Join us for a Vic Gin-spiked Art of the Cocktail this weekend!

The Victoria Film Festival fundraiser brings bright lights from far and wide to shake, stir, instil & distil.  We’re up to our armpits in the action.

Join us Saturday for an Intro to Boutique Distilling and for Peter’s collaboration with Solomon Siegel: “Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Gin.”  As well as sharing Gin’s history, production, and cocktail secrets, they will once again remind you that:

Vodka martinis are the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face.  They intend to contaminate our precious bodily fluids! (Siegel, 2011)

Peter and Solomon don’t fool around.

(original photo c/o Doug Harrington)

We’ll also be in full force at the Grand Tasting event on Saturday night and hosting a special Distillery tour on Monday.

Learn more about this epic event and get tickets online.

“The contents of your survival kit is… one pair of nylons, five condoms, one .45 caliber pistol with two magazines, $200 in gold coins, 2 packs of chewing gum, one miniature bible and combination Russian phrase book…” (Dr. Strangelove, 1964).

We are participating in the 2011 Feast of Fields events in Metro Vancouver and on Vancouver Island.

Join us on Sunday, September 11 at Krause Berry Farms in Langley and on Sunday, September 18 at Marley Farm in Saanichton.   What’s this Feast?:

Feast of Fields is a 4 hour gourmet wandering harvest festival and FarmFolk CityFolk’s annual fundraising event. With a wine glass and linen napkin in hand, you can taste the very best of BC from chefs, vintners, brewers, farmers, fishers, ranchers and food artisans from across the province!  Feast of Fields highlights the connections between producer and chef, field and table, and farm folks and city folks. Feast of Fields is a gastronomic journey towards a sustainable, local food system.

Come celebrate the harvest with us!  Find your tickets here.

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.

We are inching our way across this vast country and happy to report that Victoria Gin has now flooded the SAQ!  Find yourself a bottle here.

Anna and Phil were in Montréal for an intimate launch last week at Restaurant Jane on Notre Dame.  We were delighted to launch at Jane – a place that shares our commitment to quality and “keeping it real”.  We were also delighted by the local response.

Merci Québec et longue vie à l’esprit moderne de Victoria!

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!

Victoria Gin will be at Oakville Girl’s Night Out on May 25th, in the capable hands of Trevor Burnett.

Trevor mixes love at our 2010 Toronto Cocktail Competition

Join Trevor at the Oakville Conference Centre for Vic Gin samples and an evening of fashion, food, drink, and entertainment… all while raising money for the Mississauga Food Bank.  Details here.

There’s nothing like political turbulence to make us want a drink.  Knowing you’ll agree, we hope you’ll join us for a post-election nip of Victoria Gin, and copious other bites and sips, at Ottawa’s premiere gourmet event, Bon Appetit.

Touted as Ottawa’s “best cocktail party of the year”, Gin will be flowing on May 3rd at Aberdeen Pavilion as over 2,000 guests indulge to raise money for hunger and poverty relief.  Sounds ‘win-win’ to us.

Now get out there and earn your drink –  Vote!

Tales of the Cocktail is setting up shop in Vancouver for three days next week.  With the hot action shaking down through the Vancouver cocktail scene, it’s no wonder.  Still, this is huge!

Our twisted & bitter will be there, basking in the creative energies and dashing its way into drinks here and there.

Capital Assets

Combine & shake all ingredients (except ale!) on ice.  Strain into glass with three large ice cubes.  Top with ale & stir.  Garnish with rosemary.