excuses to drink now - National Magazine Awards

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June 28-July 4, 2012 |
excuses to
drink now
BY CHRIS BILTON, DANIELLE GROEN, SARAH LISS, LUC RINALDI, JACOB RUTKA, AND CHRISTINE SISMONDO
PHOTOGRAPH KAYLA CHOBOTIUK
#1
BECAUSE
you can still find
a decent dive bar
in this town
The key to finding the perfect dive bar is simple: Pick
a place where you feel vaguely threatened by the staff
and patrons for the first few visits, but are ready to
take a bullet for them by your fifth night there. It’s
not an exact science, and it requires the bar having
far more attitude than ambience—a place like Wide
Open, which is essentially an alleyway with a roof
over it, where the volume on the mid-’90s alt-rock
anthems rarely dips below deafening. It gets cozier
the closer you get to last call.
Of course, a quirky/decent jukebox goes a long way
to making a dive bar feel like home. Henry’s has a
ridiculous selection of songs befitting the bar’s outdated film-poster motif (Blast From the Past, anyone?). Gangsta rap and thrash-metal classics are filed
alongside Black Eyed Peas and classic Madonna, and
no one seems to mind if you play any of them. Hen-
› Wide Open,
139A Spadina Ave.,
416-727-5411.
› Henry’s,
916 St. Clair Ave. W.,
647-341-5568.
ry’s also offers buckets of Corona ($25 for six bottles),
which makes enduring other peoples’ selections that
much easier.
Cheap beer, or at least the illusion of cheap beer, is
a similar draw at legendary Danforth watering hole
The Linsmore Tavern. Its $1.15 quarter-pints might
not be the most efficient method of consumption,
but paying for beer with pocket change—even when
it ultimately adds up to $4.60 a pint—definitely has
its psychological advantages. And while not technically a dive (yes, that’s an aquarium in the centre
of the circular bar), The Imperial Pub is so entirely
unpretentious that we had to include it. Between the
rec-room-esque second-floor Library Lounge and the
splashes of mid-’80s interior design (glass bricks!),
this is easily one of the coziest places to embrace your
inner Bukowski.
› The Linsmore Tavern,
1298 Danforth Ave.,
416-466-5130.
› The Imperial Pub,
54 Dundas St. E.,
416-977-4667.
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Because
SpiritHouse has a damned impressive wall of liquor
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The Fox on Bay
has cocktails
on tap
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Highest alcohol
content
George T. Stagg bourbon
71.3 per cent
27
100%
Exactly how damned impressive? A by-the-numbers breakdown.
Not everyone is immediately
sold on drinking a cocktail
that’s come out of a tap. Rob
Montgomery, the man at
the helm of both The Fox on
Bay and the adjacent Miller
Tavern, admits that fully half his
customers don’t know what to
make of the idea—until a taste
of the drink converts them.
Montgomery says the advantage
is that some spirits benefit from
quality time spent together; the
cocktail’s flavours mellow and
mingle with age. The selection
rotates: Right now, he’s pouring
sangria ($5.30 a glass), but
he’s had a wide range of aged
cocktails on tap, including the
Tromboni (a tequila Negroni),
the Bijou, and, most popular by
far, the classic Manhattan that
launched the whole program.
The Fox on Bay, 35 Bay St.,
416-869-3535.
Most expensive
booze
Macallan Whisky
$29 for 50 mL
Lowest alcohol
content
Aperol
11 per cent
Bottle that’s
travelled the
farthest
Nikka Pure Malt Whisky
from Sendai, Japan:
10,300 km
Because
your drink just got a
little more tequila-y
Least popular
booze
Forty Creek Whisky
Most popular
booze
Beefeater gin
36,000 mL a week
photograph (Wall of Liquor) aristea rizakos
bottle that’s barely
travelled at all
Tag No. 5 Vodka
from Oakville: 30 km
Around
400
Total number of bottles
Around
300,000mL
Total volume of booze
Sparkling wine
Still wines
Local beers
Ports
Gins
Absinthe
Brandies
Whiskys
Liqueurs
Bitters
Flavoured vodkas
Rums
Tequilas
Vodkas
30
Number of
Canadian bottles
60
Number of
Scottish bottles
5
57
624
Number of bottles with
animals in their names
Total number of glasses
Wine 72
Water 96
(buffalo, stag, eagle,
grouse x 2)
Number of
bottles from
Euro Cup
top-8 teams
Italy
Highball 72
Lowball 72
Double shot
glasses 48
Flight glasses
192
450
Lemons
per week
England
Greece
France
Martini 72
Number of whiskys…
Portugal
Spain
Czech Republic
Germany
22
Old
enough
to drive
20
Old
enough
to buy
porn
45L
Lemon/lime
juice per week
15
Old
enough
to drink
i
450
Limes
per week
SpiritHouse, 487 Adelaide St. W.,
647-277-1187.
