Vancouver Cocktail Week Gives Covid the Boot

Vancouver Cocktail Week Gives Covid the Boot…

Well, it certainly feels that way. The inaugural Vancouver Cocktail Week did that and then some. And achieved it with just as much substance as style.  The program of happy hours, tastings and seminars was originally scheduled for early 2020. But we all know what happened then. And then again in spring 2021. 

Festival organizers The Alchemist magazine read the tea leaves right later last year. It was then they decided to finally go ahead. Given it coincided with loosening of pandemic restrictions, the timing couldn’t have been better. People are in a mood to celebrate. And celebrate they did, albeit somewhat still cautiously.

An Alchemist’s Dream Come True

Vancouver Cocktail Week founders Gail Nugent & Joanne Sasvari, The Alchemist publisher and editor

Joanne Sasvari is Vancouver Cocktail Week co-founder and The Alchemist editor. “I think after the last two years there was nothing we needed more than a great social event,” she says. We had an amazing lineup of seminars and tastings. It was just so exciting to see everybody coming out and having a really great time.” 

Sasvari says the idea of the festival was really “to celebrate community. That is, especially the hospitality community. We wanted everyone to appreciate the incredible wealth of talent we enjoy in Vancouver.”  That idea seems to have taken root, she suggests. The festival turned out to be less about about how fancy the drink is and much more about genuine hospitality.

A Fun ‘No Fun’ Finale

I’m pretty sure Noel Coward would have approved of last Thursday’s ‘No Fun City’ gala. It was indeed a ‘marvelous party’—a perfect wrap for Vancouver’s inaugural shake and stir-fest. There was fun and great tastes to had by the bar-load. No surprise there, with at least 16 different concoctions on offer (and then some). 

It all went down (or up) at Fairmont Hotel Vancouver’s just unveiled, fully renovated The Roof. Until not that long ago it was the most storied cocktail haunt in Vancouver. Back in its heyday CBC Radio used to broadcast from there. Legendary Dal Richards and his orchestra were on air every weekend.  The now function-only space dates from a time when the three martini lunch was still a thing.

A few years ago the hotel seemed almost ready to resurrect it in its entirety, but no more. Sadly, the window-side bar with its downtown vibe is long gone. It’s my one quibble with the series of recent reno’s. But it’s still a high octane, spiffy space, for sure.

There were, of course, little black dresses aplenty. Plus sparkly bustiers, hot pink pant-suits, fancy boots and more, all in deference to the 90s theme. Not to mention 2020’s defining accessory: masks, at least for for those not eating or drinking. Although, most folks were either excited—or apprehensive, as this night was the last gasp of the indoor mask mandate.

A Spirited Send-Off

That veritable smorgasbord of cocktails yielded an interesting snapshot of where we’re at. It showed just how far the city’s cocktail culture has come in over, say, the last decade. Spirits and inspirations roamed well beyond the predictable.

They ranged from Masahiro Okinawa Gin and Kuramoto Secret Yuzu Sake to a line-up of aged Yanghe Baijiu (58% ABV). The sorghum based spirit, widely enjoyed (and also collected) in China, is gaining traction here. Several sources suggest it’s the world’s most consumed spirit. I tasted through four aged Baiiju and found even the smallest sips more than potent. I passed on Alex Black’s ‘Don’t Let Them See You Bleed’ cocktail. Maybe next time. 

Vancouver Cocktail Week Tastes of note

A few things that piqued my palate—maybe there was a spring theme evolving here.

Elephant in the Woods. Trevor Kallies (Donnelly Group). Elephant Gin, lemon juice, and mint leaves with Fever Tree sparkling grapefruit add up to a refreshing combo. 

The Sharp and Thompson (named after the architects of the Burrard Bridge). Created by Boulevard bartender Shion Fujita (above left). Giffard Pamplemousse liqueur with 8-year old Bacardi, Montenegro Amaro, lime juice and dehydrated grapefruit. Fujita says Giffard is “like a bridge that connects a lot of different components for a variety of cocktails.”

VIVAcity. Matt Benevoli makes a refreshing, simple sipper. It combines Cesconi Lynx Bianco Vermouth with lemon basil cordial, soda water and fresh basil. A subtle recipe that allows the organic Vermouth to shine through. Azienda Agricola Cesconi is a small, family owned winery nestled in the hills of Pressano, in Trentino Alto-Adige. Artisanal Vermouth, also made in rosso (shown).

Pathfinder. An award winner from James Grant, Diageo 2021 World Class Bartender of the Year. Made with Johnnie Walker Black Label, Umé Shu plum wine, maple green tea cordial, cardamom bitters, Fever-Tree club soda, a rosemary sprig and a candied pine cone.

Bowmore & Brine

Earlier in the week, a tasting at Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar featured Bowmore Single Malt Whisky Canadian brand ambassador James Neil. This was the first time I’ve managed a peek at Blue Water’s voluminous whisky line-up. In the past the impressive wine program has commanded my attention. The Bowmore pours built up to the superb, mellow, multi layered, quite toffee and caramel toned 18 year-old. It followed the 12 and 15, all paired with Chef Frank Pabst’s smartly conceived bites. 

Mr. Neil is not short on advice and good lines. As in “Chew your whisky slowly,” and Scotland, known for its “hairy cattle, grumpy old men, no trees” (hence peat) “—and whisky, of course.”

Martini Madness

Brass Fish Tavern played host to Fords Gin, which many were discovering for the first time. Gin drinkers tend to be purists, among the most demanding and unforgiving of imbibers. They know what they like. As in Gin, not vodka, usually, ever. Well sometimes, maybe.) And they know how they like it. That’ll be dry, as in London Dry.

London Dry dates from standards imposed on the capital in the mid-1700s, when it was home to some 7,000 (not always reputable) gin shops. Much more on gin past and present in The Alchemist. 

Fords London Dry is a delightful find, quite floral and juniper. It’s also legit London gin as it’s made by Thames Distillers, right near Clapham Common. Fords is also one of few gins that lists its (nine) botanicals right on the bottle. The vessel itself sports an indent to make it less slippery with wet hands. There’s good reason they call it the ‘bartenders gin.’

My dry martini was excellent. Clear, fresh and aromatic with definite juniper, coriander and citrus playing off the lemon twist. Ratio of Vermouth to gin was 1:7. 

In fact, even my Uncle Rick, the original Vermouth grinch (“Just show it the cap, old chap!”) likely would have approved. Maybe. He was a Beefeater man. Because, well, he was an actual Beefeater (or Yeoman Warder)—hat, pike ‘n all. But that’s a story for another day. Okay, in a pinch, maybe, he’d turn to Tanqueray. I also get a kick out of the Fords logo. It’s a humorous riff on the crossed swords thing.