Throwing style into the mix
Seminar on how to concoct classic drinks has grown out of Victoria Film Festival into popular annual event
What: Art of the Cocktail Where: Crystal Gardens, 713 Douglas St. When: Saturday at 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets: $35 to $65 More information: artofthecocktail.ca
The art of making any cocktail comes down to balancing a few key elements, says bartending consultant Kyle Guilfoyle.
“The DNA of any cocktail is spirit, water, bitters and a sweetener,” said Guilfoyle as he demonstrated how to make an old fashioned at Vessel Liquor on Fort Street.
The history of the old fashioned goes back to the 1800s, when alcohol was consumed as a tonic with bitters and sugar was added to make it more palatable, he said.
“It’s literally a drink in the oldfashioned way.”
A raw sugar cube is doused in bitters and muddled with orange peel. A king ice cube and two ounces of Knob Creek bourbon later, he adds a twist of lemon “to give it a nice, bright top note with the otherwise deep flavours.”
Guilfoyle and business partner Nate Caudle will lead a seminar on the top-five classic cocktails at the Art of the Cocktail on Saturday: the old fashioned, Tom Collins, whiskey sour, negroni and sidecar.
The annual event is held at the Crystal Garden ballroom and features workshops and a masstasting cocktail party.
“The curriculum of these five are the foundation for many things,” said Caudle, who shared a pro tip for those without king cube trays at home: Fill the bottom of a heavy, short glass tumbler with water and stick it in the freezer until you’re ready to mix your drinks. “It’s super easy to do at home and there’s a lower rate of dilution than with regular ice cubes,” he said.
Art of the Cocktail organizer Kathy Kay said the event was started in 2009 as a fundraiser for the Victoria Film Festival, but has grown to draw sell-out crowds and a range of exhibitors.
“It used to be all about vodka, but people have developed their tastes and the brown spirits are quite popular and so is gin,” said Kay. “With the changes in our liquor laws, we now have lots of boutique distilleries participating and people are very into local.”
She said the fashion had been so impressive at the main mixer, they’ve started a best-dressed competition. This year’s event also features a seminar by Gez McAlpine from Bruichladdich, a Scottish distillery that produces Botanist Gin, who will talk about making batch drinks for parties.
Early this year, Guilfoyle and Caudle founded the Nimble Bar Company, a mobile cocktail bar service, consulting and marketing business.
“We saw an opportunity at weddings and events like office parties that had underwhelming bars,” said Caudle, noting that the best bartenders add flair and knowledge to making drinks.
Both men have worked at some of the city’s most-popular cocktail bars, such as Clive’s and Little Jumbo, and watched the cocktail scene shift from a small group of enthusiasts to an integral part of restaurants and nightlife.
“It’s wide open now. There are wicked bartenders throwing down everywhere in the city,” Caudle said. “There’s a lot of talent in this city.”
Guilfoyle said he sees cocktails as more of a craft than an art form “like woodworking. But it is an outlet for creativity and there is expression in it.”
Ross Borland, owner of Vessel Liquor, said he’s seen an increasing interest in beer, wine and cocktail education.
“It’s similar to food, in that people are not as interested in the mass-produced products of their parents’ generation,” said Borland, whose shop has a classroom upstairs, where seminars range from casual craft-beer tastings to accredited wine courses.