Once you start looking for Tequila
Tromba barrels around town, it’s
downright spooky how often they
appear—sort of like pods from outer
space waiting to take over the city’s
drinking scene. As a matter of fact,
barrel-aged tequila cocktails are
about to descend, since Tromba
has supplied some of Toronto’s best
bartenders with barrels for aging
their new concoctions. Among
other spots, the vessels can be seen
lurking at The Comrade, Origin,
SpiritHouse, and Fynn’s of Temple
Bar, where pitchers of barrel-aged
“tromba-gritas” are making their
way onto patio tables.
Over at The Drake Hotel,
bartender Tabytha Towe developed
the Chupacabra, a punchy and
aromatic mix of Tromba, Punt e
Mes, and Aperol, currently maturing
in Tromba barrels. Bonus points to
416 Snack Bar, however, for going
the literal route and simply aging
Tromba blanco for a couple of
months until it turns into reposado.
Eric Brass, Tromba’s president, plans
to bring by a bottle of the company’s
own reposado (not yet available at
the LCBO) for a side-by-side taste
test. Our money’s on 416.
› Fynn’s of Temple Bar,
489 King St. W., 416-586-1331.
› The Drake Hotel,
1150 Queen St. W., 416-531-5042.
› 416 Snack Bar,
181 Bathurst St., 416-364-9320.
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Sazerac Rye
whisky is back
at the LCBO
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Though the Junction isn’t exactly famous for its nightlife—the
Dundas and Keele ’hood was alcohol-free until the turn of this
century—there are, at the very least, sufficient pubs for anyone
interested in acting out their entire bar-going life in one night.
Newly opened 3030 Dundas West boasts a massive space and a ’60s
variety-show stage. With a clean and airy vibe, as well as a respectable
collection of board games (see: Murder She Wrote), it’s a mash-up of
Bishop and the Belcher, Futures Bakery, and East Side Mario’s. This is
the bar where your 21-year-old self would be totally stoked to go,
if only to use pickup lines like, “You can sink my battleship anytime.”
A little further down the refined-sense-of-irony spectrum, and just
the other side of Pacific Avenue, Margret is the kind of place you
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#12-18
Benjamin Deacon, Acadia
Loneliest bottle at the bar Cynar.
It’s a bitter made from artichokes,
and I think it’s just horrible. It’s very
intensely flavoured. You have to really
like your Italian bitters to appreciate it.
#20
there are bartenders
who actually free-pour
Brendon
100%
Cocktail may have been the last time Tom Cruise was
truly cool: spinning bottles, eyeballing drinks. That
kind of laissez-faire attitude looks fantastic, but it’s
the stuff of cinema—most of the city’s bartenders are
too worried about finicky proportions and inventory
control to indulge in a bit of free-pouring behind the
wood. Not Ryan Desjardins of BartenderOne, one of the
city’s two bartending schools. He says that an accurate
free-pour is among the first things he teaches, since it
can help bartenders get drinks out faster. “Managers
are afraid of [heavy-handed bartenders increasing]
costs, but we focus on how easy it is to learn to freepour properly,” says Desjardins. “The best part is the
appreciation from customers, who think it looks more
professional.”
At Barchef on Queen, Frankie Solarik is one of
the few bar owners to agree. He does it himself, but
cautions that it’s taken him years to master the art.
“A lot of people think the free-pour is about timing,”
he says. “But it’s really about a feeling of how much
flavour is going in there.”
ve
gro
3030 Dundas West,
3030 Dundas St. W.,
416-769-5736.
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definitely want to visit early in your 30s and late into the night.
With its eclectic found-objects décor, Russ Meyer video projections,
and regular rotation of all-vinyl DJ nights—not to mention 40s
of Old English in the bar fridge—this is where you can let all your
indie snobbery hang out while getting seriously sweaty on the
impromptu dance floor.
When it’s time for a bit of a comedown, or perhaps a moment to
come to terms with where you’ll be hanging out post-mid-life crisis,
The Hole in the Wall’s classy railcar layout (a long bar in what’s
essentially a hallway) provides the perfect solace. Listening to a
blues cover band while sipping on a Junction Conductor’s Ale and
slurping back a plate of oysters can’t be all that terrible, can it?
Margret,
2952 Dundas St. W.,
416-762-3373.
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you’re on a this-is-your-life pub crawl
keel
The Sazerac
1. Chill an Old Fashioned glass
with ice.
