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Drink of the Week: The Lovers’ Quarrel

Posted on February 13, 2015 | Leave a comment

The Lovers’ Quarrel is the official Valentine’s Day cocktail from Eau Claire Distillery, Alberta’s only true craft spirits maker, located in Turner Valley. They are responsible for the amazing Parlour Gin, a London Dry-style gin made with local botanicals including rose hips and Saskatoon berries.

This cocktail takes the winning combo of gin, lemon juice and Cointreau (think White Lady) and puts a Feb. 14 twist on it with grenadine for colour and bubbles for romance. Really, there’s no way you’ll be fighting with your lover after this drink, unless there are only enough ingredients to make one, in which case you may exchange words.

This pretty drink includes two of my favourite spirits: Parlour Gin and Cointreau. The grenadine gives it just the right colour for Valentine's Day.

This Valentine’s Day-hued drink includes two of my favourite spirits: Parlour Gin and Cointreau. Image courtesy Eau Claire Distillery.

The Lovers’ Quarrel

2 oz Parlour Gin
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz house grenadine (make your own pomegranate syrup)
1/4 oz Cointreau
2 dashes orange bitters
Top with champagne
Garnish: lemon twist

Method: Add all ingredients except champagne into a shaker. Add ice and shake. Double strain into a flute glass. Top with 1 oz brut champagne (such as Piper Heidsieck). Garnish with a lemon twist.

— Recipe courtesy Eau Claire Distillery

Drink of the Week: Parlour Gin & Tonic

Posted on August 29, 2014 | 1 comment

It seems incredible I have not yet blogged about the G&T. I have written about gin and tonics for both Avenue magazine and most recently for the Calgary Herald, yet for some reason summer’s eponymous sip has yet to be featured as my Drink of the Week. Until now.

It’s gin and tonic time! Try this refreshing highball after a hot day at the lake.

What prompted this post was a bottle of Parlour Gin, the latest spirit from Eau Claire Distillery near Turner Valley, Alta. This delightful London dry-style gin’s reputation preceded it, and Parlour Gin does not disappoint. It’s fragrant and flavourful, thanks to its unique combination of botanicals including saskatoon berries, rose hips, lemon peel and of course juniper berries, among others. It’s a gin that I call sippable; meaning, it tastes wonderful on its own over ice, but you can add a splash of tonic until you reach the desired level of bitter fizz.

Parlour Gin is one of the best gins I’ve had in awhile. I love the name (a nod to prohibition-era gin parlours) and the bottle’s cool logo.

We have been experimenting with our Parlour Gin & Tonics this summer during trips to Fernie, BC, and we find that they taste best sipped on sunny patios after long hikes or lazy afternoons at the lake. Now that our bottle has finally run dry I think we have stumbled upon the best G&T recipe.

Parlour Gin & Tonic