Tag Archives: Crowbar Calgary

Drink of the Week: Lawnmower

Posted on April 4, 2014 | 1 comment

Today’s weekly libation, the Lawnmower, is a plea for spring, a desperate attempt to conjure green grass to trim instead of snow to shovel. Spring is coming, right? Right?? Well, if it snows again you’ll at least have this boozy spring-inspired cocktail with which to drown your endless-winter sorrows.

With just a touch of mint the Lawnmower hints of warmer days to come.

With just a touch of mint the Lawnmower hints of warmer days to come.

The Lawnmower recipe comes courtesy of Calgary foodie-turned-cocktailian Wade Sirois, of Infuse Catering. Sirois is also the dapper, fedora-wearing fellow behind Crowbar, the occasional pop-up lounge that brings craft cocktails and small plates to unique, speakeasy-style locations that are only revealed two days prior to the event. Crowbar is by invite only, but you can get on the list for the May 5th and May 31st pop-ups by emailing info@crowbarcalgary.com.

The Lawnmower is a strong, sour and spicy sip that will leave you yearning for spring.

The Lawnmower is a strong, sour and spicy sip that will leave you yearning for spring.

Lawnmower

  • 1-1/2 oz bourbon (I used Knob Creek)
  • 1 oz fresh lime juice
  • 3/4 oz ginger syrup*
  • 5 leaves fresh mint
  • Mint garnish

Method: Put ice in a rocks glass for chilling. Place all ingredients in a shaker. Add ice and shake for 10-15 seconds. Dump the ice from the chilled glass. Strain the cocktail into the glass. Garnish with mint.

*Ginger syrup

  • 1 cup cane sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup fresh ginger, shredded

Method: Bring the sugar and water to a boil over medium heat. Add the ginger and boil for one minute. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Strain the ginger from the syrup. Store in a clean glass jar for up to one month in the refrigerator.

— Recipe by Wade Sirois, inspired by Coco 500

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Drink of the Week: Kentucky Snowbird

Posted on March 29, 2013 | Leave a comment

Let’s drink some bourbon and toast the southern U.S., which has been my gracious host this week. We’ve been to Arkansas and all over Tennessee and I am loving the southern food and hospitality — and spirits.

We haven’t been up to Kentucky but before the trip I attended a bourbon cocktail class in Calgary hosted by Wade Sirois of Crowbar, the pop-up cocktail lounge. I spent an evening with some fellow cocktail enthusiasts sampling different brands of bourbon, stirring a Manhattan and learning how to make a Kentucky Snowbird. I’ll be writing about the class in an upcoming Calgary Herald column (April 13).

Sorry this photo is lopsided. The photographer had been drinking bourbon.

Sorry this photo is lopsided. The photographer had been drinking bourbon.

My favourite drink from the evening was the Kentucky Snowbird, a bitter-sweet yet strong drink that combines three unlikely ingredients: bourbon, Aperol and Cointreau. The bourbon is sweet enough to soften the bitter Italian aperitif, and the Cointreau adds a lovely hint of orange (as do the bitters). It’s definitely a sipper, best enjoyed while sitting in a rocking chair on a porch somewhere in Kentucky.

Kentucky Snowbird

  • 1-1/2 oz bourbon
  • 1/2 oz Aperol
  • 1/2 Cointreau
  • 2 dashes orange bitters
  • orange for flaming orange twist

Put ice in a rocks glass for chilling. Put liquors and bitters in a mixing glass. Add ice and stir for 10-15 seconds. Dump the ice from the chilled rocks glass, and then strain the cocktail from the mixing glass into the rocks glass. Flame an orange twist over the cocktail, squeeze it over the drink, run it around the glass rim and then drop it into the cocktail.

— Recipe courtesy Wade Sirois, Crowbar

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