2. In a second Old Fashioned glass,
combine:
› 1 teaspoon of rich simple syrup
(two parts sugar to one part water)
› 1 dash of Peychaud’s Bitters
(optional—purists eschew bitters)
› 2 oz. Sazerac Rye whisky
3. Stir.
4. Discard the ice from the chilled
glass and swirl in a splash of
Sazerac Herbsaint.
5. Discard the Herbsaint rinse
and fill the glass with the whisky
mixture.
6. Twist a lemon peel over the drink
and rub around the rim of the glass.
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The Hole in the Wall,
2867 Dundas St. W.,
647-350-3564.
ific
Pac
Canadians tend to refer to our
home and native liquor as “rye,”
but those Canadians are wrong:
Most of our whisky is actually made
from corn, not rye. That’s why
American ryes—like the six-yearold Sazerac Rye whisky, which has
just washed up on our shores—can
be something of a revelation, since
they’re typically far spicier than
those we grew up with. Sazerac also
weighs in at a whopping 90 proof—
unlike its Canadian cousins, which
tend to be a little more…polite.
This rye is also a mandatory
ingredient in the Sazerac, a drink
that some (erroneously) finger as
the world’s first cocktail, thanks
to New Orleans’ long tradition
of serving whisky and absinthe
mixed together in egg cups. (No
one’s really sure what the original
cocktail was, but there’s a good case
to be made for the Old Fashioned.)
Either way, the Sazerac is a
tremendous way to beat the heat,
or at least ensure you’ll be too
drunk to notice. And now, with
Sazerac Herbsaint pastis available
at the LCBO, too, we have all the
tools to make the genuine article.
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› BartenderOne,
446 Rhodes Ave.,
416-461-4441.
› Barchef,
472 Queen St. W.,
416-868-4800.
Because
no one else is drinking from this bottle
Renata Clingen, Café Belong
Loneliest bottle at the bar Definitely
our Drambuie. It’s a combination of
the fact that it’s not a typical cocktail
ingredient and that customers just
don’t know what to do with it.
Brit Maguire, The Comrade
Loneliest bottle at the bar Our port.
It’s such a shame, because you
buy a really nice bottle of port and
nobody orders it. It’s just not as
good once it’s open.
Amos Pudsey, Keriwa Café
Loneliest bottle at the bar
I’d say white rum. I’m not the
biggest fan, but there are some
nice white rums, and it works
well in a mojito, of course.
photographs (coconut flip) liam mogan; (streeters) Kayla Chobotiuk
Because
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breakfast
Taylor Corrigan, Origin
Loneliest bottle at the bar I’d say
my Black Sambuca probably collects
the most dust. It’s just that people
are adverse to its licorice-y flavour. It
doesn’t lend itself well to cocktails.
Christina Kuypers, Ursa
Loneliest bottle at the bar There’s
usually a dusty bottle of Pimm’s at the
back of our bar. It has a nice natural
bitterness and so many different
applications, but it’s usually only
considered an ingredient in a Pimm’s
Cup. I think it’s underappreciated.
Jud Ruhl, Three Speed
Loneliest bottle at the bar Kahlúa.
We don’t touch that thing. It’s sweet
and shitty. I may have bought two
bottles since we’ve opened. You can
do B-52’s with it, but that was a
different time.
It happens to the best of us: For all our good intentions,
we somehow miss that most important meal of the day.
Fortunately, Suits Lobby Lounge at the Trump Hotel offers the
Coconut Rum Flip ($18), a refined, tropical drink with a full egg yolk
that is so rich and hearty it could substitute for the breakfast
of champions. Alternately, if you’ve already demolished your
morning omelette, this well-balanced concoction of equatorial
flavours—rum, strega, lemon bitters, coconut milk, lime zest,
and banana leaf—can easily stand in for dessert.
Suits Lobby Lounge, 325 Bay St., 416-306-5800.
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Because
tiki is finally taking off in Toronto
Despite the laid-back, Hawaiian-shirt vibe, tiki drinks are actually pretty tough to pull off. They require tons of finely crushed ice, hard-to-source
mugs, and homemade syrups that would tax even the most devoted DIY cocktail geeks. But a few bars have persevered and are spreading tiki across
T.O. Fynn’s of Temple Bar just introduced a rum, cassis, and sorrel-syrup concoction called Montego Bay ($12); DEQ at the Ritz-Carlton has a stellar
Mai Tai ($14); and Café Belong offers a show-stopping Caribbean Queen ($11), made with cardamom and plantain milk.
