In the name of balance, and having surrendered the first half of summer to cold beer by force of celebratory habit, Ive made the abrupt turn back to properly made cocktails. For this column, I gave my favourite high summer drinks some careful revisiting, ranking a top five cast of classics. I highly recommend them all, not for beating the heat, but as artful means in the optimistic struggle of pretending the heat just isnt there.
We begin with that most august of summer drinks, the imperial gin and tonic. The once medicinal mix was originally employed in the 19th century by officers of the British East India Company in order to ward off malaria. It is arguably the third greatest consequence of colonial India, running closely behind the Viceregal Lodge in Shimla and the childrens game Snakes & Ladders. Gin brands and garnish types abound (Im a fan of Hendricks with a slice of cucumber), but Boneta manager Simon Kaulback swears that summer is not summer unless youre drinking a tall Tanqueray and tonic with lots of ice and lots of lime. Enjoy one in the shade while taking in the Gastown restaurants brand new courtyard patio (12 Water, 604-684-1844, Boneta.ca).
The Mint Julep is another contender; a Virginian masterstroke made famous in Kentucky, where, ironically, many establishments refuse to serve them except on Derby Day (a fact I learned to my shame in the Old Seelbach Bar in Louisville some years ago). Its a sweetish, refreshing, ice cold powerplant of bourbon, sugar and muddled mint expressed through crushed ice in a frosty pewter cup (one should always decline a glass). For a good one, steer yourself to bartender Jay Jones in the Shangri-La hotel (1128 West Georgia, 604-689-1120, Shangri-la.com/vancouver). While hes making it (and before tipping him tremendously), ask him to tell you the story of how the wife of Makers Mark Bourbon chairman Bill Samuels Jr. once commanded him to dance during a wild supper in their Kentucky home.
A Pimms No. 1 Cup mixed with lemonade, fruits and mint is an uncommon-in-Canada (except with your grandmother), versatile, somewhat ginnish quencher best likened to a subtly spicy swim in the Thames on a hot summer night with the daughters of the Duke of York. Its been the drink of choice at fancypants English summer sporting events like Wimbledon and the Henley Royal Regatta since before the Boer War, and has in modern times seen all manner of modifications that range from the delicious to the stupid (witness the fluted evil, The Pimms Royal Cup, which is farcically diluted with champagne). The classic remains a favourite of Tacofino (2327 East Hastings, 604-253-TACO, Tacofino.com) barman and manager Steve Da Cruz, who makes his with mint, cucumber, citrus, cherries and damn near everything else I can cram onto the top of it.
The Caipirinha made with sugar cane spirit (cachaça), raw sugar and plenty of lime is another sure thing. Legend has it that it was named after those working in Brazils cane fields during the colonial era (caipira is Portuguese for country bumpkin), and that it got its start as a scurvy-fighting rum ration with sailors (hence the heavy lime quotient). What is undeniable is its uncanny ability to slake even the meanest of thirsts. But be warned: the consequence of its drinkability is that it waits for you all night in the tall grass like a desperate, wounded jaguar, and then savagely claws through your skull in the morning. Its the summer choice of LAbattoir (217 Carrall, 604-568-1701, Labattoir.ca) barman Shaun Layton because its so easy, refreshing, and given over to experimentation (the last one he made me saw the delicious inclusion of Campari, black plums and a splash of Grenache).
Ive tied Margaritas with Daiquiris in the same spirit of fairness that began this column (because really, how could either be left out of this list?).The former a mix of tequila, Triple Sec and lime is said to have been invented in a Mexican bar in 1941 when Margarita Henkel, daughter of the Nazi German ambassador, came in and sat down right when the bartender was experimenting. Check out Lolitas in the West End (1326 Davie, 604-696-9996, LolitasRestaurant.com) for further experiments with berries, chilies, or mangoes, and Bao Bei in Chinatown (163 Keefer St, 604-688-0876, Bao-Bei.ca) where the bar incorporates dried tangerine peel-infused reposado tequila with grated ginger, fresh lime, egg white and a rim of sugar-cloaked chili salt.
Variants of the daiquiri (rum, lime, sugar) are just as common. Im personally partial to the Hemingway version with grapefruit and maraschino liqueur, but barman Gerard McAlpine of The Keefer Bar (135 Keefer, (604-688-1961, TheKeeferBar.com) is a lover of the classic. You can drink a hundred of them before getting tired of the flavour, he says. While I would never advise a hundred daiquiris, I do recommend that you put the beer down and remember all of the above the next time you take a tipple. Vancouvers summer was very nearly a no-show, and celebrating whats left of it with these liquid enthusiasms may convince it to linger, if only for an evening.
