calgary in 1969.  Walter Chell was purportedly inspired by the spaghetti alle vongole he tasted in Venice, and mashed his own clams to get the job done.

Danielle presents her modern, culinary version of the classic:

Bloody Caesar

2 oz Chorizo washed Vodka
4 oz Tomato Juice
1 oz Clam Juice
1 whole Garlic Roasted Tomato
2 dashes Tobasco
2 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
½ barspoon grated horseradish
Celery Salt & Chili Mix (for rim)

Muddle tomato with horseradish in a mixing glass. Strain liquid into another mixing glass and discard fruit.  Add all remaining ingredients to the juice.  Roll mixture between two glasses to blend. Pour the ingredients over ice into the rimmed Collins glass. Garnish with pickled vegetable & chorizo on a skewer.

David Wolowidnyk, from West Restaurant in Vancouver presented another Canadian classic: the Hotel Georgia Cocktail.

The cocktail was first published in Bottoms Up in 1951.  It was the brainchild of socialite, and Waldorf-Astoria’s long-time publicist, Ted Saucier.  The cocktail was resurrected by Brad Stanton in 2011 for the opening of the Hawksworth Restaurant at Vancouver’s Rosewood Hotel Georgia.  There’s a reason it was named Canada’s “cocktail of the year” in EnRoute magazine last February.  Taste it for yourself with this modern recipe.

Hotel Georgia Cocktail

1 ¾ Victoria Gin
¾ Lemon Juice
½ Orgeat
7 drops Orange flower water
1 egg white

Dry shake then wet shake and double strain into a chilled coupe.  Garnish with grated nutmeg.

Jay Jones brought his great experience with Barjonesing to the seminar (not to mention his time at Voya, Pourhouse, Shangri-la Hotel, and beyond).  He shared secrets of The Vancouver Cocktail and the city’s mid-century cocktail culture.

At that time, new laws had a major effect on Vancouver’s drinking scene.  In 1952, alcohol sales were finally permitted in restaurants, and in 1954, the first dining-lounge liquor license was granted.  In the same year, The Sylvia Hotel opened Vancouver’s first legally licensed cocktail bar and became the site of much decadence.   In 1959, Errol Flynn enjoyed the Vancouver Cocktail at the Sylvia Hotel… the last before his death.

The Vancouver Cocktail was reborn only recently through recollections of one Josiah Bates who frequented the Sylvia Hotel since 1955.  In 2006, Bates divulged the recipe to Steve da Cruz, who featured the cocktail at his Corner Suite Bistro Deluxe in 2009 and will likely highlight some reincarnation in his new venture The Parker Restaurant (coming soon!)  Here is a modern recipe.

The Vancouver Cocktail

1 ½ oz Victoria Gin
¾ Punt e Mes
¼ oz Benedictine
2 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters

Stir until chilled, strain, served up, and zest.

Lest we be accused of left coast centrism, The Toronto Cocktail was presented by Shawn Soole (of Clive’s Classic Lounge in Victoria and a Tales nominee for international bartender of the year).

The Toronto Cocktail was first published as the Fernet Cocktail in 1922.  Robert Vermeire’s Cocktails: How to Mix Them noted “this cocktail is much appreciated by the Canadians of Toronto”.  With its current name, it was first published in David Embury’s 1948 The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks.  Though there’s no way to be sure that the original cocktail was created in Canada, Soole is certain of the Italian Toronto/NYC/Europe connections, and asserts that, with such a name, it’s fair to call it ours.

The Toronto Cocktail

2 oz Caribou Crossing Canadian Whisky
¼ Fernet Brana
¼ oz Gomme Syrup
Dash Angostura Bitters

Stir, strain up with a flamed orange zest

History is a continuum and, if anything, cocktail innovation is only intensifying in Canada.  Take the novel use of vinegars and “shrubs” highlighted in last week’s Globe & Mail, for example, with Victoria’s Katie McDonald leading the pack.  (See her Sunomono Cocktail above.)

Just like your times table, practice makes cocktails perfect, so do your homework!  And also, get out and be inspired by the pros at great bars across the country!  We all need to learn from the best.  Finally, for an intensive crash course or to sharpen those skills, please join us at Victoria’s Art of the Cocktail in October.  Cheers!

Tales of the Cocktail starts this week!  Victoria Gin will be back in New Orleans again this year, not as a mere craft distiller but as a premium Canadian spirit showcasing Canadian Cocktail History.

We are so proud of the team of BC mixologists who will be representing.  Among them: Jay Jones, David Wolowidnyk, Danielle Tatarin, and Victoria’s own Shawn Soole will do us proud at the Classic Canadian Cocktails seminar. (Check out those profiles!)

And that’s not all… Lauren Mote will get medicinal in two seminars, one entitled A Forager’s Pharmacy with David, Danielle, and Jonathan Chovancek, and one on Traditional Chinese Medicinal Ingredients, with Danielle and Nancy Chow-Wolowidnyk  (we feel restored just reading about them!);  Brad Stanton from Vancouver’s Hawksworth Restaurant will play bar chef at An Evening of Mingling; Trevor Kallies — Bar & Beverage Director of Vancouver’s Donnelly Group — is a Tales Cocktail Apprentice; Victoria’s class act Solomon Siegel will be back in New Orleans sharing the Island love… and the list goes on!