Trevor Burnett, a self-proclaimed “tikiphile,” is one of the driving forces behind the city’s flood of Polynesian-themed drinks. When not training
at bars and working special tiki events, he can often be found at BYOB, giving classes on tiki-cocktail techniques for classics like the Painkiller and
Missionary’s Downfall. Drop in on his next class: July 12, from 7 to 9 p.m. BYOB, 972 Queen St. W., 416-858-2932.
On Kayla
Wild Fox bathing suit top,
$125, Jacflash, 1036 Queen
St. W., 416-516-8766. BB
Dakota chiffon blouse,
$78, Lavish & Squalor, 253
Queen St. W., 416-5300003. Jack chiffon skirt,
$72, BB Dakota, bbdakota.
com. Cocoa bangles, $35,
Shoppers Drug Mart,
shoppersdrugmart.ca. Bag,
$36, Roxy, roxy.com. Blu
wide-brimmed hat, $10,
Winners, winners.ca. and Because
tiki gives you
a reason to
wear this
Because
Less than a decade ago,
Richard Chase was just a man
with a juicer—and a vision. He
sensed there was an appetite
at bars and restaurants for
freshly squeezed, same-daydelivered fruits and veggie
syrups. So he persuaded
Blowfish Restaurant and Sake
Bar to spring for a modest
assortment—a bit of mango
juice, a splash of pineapple, a
daring little cranberry-raspberry
blend. Within two months,
Chasers Fresh Juices (still a
one-man operation) had
amassed 30 clients.
Today, working with a staff of 15
and squeezing out an easy 1,500
to 2,000 litres of product a week,
he supplies more than 250 bars
and restaurants with the juice to
make tasty, tangy cocktails. The
menu’s grown, as well. Citrus
(largely orange, of course) is still
tops in sales, but as customers’
tastes turn bolder, barkeeps
have become more inventive
in their demand for signature
concoctions: Chase makes a
cactus-pear-lychee juice for
O&B restaurants, and another
blend with cucumber, lime, chili,
and scotch bonnet peppers for
The Saint. “Whatever they want,
we’ll put together,” he says. “We
try to put everything in a bottle
for them. Except the alcohol.”
Chasers Fresh Juices,
2391B Lakeshore Blvd. W.,
416-916-2719.
On Adam
Hale silk shirt, $300,
Klaxon Howl, 706 Queen
St. W., 647-436-6628.
Scotch & Soda shorts,
$145, Jacflash. Tom Ford
sunglasses, $100, Winners.
Native shoes, $60, Heel
Boy, 773 Queen St. W.,
416-362-4335.
photograph daniel ehrenworth; (styling) gemma capone
this guy is
all juiced up
32 | June 28-July 4, 2012
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you can soak up all that booze with these awesome bar snacks
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Haggis fritters at The Caledonian
These rich, crispy fritters are the perfect introduction to
Scotland’s oft-disparaged national dish. Small balls of haggis,
consisting of ground beef, liver, kidney, and heart, are doused
in an Innis & Gunn beer batter, then dropped in the fryer
before hitting the plate on a bed of au jus. They’re topped with
pea shoots and slivers of parsnips—deep fried, of course.
$9. 856 College St., 647-547-9827.
Duck-heart skewers at Bellwoods Brewery
Though the brewery’s small menu changes regularly, these
dense, spicy morsels of offal always manage to stay put.
Skewered duck hearts are marinated in a light rub of cumin
and caraway, then grilled in a cast-iron pan. The dish is
finished off with a fiery oil, which is made from jalapeno and
green peppers that are charred, pureed, dehydrated, blended,
and rehydrated over a three-day period.
$4. 124 Ossington Ave., 416-535-4586.
Devilled eggs at Origin
In this trendy take on the
quintessential ’80s hors
d’ouevre, whole soft-boiled
eggs are filled with a mixture
of yolk and homemade mayo.
They’re served upright with a
crispy spear of double-smoked
bacon, tiny, crunchy balls of
souffletine (puffed cereal rice),
and a drizzle of gremolata
(olive oil with parsley and the
zests of orange, lemon, and
lime). It’s all so tasty you won’t
mind that they’re incredibly
awkward to eat.
$6. 107-109 King St. E.,
416-603-8009.
Deep-fried cheese curds with bacon jam at SpiritHouse
A few times a month—and if in-the-know customers ask—
SpiritHouse serves up these salty little gluttonous snacks.
Small hunks of cheese curds are surrounded by a light tempura
batter and fried till puffy. One bite and the ball deflates,
giving way to a gooey, melted-cheese centre, perfectly matched with
the sweet and salty homemade bacon jam.
$7. 487 Adelaide St. W., 647-277-1187.
