From the category archives:

Cocktail Culture

Into the Slaughterhouse

by Jay Jones 08.31.2010

The beloved Vancouver East-side epicenter of consumption continues to crescendo. Recent years have seen a renaissance in eating and drinking explode, with local veterans of hospitality ambitiously sowing seeds in every available space. The particular allure of Gastown is two-fold: There is no corner of the city more rife with visible history and palpable character; [...]

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Cocktail Kitchen Series @ The Refinery

by Jay Jones 08.07.2010

Vancouver Cocktails and the Bartending community have come a long way in recent years, but we’ve only just begun. Five years ago, an event as ambitious and bold as The Cocktail Kitchen Series would not have been possible. The brainchild of the Refinery’s magnificently creative and gregarious, Lauren Mote; this series of events is set [...]

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National Barchef Competition

by Lauren Mote 08.04.2010

One of the coolest experiences in a bartender’s career is the ability to reach beyond the bar. You may take pride in being lightning fast during a Friday night well service, or you might thrive at pumping out classic drinks executed perfectly by the dozen at a cocktail party, but nothing compares to the incredible [...]

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Win a Private Craft Cocktail Tour with Jay Jones

by Editor 08.04.2010

Melody Fury of VancouverFoodTour.com and veteran Vancouver barman, Jay Jones (formerly Pourhouse, Voya), are excited to announce a collaborative series to celebrate the craft of cocktail making.
The Craft Cocktail Tour Series is the newest addition to Vancouver Food Tour’s line of culinary walking tours. On the first tour, guests will create and sip hand-crafted drinks [...]

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Getting Reacquainted with Blended Whisky

by Jay Jones 08.02.2010

What do a Frenchman, Vancouver bartenders, and Dufftown, Scotland, have in common? Grant’s Blended Scotch Whisky.

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Cocktail Kitchen Series

by Editor 06.30.2010

From the press release:
The Refinery, known for having one of the most innovative cocktail programs in Canada, is now proud to launch a six month interactive and educational competition called “The Cocktail Kitchen Series”. Due to launch on July 8th 2010, “The Cocktail Kitchen Series” aims to promote niche craft cocktail development, through the expertise [...]

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Riedel Me This

by Jay Jones 06.18.2010

From the gaudiest of over-sized steins, to the daintiest cocktail crystal, Bartenders are fascinated with drinking vessels. There is something special about matching glass to beverage that can truly refine drinking experiences. The best glass isn’t bigger or taller or fancier or pricier – it’s personal, and it just has to feel right. The romance [...]

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‘Refined’ Cocktails

by Lauren Mote 05.31.2010

With Vancouver now firmly on the world stage, I wanted to share 4 cocktails that effectively showcase every part of The Refinery’s cocktail program. The focus is always homemade, first and foremost, followed by health properties, classic technique and innovation. Enjoy!

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American Whiskey

by Lauren Mote 05.24.2010

(Photo by: Tracey Gessner)
The hallmark of contemporary spirit distillation in the United States is arguably the most delicious – American Whiskey. Its history has not been extremely well documented, but nonetheless a significant timeline, coinciding with a rich American history, tells a long tale of whiskey’s evolution from a “xxx” marked moonshine bottle in “Spaghetti [...]

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