October 2019 Digital Issue

POURING FOR PROFITS
MIXING
THINGS UP
Sustainability is driving innovation
in Canada’s cocktail category
BY JESSICA HURAS
iSTOCK.COM/MARIANVEJCIK
Cocktail culture in
Canada is on the
rise, with Restaurants
Canada reporting
spirit servings at
casual-dining restaurants
increased from 16 per cent in
2013 to 20 per cent in 2018.
Spirits are in higher demand at
fine-dining restaurants as well,
with additional research showing
spirits now account for 23 per
cent of alcohol servings.
“Cocktails, like the Old
Fashioned, are commonplace
and slide off the tongue for the
average guest now,” says Amber
Bruce, bar manager at the Keefer
Bar in Vancouver. “A restaurant
that used to only have a selection
of imported beers and bigbox
wine brands now needs to
make at least classic cocktails. It’s
become an expectation.”
Health, sustainability and
the locavore movement are driving
forces in many areas of foodservice
and the cocktail world is
no exception. “There’s more focus
on local products,” says Bruce. “A
couple of years ago, we only had
two or three different Canadian
gins and vodkas, but now the
craft-distillery movement is
blowing up.”
In addition to using more
Canadian-made craft spirits,
mixologists are incorporating
local produce. Andrew Keyes,
head bartender at Halifax’s Lot
Six Bar & Restaurant, says his
team sources herbs such as mint
and basil — and unconventional
ingredients such as parsnips —
from local farmer’s markets to
use in cocktails.
Evelyn Chick, bar manager
at Toronto’s PrettyUgly bar, says
bartenders are increasingly
approaching local ingredients
with the mindset of a chef; thinking
about the flavours of a cocktail
the same way a chef might
think about the flavours of a dish.
“In Canada, we have an abundance
of things like cedar, balsam
fir and mushrooms,” says Chick.
“And we can get [items] like
rockweed or sea asparagus from
the east coast — that’s a great
thing that sets Canadian cocktails
apart.”
Bartenders are also becoming
more mindful about waste and
the sustainability of their ingredients.
“It’s being creative with
the use of everything,” says Chick.
“It’s thinking about your ingredients
and allowing for a second or
third use instead of just tossing
it away.”
For example, leftover limes
and lemons are used to make new
ingredients, such as liqueurs and
citrus stocks for other drinks. “I
always like to talk about the life
of a pineapple,” says Chick. “If we
juice the pineapple for service,
we’ll use that pineapple juice to
make a syrup and we ferment the
pineapple husk to make tepache
(a fermented beverage made from
the peel and rind of pineapples).”
The wider availability of
non-alcoholic distillates such as
Seedlip, a popular alcohol-free
spirit developed in the U.K.,
is driving a continued trend
towards low ABV cocktails and
mocktails. “It allows people to go
out and have a few drinks and
not be intoxicated,” says Chick.
“You can also experience more
flavours that way.”
Bruce adds the trend towards
high-end mocktails is more
inclusive for customers who want
to have a drink with their friends
but prefer not to consume
alcohol. “It makes them feel
more at home because they can
blend into the social fabric and
not be called out by their friends,”
says Bruce. FH
MADE
WITH
LOVE
Founded in Montreal in 2009, Made with Love is one of Canada’s biggest mixology competitions. Every year, some of the
country’s best bartenders compete locally, with the winners from each region then going head-to-head to compete for
the national title. “The competitions are always extravagant,” says Florence Doyon-Simon, national event planner for
Made with Love. “We ask bartenders to push their limits in terms of creativity.”
FOODSERVICEANDHOSPITALITY.COM
OCTOBER 2019 FOODSERVICE AND HOSPITALITY 51