#29
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Because
the LCBO isn’t nearly as god-awful as people say it is
A year ago, I was sitting with a friend in a bar in Manhattan, drooling over
rhubarb and cardoon Italian bitter aperitifs. The bartender was interested
in the bottles we don’t have in Ontario, probably feeling a little sorry for
us, until I pointed out the obvious trade-off: We have health care.
I mean, bitters are good medicine, but when it comes to something
serious, I’ll take the Toronto General Hospital. And Ontario’s health-care
system will happily take the LCBO, which paid a $1.63-billion provincial
divident in 2011-12. I found myself thinking about this more and more
last year at the height of the health-care debate in America, and also
shortly after the LCBO began its terrific makeover. The two, together,
forced me to re-evaluate my opinion of the liquor monopoly.
In 2011, the LCBO finally made a concerted effort to cater to the evolving tastes of liquor aficionados, approaching some of the city’s most
influential cocktail bars to inquire about the most coveted ingredients.
As a result, we’ve seen Rittenhouse Rye, Yellow Chartreuse, Crème
Yvette, and Cherry Heering liqueur (among others) sweep into town. A
few years ago, we could only dream of these obscure ingredients; now,
an organized liquor hoarder on even a modest budget can put together
an impressive home bar.
Of course, I’ve heard the complaints that we still don’t have, say, Sazerac Rye available consistently at the LCBO. But that’s just a question of
demand simply outstripping supply. If we didn’t have such a large and
powerful purchaser, it’s possible we wouldn’t get any of these coveted
brown liquors at all. Especially not in Timmins.
But let’s look at what is increasingly well represented on the LCBO
shelves: small-grower champagnes, natural wines, and craft beers. If
you’ve travelled to the United States and have dared to venture out of
highly gentrified urban areas, it’s hard not to realize that, as a whole,
both the service and selection at the LCBO is actually first rate. Trust me,
there aren’t that many awesome liquor stores in Cleveland. Or Baltimore.
Or in Washington State, which has recently embarked on a privatization
scheme that’s driven up prices between 10 and 30 per cent.
None of this is to say that the LCBO can’t get better—it has a highly
controversial pricing structure that needs to be revamped, for sure. And
I’d really appreciate being able to buy that rhubarb Italian bitter apertif
on a regular basis. But most government agencies could stand improvement, and the LCBO is consistently getting better. It’s high time somebody said so.—Christine Sismondo
Because
the LCBO also indulges your inner hoarder
Let’s not be coy about this: Liquor hoarding is good common sense. After all, come the Mayan apocalypse
(six more months!), what exactly are we going to want—a basement full of potable water, or a storm cellar full of booze?
The LCBO’s seasonal offerings nudge us firmly in the right direction. Here are six to get the cache going.
Buffalo Trace Kentucky
Straight Bourbon
Whiskey, $34.95.
Treat all shipments of
Buffalo Trace as if it were
a fire sale—for its price,
there is simply no better
bourbon out there.
Bottles come into the
LCBO a few times a
year and the city’s better
bars snap them all up.
LCBO #605063
photograph liam mogan
Midye dolma istanbulu at 416 Snack Bar
This tart, spicy seafood treat brings a bit of Istanbul to the
streets of Queen West. Served on a bed of chilled salt, four
mussel shells are loaded with small mounds of Arborio
rice, flavored with a mixture of dry spices and fresh herbs,
then each topped with a paprika-dusted steamed mussel.
The requisite lemon slice accompanies the dish.
$5. 181 Bathurst St., 416-364-9320.
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Blanton’s Original
Bourbon, $64.65.
Let us introduce you
to Blanton’s, a musthave in any bourbon
collection and a great,
splashy choice for gifts
and special occasions.
It comes from the same
people who brought
you Buffalo Trace, and,
like its cheaper cousin,
won’t linger long on
the shelves.
LCBO #255349
Cherry Heering
Liqueur, $36.75.
The cocktail cabal
tends to scoop up this
product pretty quickly,
since Heering is crucial
for several drinks,
including the Blood and
Sand and that barely
respectable bit of froth,
the Singapore Sling.
Heering is brought in as
a seasonal product and,
therefore, only here for
Sling season, which the
LCBO seems to have
determined is now.
LCBO #227140
Domaine de Canton
Ginger Liqueur, $59.95.
There are a pair of
relatively new liqueurs
that are light, refined,
and seem to go with
everything: St. Germain
elderflower liqueur and
Domaine de Canton
ginger liqueur. Since
many summer cocktails
can use a hit of ginger,
stock up on the Domaine
de Canton—it’s an
excellent delivery
system.
LCBO #157917
Diplomático Reserva,
$34.95.
Compared to pricier
bourbon and tequila,
rum is always a pretty
good deal. Diplomatico
Reserva, an eight-yearold from Venezuela
with nice fruity flavours,
is no exception. It also
adds depth to rum
cocktails and can be
enjoyed all on its own.
