Category Archives: Cocktails

Drink of the Week: Toreador

Posted on March 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

It’s official — we’re going to Mexico for spring break, baby! We booked a week at the all-inclusive Sunscape Dorado in Ixtapa! Woot! The fares came down a bit and we pounced. So to celebrate, a Toreador cocktail. Now, I had never heard of this drink until I was paging through Simon Difford’s Cocktails Made Easy (yet again) and noticed I had all three ingredients on hand: tequila, apricot brandy and lime juice.

It’s like a margarita — and is said to even pre-date Mexico’s iconic cocktail — but one with a sweeter, fruitier flavour thanks to the Bols apricot liqueur. Though I liked it, I will be ordering traditional margaritas while south of the U.S. border. Ole!

Its name is Spanish for "margarita with apricot brandy." Not really, but I thought that sounded about right.

Toreador

  • 2 oz tequila
  • 1 oz Bols apricot brandy liqueur
  • 1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
  • Lime wedge garnish

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

— Recipe courtesy Cocktails Made Easy

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Drink of the Week: Tom Collins

Posted on March 9, 2012 | 2 comments

Are we entering a new “golden age” of cocktails? Given the buzz surrounding the return to classic cocktails and all the resto-lounges in Calgary making craft cocktails, such as Model Milk and Raw Bar, it’s a valid question. Clearly, it’s not just the anticipation of Mad Men Season 5 (premiering March 25!) powering the cocktail renaissance. There’s a groundswell of interest in classic drinks, dark spirits and even artisan gin. For someone who writes about cocktails, it’s pretty exciting.

Contributing to this phenomenon are websites like Twitter and Facebook, where drinks aficionados can tweet cocktail stories or post pictures of their latest cocktail creation. In fact, a recent story on The Next Web credited social media with powering the cocktail storm. It’s true. One of my Facebook friends recently launched a blog, Just Cocktails, where he posts recipes and snaps of amazing-looking sips. He then promotes all his new blog entries via Twitter and Facebook, so thirsty followers can get some ideas for cocktail hour.

Which brings me to this week’s drink. It’s a classic and features the other white spirit: gin. If you haven’t yet met him, says hello to Tom Collins. He’s refreshing, balanced and his gin bite is just right. He’s also an amazing companion on sunny patios and at wedding receptions (just be careful not to guzzle, like, four, in quick succession). Enjoy!

He's tall, thirst-quenching and will turn any gal into a cheap date. Meet Tom Collins.

Tom Collins

  • 2  oz Bombay Sapphire gin
  • 1 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 oz simple syrup*
  • Top with club soda
  • Orange wheel garnish

Shake the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup with ice and strain into an ice-filled Collins glass. Top with club soda and garnish with an orange wheel. Serve with a straw. *To make simple syrup combine equal parts water and sugar in a saucepan and heat until sugar is dissolved. Cool and refrigerate.

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Drink of the Week: Departure Cocktail

Posted on March 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

This time of year, we in Calgary look longingly across the snowy Rocky Mountains toward B.C. and, specifically Victoria, where trees are leafing out and flowers are blooming. To tempt us land-locked, green-starved, prairie-dwellers into hopping the first flight west, Tourism Victoria hosted a seafood and cocktail affair at Catch Restaurant & Oyster Bar last week. On the menu: lots of news about all the great goings-on in B.C.’s capital city, plus a whack of delicious seafood appys and one amazing signature cocktail featuring Victoria Gin.

One sip and you'll want to depart for Victoria. Image courtesy Tourism Victoria.

The Departure Cocktail was created by Katie McDonald from Veneto Tapa Lounge in the Hotel Rialto. I love how the lychee liqueur stands out, just enough for my palate to take notice. It pairs gloriously with the gin and lemon juice, too. Let’s call it the taste of Victoria’s spring, in a glass.

The Departure Cocktail

  • 2 oz Victoria Gin
  • 3/4 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz lychee liqueur
  • 1/2 oz honey syrup*
  • 1 dash lemon bitters (optional)

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a ribbon of cucumber.
(*To make the honey syrup: 1 part honey to 1 part boiling water. Stir and cool.)

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