You know when you have just one of those days – when everything sucks, and nothing goes your way? Monday, I had one of those days. I snapped at every single person who spoke to me, who reached out to me, who even asked me a question. I was miserable.
A fabulous friend, who totally gets the whole moody thing, suggested I do a “match your liquor to your mood post”, and I’m finally in a better place so I can actually look at the idea of that without scowling.
The next time you’re having a shit day, and nothing is going …read more

Each Thursday, fancy mixologists, cocktail geeks and bartenders gather in a chat room and geek out over cocktails. They create new recipes, try and out-do one another and pretty much drink all night. All in all, it’s a pretty fantastic time.
I know this is a day late, but Kaiser Penguin had the wrap up from last night’s mixology chat, and I’ve been meaning to tell you about it for ages now. What prompted me this time was the winning drink, a Cinnamon Basil Smash, which sounds delightful, and I can’t wait to try it. I’ve just got to go get …read more

I’m fighting a nasty cold at the moment, and as soon as people hear me speak, they figure it out pretty quickly and then tell me to go curl up and create myself one of many Old Wive’s Tales to cure the common cold.

So, what are these ‘cures’? They mostly centre around the Hot Toddy. There’s tons of different ways you can make a Hot Toddy, from everything to Whiskey, Rum or Gin. The prevailing theory is that a hot toddy’s mixture of piping hot water, rum, and lemon can provide a lot of relief. Alcohol has an anti-inflammatory …read more

Life got a little sweeter for the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver recently. More than 300 lbs of honey was harvested from the hotel’s beehives near the end of August. The Fairmont has it’s own herb garden on the 3rd floor where many of the herbs and vegetables are grown for the restaurant.

In early June, the hotel welcomed two noteable Italian queens – one raised in Kona, Hawaii and the other raised in Santiago Chile. With morethan 60,000 subjects per queen, the honey bees are the newest members of the Waterfront’s culinary team.

Frank Palter, the Fairmont Waterfront’s head bartender, has …read more

G’vine Gin really is simply d’vine.

Made in Cognac, France, using the green grape flower, which only blooms for two weeks in June. This is an ultra-premium gin, bridging the gap between traditional dry gin and a flavoured vodka, by softening the flavour of traditional gin because of the grape flower.
There’s touches, or notes, of nine different botanicals  – ginger root, liquorice, green cardamom, cassia bark, coriander, juniper, cubeb berries, nutmeg and lime. All that makes it just… yummy.
“I love the complex, delicate flavour profile of G’Vine. Because it’s such a fresh, mutli-tesxtured expression of gin, a little fresh fruit and …read more

Summer is a time of patios, sunshine and hanging out with friends, and what better way to do that but with a lovely cocktail in hand?
Here are Drinks After Dark’s picks for the top 10 summer cocktails.
#10: Daiquiri – There are several versions of the Daiquiri, but those that gained international fame are the ones made in the El Floridita bar in Havana, Cuba. They, and #5, the Mojito, were favourites of Ernest Hemmingway, who spent a lot of time in Havana.
To make:
2 oz light rum
1 oz lime juice
1 oz simple syrup
Put ice in a cocktail shaker. Add light …read more

Brewha-ha is hosting this month’s theme day, Some Like It Hot. This month’s  theme is all about the Summer BBQ, and what better way to enjoy a summer BBQ other than with the quintessential summer drink, the classic Gin and Tonic?
This cocktail was introduced by the army of the British East India Company in India.
Tonic water contains quinine, which was used to prevent malaria. Because the tonic water consumed to prevent malaria in the 18th century was extremely bitter, gin was added to make it more palatable. The bitter flavor of quinine complements the green notes of gin (flavoured with …read more

We’ve had a brief respite of sun and warm weather in Vancouver, and I’m so very excited. I’m really in my element when the sun comes out. If I had my druthers, I’d follow the sun all year round.
When the sun comes out, I go looking for a warm weather drink. Sometimes, I go for a Hefeweizen (like a good Hoegaarden) or a good crisp Sauv Blanc. Other times, I’m looking for something a little crisper than even that. I head straight for a nice Gin and Tonic with lime.
I just tried a new gin – one that is …read more