LCBO #274258
Sauza Tres
Generaciones Plata,
$69.95.
All the real tequila
hounds drink silver
tequila. Not that crap in
the one-litre bottle, mind
you, but finely crafted
crisp platas (the Spanish
makes “silver” sound
much more interesting).
The Tres Generaciones
belongs firmly in that
camp: maybe not terribly
exciting, but an elegant
expression of the
agave spirit. Make the
most of it.
LCBO #601740
REVEAL YOUR
RED SIDE
YOU COULD WIN
Leffe traces its origin back to the Abbaye
of Notre Dame de Leffe in Southern Belgium.
It was in this peaceful valley in 1240 that
monks first brewed Leffe, an elegant, smooth
and fruity abbey beer with a spicy aftertaste
and a hint of bitter orange.
A RED DIAMOND MOUNTAIN BIKE!
TO ENTER, GO TO WWW.THEGRIDTO.COM
W W W. R E D D I A M O N D W I N E . C O M
Proudly represented by Charton-Hobbs
TM/MC InBev NV/SA.
LCBO 144022 $13.85
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Did we mention they make excellent dinner guests? Why not invite one for dinner?
GAS_1279501_421O4E_R1.indd 4
12-06-25 4:39 PM
36 | June 28-July 4, 2012
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#36
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Brendon
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We asked Jennifer Rashleigh,
chocolatier and owner of Delight
Chocolate in both the Junction
and Queen West, to train her
refined candy palate on the
astonishing number of dessertflavoured vodkas now available.
you can justify
splurging on an
$18 cocktail
100%
PINNACLE WHIPPED 4C
Thom 1x1 inch
1x1 inch
VODKA, $25.45
Pinnacle makes good on its promise:
Pete
the aroma is unadulterated imitation
AJ
whipped cream delivered from a can with
Brendon
a spray nozzle. But Rashleigh points
out
100%
100%
that, once again, the predominant flavour
is still vanilla. “This is the blandest of them
all,” she says. “You might think these candy
liquors represent a new low for drinking, but
it reminds me of the big schnapps craze—
peach, peppermint, butter-ripple
schnapps. People used to have them
as shots. It’s the same thing.”
12795_01
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Brendon
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a whole bunch of liquor marketers
want us to drink like we’re children
Because
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THREE OLIVES
ROOT BEER FLAVOURED
VODKA, $25.95
“Root beer is mainly sarsaparilla and
sassafras root,” Rashleigh says. “So I have
to wonder what they’re doing to the drink
to make it so colourless.” It’s possible that
marketers don’t think the public will accept
brown vodka. (They’re probably right.)
The smell, on the other hand, is pure root
beer. “There’s an interesting bitter and
herbal taste to this, a little like your
grandfather’s toothpaste,” Rashleigh
says. “It may even be closer to
the original root beer.”
SMIRNOFF
FLUFFED MARSHMALLOW
VODKA, $25.95
The first waft of this vodka is
encouraging, in that there seems to be
a slightly toasted smell, reminiscent of
some distant campfire. But a single taste
turns Rashleigh critical. “Marshmallow
is mostly vanilla and gelatin, and that’s
all I’m getting from this,” she says.
“That initial whiff of campfire
might have been the power of
suggestion.”
360 DOUBLE
CHOCOLATE VODKA,
$29.95
This is the most promising bottle,
in terms of offering something that
vaguely resembles an artisanal
product. It certainly smells like actual
chocolate—cocoa powder, in fact.
“It definitely has more flavour and
more alcohol,” Rashleigh says.
“I see ladies in the LCBO buying
fruit-flavoured vodkas, and
I can see them buying
this, too.”
and Because
bartenders
would rather
we drink
like adults
We understand sticker shock. And,
sure, we’ve seen bars charge double
digits for drinks that don’t remotely
earn their price tag. But the Mamacita
at Barchef is an easy exception.
Here’s why it’s worth the 18 bones:
UV CAKE VODKA,
$25.45
It seems like flavour factories
can produce almost anything these days,
including vodka that tastes like birthday
cake. This one really does. Nonetheless,
much like with the marshmallow booze,
the overwhelming flavour here is still
vanilla. “I think there was a sale on the
Duncan Hines vanilla-icing flavour formula,
since that’s exactly what this tastes
like,” says Rashleigh. “If I were a
teenager, I’d probably be inclined
to drink this one, because
it’s sweeter.”
See? Practically a bargain.
Barchef, 472 Queen St. W., 416-868-4800.
#43-47
BECAUSE
you can use your rad gear
The second-best thing about being a liquor snob? Collecting
a bunch of nifty gadgets to help concoct the perfect cocktail.
