 It’s Canada Day, up Canada way, and what better way to celebrate the 150th birthday of the True North, Strong and Free than with a couple of classy cocktails! Both of these cocktails are featured in the Summer issue of Taste magazine. Check it out right here. Not only does it have these great recipes but of bunch of other ones too! First up, since we’re in the Greater Vancouver area, is the Vancouver Cocktail. We believe this was first served up in The Sylvia Hotel in the 1950’s. Look at the Sylvia here. What an awesome place. The Vancouver Cocktail 1 1/2 ounces Victoria Gin (we used a combo of Bombay Sapphire and Boodles) 1/4 ounce Sweet Vermouth (Martine Rosso) 1/4 ounce B&B (Benedictine and Brandy) 2 dashes orange bitters Lemon peel for garnish Stir ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and twist a lemon peel over the drink and use as a garnish. This is a lovely drink and hard to pin down (just like Vancouver itself). All the flavours play well together and each one seems to get it’s own little part of the tongue to shine on. (just like Vancouver itself).  Captain Vancouver would be so proud! Next up, we travel across the country to Toronto and a zesty little drink they call the Toronto Cocktail. This drink may or may not have been created in England. Doesn’t matter, we’re making it anyway and you should too! The Toronto Cocktail 2 ounces rye whiskey (we used Canadian Club 100% Rye) 1/4 ounce Fernet Branca 1/4 ounce simple syrup (1:1) 1 dash of Angostura Bitters Orange peel for garnish Stir ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and twist an orange peel over the drink and use as a garnish. What a surprising drink (just like Toronto itself)! The Fernet Branca (which everybody is kind of afraid of) turns this drink into an amazingly flavourful voyage of discovery (just like Toronto itself)!  Glenn Taranto would be so proud! Both of these drinks are elegant and a little on the dry side. Neither of them are traditional Summer patio thirst quenchers. These are pre dinner, appetite enhancing marvels and we hope you give both of them a try. When you do, raise your glasses and give a little toast to Canada. 150 years old is nothing to sneeze at, right? Happy Canada Day everybody! OH! I said I'd put a picture that I took of some Echinacea in here. Check this out. I bet you're feeling better already! 
4 Comments
Fred Partridge
7/3/2017 03:42:47 pm
I made the Toronto Cocktail with maple syrup instead of simple syrup to make it more Canadian. This gives the drink a milder flavour - but barely any maple notes with only 1/4 ounce. It combines with the Fernet-Branca to give an oak-y almost cinnamon aftertaste. Weird. I call this variant the Toronto Maple Leaf Cocktail!
Hi guys, enjoyed the show. Crunched some numbers, and if 87 seconds on Google Maps is anything to go by, the distance between Vancouver & Toronto is 3380km. The midway point, 1690km, puts us very close to Brandon, MB, 1650km away from Vancouver. So props to Jason for his disturbingly accurate estimate and even more disturbing awareness of Brandon. I expect our local tourism board will be rolling out their "Halfway To Somewhere Good" campaign in the near future. (Technically, the midway point is around Douglas, MB, but they already have a bull semen testing facility, so their claim to fame is well established.)
Jason
7/6/2017 11:13:52 pm
Hi Layne, Hi Guys. Still a bit behind with the shows (currently learning about the Tom Collins), but wanted to jump in with a much requested comment. Well, it's a question really & maybe you've already addressed it. How are you progressing with drunk podcast.ca. Asking for a friend!! Leave a Reply. |
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