Tag Archives: Bar C cocktails

Drink of the Week: Chimango

Bar C comes out with a fun warm-weather cocktail list every spring, and this year the theme is drinks “inspired by candy.” There’s a Snickers Old Fashioned with caramel and chocolate bitters, a Pink Parts with Luxardo Cherry and Fireball, and the delicious Chimango, which is like a margarita, but with mango juice and a tamarind-flavoured drinking vinegar called Tamarind Pok Pok. There’s even a tamarind fruit skin garnish for dessert!

I once had a tamarind margarita in Mexico, and this drink channels that one, with the added bonus of tasting like tart mango and carrying a lovely smoky essence thanks to the hit of mezcal. Be careful, though — the Chimango is easy to drink and, like its tagline promises, it will “take you right back to the time you can’t remember in Mexico…”

The Chimango, a tequila cocktail from Bar C, promises to "take you right back to the time you can't remember in Mexico…"

The Chimango, a tequila cocktail from Bar C, promises to “take you right back to the time you can’t remember in Mexico…”

Chimango

  • 1 oz Cazadores Reposado
  • 1/2 oz Grand Marnier
  • 1/4 oz Los Danzantes Mezcal
  • 1 oz lemon mango juice
  • 1/2 oz Tamarind Pok Pok (available at Vine Arts)
  • 1/3 Chamoy (available at Mexican markets/grocers)
  • Garnish: lime wheel and tamarind fruit skin

Method: Combine all ingredients except garnish in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake hard, then double strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with a lime wheel and tamarind fruit skin.

— Recipe courtesy Bar C

Drink of the Week: French 68

Bar C in Calgary makes great cocktails and this week they’re shaking them for charity. Since Tuesday, the 17th Avenue eatery and cocktail lounge has been donating the proceeds from sales of a daily featured cocktail to a local charity chosen by the customer from six options: Making Changes, The Mustard Seed, Inn from the Cold, Calgary Humane Society, CUPS, and Big Brothers & Big Sisters Calgary.

Why the generous heart? It’s Bar C’s second anniversary and the restaurant wants to thank Calgarians for their patronage while at the same time giving back to the community. Cocktails for Charity is the result.

Today’s featured cocktail is a French 68, a bubbly sip rendered delicious by the mingling of sweet blood orange syrup with bitter Campari and savoury Hendricks Gin. Three dashes of lavender bitters finish the drink with a floral flourish. Enjoy, and remember to savour this one as you toast the weekend and — if you’re imbibing at Bar C — the charity of your choice.

Today's featured drink during Cocktails for Charity week at Bar C is the bubbly French 68.

Today’s Cocktails for Charity featured drink at Bar C is the bubbly French 68.

French 68

  • 100 mL prosecco
  • 1 oz blood orange syrup*
  • 1/2 oz Campari
  • 1 oz Hendricks Gin
  • 3 dashes Scrappy’s lavender bitters

Method: Chill martini glass. Pour syrup, Campari, and Hendricks gin into shaker over ice. Shake and strain into glass. Top with prosecco. Finish with Scrappy’s bitters. Garnish with a lemon twist.

*Blood Orange Syrup

  • 1/3 L of blood orange purée
  • 1-1/4 cups sugar
  • 1-1/4 cups water
  • 8 sprigs rosemary

Method: Remove rosemary leaves from stalk and chop finely. Bring sugar and water to a boil. Add rosemary. Simmer until sugar well dissolved. Remove from heat and add blood orange purée.

— Recipes courtesy Bar C