› Like a grown-up version of a
Snoopy sno-cone machine (those
things were the awesomest, right?),
this retro-looking, compact, handcranked ice slushie maker ($59)
is your ticket to gloriously boozy
frozen treats that should prove to be
quite restorative on even the most
oppressively humid days. (If that
fails, try sipping your adult slushie
while running through a sprinkler in
terry-cloth shorts and jellies.)
THREE OLIVES
BUBBLE FLAVOURED
VODKA, $25.95
Just unscrew the bottle’s lid
and the unmistakable whiff of
Bazooka bubble gum fills the air.
Surprisingly decent (for—let’s be
clear—a bubble-gum liquor), it’s
not as sweet as the others and
has a charming light-pink colour,
almost like a crisp rosé.
Almost.
PHOTOgRAPHS LIAM MOgAN
Base Mezcal Enmascarado
($100 per bottle and only available
by private import)
Liqueur St. Germain Elderflower
liqueur ($50 per bottle, with limited
availability at the LCBO)
Syrup House-made chamomile
syrup (owner Frankie Solarik
and staff come in early and on days
off to infuse syrups)
Bitters House-made dill bitters
(aged for two months, according
to Solarik’s own recipe)
Technique This is no amateur game:
On an average weekend night,
the staff behind the bar has a
combined 40 years of experience—
15 of it under Solarik’s belt.
37
Lora
100%
Because
June 28-July 4, 2012 |
12795 01
› James Bond swears by one
for his martini needs, but even
those who lack the steely resolve
of a secret agent can appreciate
a good cocktail shaker. This mod
honeycomb version ($35) is a
fine specimen—it’s the shape
of Marge Simpson’s hairdo and
easier to grip than a traditional
silver bullet.
› One of the tragedies that can befall
a perfect summer cocktail is an
aggressively-bruised aromatic—mojito
lovers who’ve had to pick shreds of wilted
mint from their teeth will be familiar with
this misfortune. After years of fruitlessly
futzing about with the wrong end of
wooden spoons, it’s thrilling to discover
the Dalla Piazza muddler ($13), which
is made of lovely blond wood and will
maintain the integrity of your herbs.
› Once you’ve got your muddler
in hand, put it into action with
a super-summery cocktail like,
say, a classic mint julep. Slip on
your seersucker suit, grab this
vintage-looking julep strainer
($12), and you’ll be spouting
bourbon-scented bon mots like
Tennessee Williams in no time.
First, you’ll need to wash the taste of all that
dessert-flavoured vodka out of your mouth.
Happily, there are plenty of great bars where
you can do just that, like The Comrade, 1602,
The Saint, and The County General. At the
latter, bar manager Aja Sax has put together a
collection of over 60 bottles of brown liquor,
highlighted by a few of her favourite bourbons: Four Roses Small Batch, Pennypacker,
and Booker’s. The Monarch Tavern also carries an above-average selection, making it the
best place in the city to eat a grilled cheese
while drinking a glass of Rock Hill Farms single barrel bourbon (or some 25 others).
For the high-end and hard-to-get stuff, The
Drake Hotel has a veritable monopoly on
the highly coveted George T. Stagg bourbon;
rumour has it, they have two cases of Pappy
Van Winkle stashed away, as well. But if you
want to go back to Toronto’s brown-liquor
roots, the first place to offer a truly wide range
of bourbon was Southern Accent in Mirvish Village. Nearly three decades later, it still
boasts a great, affordable supply, including
Elmer T. Glee, Eagle Rare, and Buffalo Trace.
The restaurant also offers one of the best
bourbon sours in the city, which just happens to pair perfectly with blackened chicken
livers. It all makes getting older seem like a
pretty good deal.
› The County General,
936 Queen St. W., 416-531-4447.
› The Monarch Tavern,
12 Clinton St., 416-531-5833.
› The Drake Hotel,
1150 Queen St. W., 416-531-5042.
› Southern Accent,
595 Markham St., 416-536-3211.
› Surely we can all agree that limes are
a major bitch. They’re thin-skinned
and temperamental, and it takes 53
of them to eke out enough juice for a
margarita. Blessed be this heavy-duty
citrus juicer ($22), an elegant, efficient
way to show those fruits who’s boss.
BYOB, 972 Queen St. W.,
416-858-2932.
38 | June 28-July 4, 2012
June 28-July 4, 2012 |
BECAUSE
1279501_42107E
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Drinks Guide – Grid Lug
you successfully completed a scavenger hunt of Toronto
hosed to track them all down?
bar artifacts (we call them “bartifacts”) Too
Go to thegrid.to/bartifacts for a cheat sheet.