Now we know it’s not a competition for everyone (except for Shawn Soole who is up for International Bartender of the Year and Clive’s Classic up for World’s Best Hotel Bar!) but we’re delighted to see so many mixologists in Nola representing the talent and spirits of our province and country.  Go team!

Our multifaceted family exudes a wide spectrum of sportiness and Olympic spirit.   Nevertheless, we’ve all found ourselves bolstering other team building exercises and celebrating games of late.  Be it our support of the Canadian Olympic Sailing Team or our backing of Victoria’s Canadian Pacific Lawn Bowling, we like a little VG&T after we sweat and like to share the love.

We were delighted to represent our own comestible Team Canada at the Canada Day celebrations hosted by the Consulate General of Canada in New York City.   Ever-spirited Kevin Brauch mastered the ceremonies at the Great Canadian Cocktail Competition held at the Penn Club in Manhattan.  It was a great time… full of Canucks and Canuck lovers, and heck, we won!  Here’s the winning recipe, created by Hanna Cousins of Steak Frites NYC:

The Canadian Whisper

1.5 oz Victoria Gin
0.5 oz 40 Creek Whisky
1 organic, cage-free egg white
Fresh lemon juice
Canadian Maple syrup & vanilla bean reduction
2 raspberries
Caramelized lemon wheel garnish

Muddle raspberries in shaker.  Add egg white, citrus and syrup.  Add Victoria Gin and 40 Creek Whisky.  Add ice.  Shake hard.  Serve up with caramelized lemon wheel garnish.

Whether you’re mixing like a pro in New Orleans, or playing a mean game of bridge, here’s wishing you plenty of team spirit this summer.  Let the games begin!

What fun at our Open House!  Not only did we enjoy fantastic friends, bites and cocktails, but also, the whole family was there!  Along with his amazing whimsical guitars and ukuleles, Bill Blair brought a paint-by-number backdrop for portraits.  Here’s the fam in our Sunday best:

There are more all-Canadian (all ridiculous) dress-up shots on Bill’s facebook album.

As well as playing dress-up, we toured our pals around the Distillery and served up three cocktails, each highlighting a different spirit.

We challenged our tasters to name a cocktail featuring our Left Coast Hemp Vodka.  Here’s presenting “Barbed Wire”, christened by Kim Harrison.  Kim won herself a bottle of Vodka!  (Rick won a bottle of bitters for his runner-up “Hey Rhube”.)  And you all get the cocktail recipe!

Barbed Wire

2 oz Left Coast Hemp Vodka
3.5 oz pressed rhubarb (freeze chunks of fresh rhubarb, thaw & blend)
0.75 oz simple syrup (dissolve sugar in equal parts water and cool)
A few healthy dashes of twisted & bitter cocktail bitters
A splash (or squeeze) of fresh orange juice

Shake with ice and strain.  Garnish with an orange twist and a mint sprig.

We also served up The Butchart Garden — with our Victoria Gin — and The Hunting Party — with our Oaken Gin.  Both are on our recipe page.

Missed the event?  Check out our Virtual Distillery Tour and pop out to the Distillery in “RL” on weekends and holidays.

On the road on Sunday?  Pop into our Open House and check out the Opening of Bill Blair‘s new show.  Our local Canadian hero will be showing his whimsical repurposed guitars and ukuleles.  Bill chats about them here.

Ode to the Road will be up for the rest of the season, and we’re always on weekends and holidays.  See you soon.

Tales of the Cocktail Vancouver is days away and we’re thrilled! This, of course, speaks volumes about the magic of Vancouver’s mixology scene — it’s only the second time Tales has been held outside of New Orleans, and the second time in Van!

We have been invited to pour and will be there with bells on.  Join us!   February 12th-15th at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel.  Tickets are still available here!   Come meet (makers) Peter and Phil at the “Meet the Makers” pouring on February 13th.

Distillers Phil & Peter: Brothers-in-law, partners in crime (& housemates!)

Our barkeep in shining armour, Solomon Siegel, will be there with us as well, making his West Coast Cocktail, which debuted at our first Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans.  Here it is again to whet your palate:

West Coast Cocktail

2 oz Victoria Gin
3/4 oz Martini Bianco vermouth
4 dashes liquor Strega

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with smoked salmon lox and smoked applewood cheddar. Dip the garnish in the drink before you eat it.

Mr. West Coast, Solomon Siegel, stirs the pot

We know Jacob Briars’ bitters seminar will be fascinating and if that’s not bitter enough, Tales Vancouver 2012 will climax with a Valentine’s Day Bitter Bash, which reads like a film noir femme fatale:

Are you in love with Bitters? Or are you Bitter that you’re not in love? [...] You don’t need romance on Valentine’s Day– you need bitters! Let go of sugary traditions in favour of bitter ones and lose yourself in Campari, Aperol, Cynar and more. Allow the bitterness to wash over you in contagious cocktails created by your all-star bartenders, inspired by these classic spirits that are anything but sweet.

Hear, hear.  And on this bitter topic, all Tales Vancouver attendees will be going home with a bottle of our bitters in their prize pack — bottles which will soon be collectibles cause we’re revamping the whole look for the next batch.

Love her and leave her, we need a new muse

Vancouver, you are pretty special, we gotta love ya… ’til the bitter end.

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.