100%
100%
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shrubs are the new bitters
Brendon
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The flip side of the cult of seasonality and hyper-local food is a long, cold
winter of, well, slowly decaying root vegetables. In the olden days, pioneerfolk combatted this problem with something called a “shrub,” a technique
that involved preserving fresh fruit in vinegar or alcohol. Then, come
January, you could crack open your raspberry shrub (which was usually
added to more alcohol for an early sort of cocktail) and have a refreshing
reminder of warmer days.
Since everything old is perpetually new again, shrubs are making an
appearance at several of Toronto’s top cocktail bars, like the Harbord Room
(balsamic-strawberry shrub cocktail) and Café Belong (strawberry-apple
cider). Josh Lindley at Campagnolo takes the prize for creativity, though,
with his Mutiny!, which marries rum and honey-chili syrup with a bananaapple cider shrub ($12).
“The raw vinegar makes it very punchy, but banana is such a soft flavour
that it mellows right out,” Lindley says. “I’ve been surprised by people’s
openness to trying a drink with vinegar in it. It’s gone over really well at
the restaurant.”
#71-94
BECAUSE
you can totally play brown-liquor
bingo with the city’s cocktails
★
B I NG O
Intemperate Lass,
County General, $12
South of
the Border,
Cold Tea, $10
Brown Butter
Swizzle, Miller
Tavern 1857, $11
Revue, The
Westerly, $10
Flying Colours,
Campagnolo, $13
Dark & Swarmy,
Parts & Labour, $12
Demerara Sunset,
Splendido, $22
Peach Crush,
Keriwa Café, $12
Blueberry Sassy,
Café Belong, $11
Smoked Bourbon
Sour, Fynn’s of
Temple Bar, $12
After Ace,
The Ace, $11
The Man of Interest,
SpiritHouse, $12
Strawberry Bourbon
Lemonade, The
Harbord Room, $12
The Gold
Fashioned,
Ursa, $14
› Campagnolo, 832 Dundas St. W., 416-364-4785.
BECAUSE
Clamato remains our
most versatile mix
PHOTOGRAPHS (BARTIFACTS) KAYLA CHOBOTIUK
0 0
Look, one would not think that
some bivalve-tomato juice blend
might actually be delicious. (For
that matter, one would not think
that anyone could consider the
liquid run-off from clams and go,
damn, I gotta drink that, but it
happened. In California, in the ’60s.
Probably because of drugs.) What’s
more, it turns out this bivalvetomato blend can be made even
more delicious by adding booze,
hot sauce, and Worcestershire—
although in Toronto, the classic
Caesar components are treated
more as gentle suggestions
than hard rules.
Cold Tea’s take on the
Caesar, The Mao ($8), keeps the
conventional vodka but dispenses
with everything else, swapping
in Sriracha, soy sauce, and
pickled Chinese broccoli. Fynn’s
of Temple Bar opts for a bit of
› Cold Tea, 60
Kensington Ave.,
416-546-4536.
› Fynn’s of Temple
Bar, 489 King St. W.,
416-586-1331.
› Burger Bar, 319 Augusta Ave.,
416-922-7423.
English reserve with its London
Calling ($12): cucumber-infused
gin, fresh dill, and a proper
cucumber-wheel garnish. Over at
The Caledonian, smoky 10-yearold Ardbeg Scotch is used for the
aptly named Ardbeg Caesar ($14).
It shouldn’t work. It completely
does. Same for Burger Bar’s
Bloody Gaucho ($7), which takes
Brazilian cachaça rum and spikes
it with a spoonful of chimichurri.
But since—druggy California
origins aside—the Caesar is a
decidedly Canadian cocktail,
we’re especially fond of Salt
Wine Bar’s twist on the drink ($8).
There’s Canadian Club. There
are shallots and smoked tomatoes.
And yes, friends, there is bacon.
Because a good thing can always
be made better, and that usually
involves the addition of a nice
hunk of pork.
FREE
Signature Red,
The Comrade, $12
Cola Sour,
Origin, $14
Nation of Two,
Churchill, $14
Tails of the
Sangria, Boehmer,
$25 ( for two)
Blackhawk,
Acadia, $13
Chamomile Julep,
BarChef, $15
The Knob Cobbler,
The Saint, $16
West Side
Connection,
Brassaii, $16
Boo Radley,
Sazerac Lounge,
$15
What’s Up, Doc?
Drake Hotel, $13
› The Caledonian,
856 College St.,
647-547-9827.
› Salt Wine Bar,
225 Ossington Ave., 416-533-7258.
Aromatic
and boozy
39
Tall, refreshing
sipper
Short
and sweet