Mixed Drinks (Cocktail Anyone?)
cocktail barsVancouver
(Nov.09.06)
The release of Casino Royale is just around the corner. If you're as psyched as we are by the radical new blonde Bond, give your cocktail regime an equal 180 degree shake-up. Or shall we say, stir?
- Best of adventurous flavours: Chambar
562 Beatty St.Crosstown 604-879-7118; www.chambar.com
The only thing more adventurous than Chambar's menu is their cocktail list. For a little Belgian inspiration, try Tin Tin et la Picaros, cinnamon-infused sake paired with passion fruit nectar and fresh lime leaf. All cocktails: $10.
- Fun in winter sun Brazilian-style: George
1137 Hamilton St.; 604-628-5555; www.georgelounge.com
Brazil's top exports: footballers, Miss Universe, the bikini wax, and cachaça (sugarcane liquer). We can't help you with the first two, but a couple of George's Ginger-Mango Batidas (made with 2oz of Brazil's finest), might just make the third a little easier. Cocktails: $8 - $12
- Addictive house-blends: Saltlik
1032 Alberni St.; 604-689-9749; www.saltlik.com
Gin Palace: name given to lavish 18th-century bars serving gin; used in the 20th century to describe ostentatious yachts on which copious amounts of alcohol were served. Today, it's the name for Saltlik's ostentatiously addictive house cocktail. Ingredients include citrus juices, coconut and bitters. But for some reason, we taste lychee. $7.00 ($8.00 double on Saturdays).
- Tequila, baby: Lolita's South of the Border Cantina
1326 Davie St.; 604-696-9996; www.lolitasrestaurant.com
If your last experience with tequila involved cheap body shots at a Whistler bachelorette party, it's time to graduate to Lolita's fully stocked tequila bar, where the liquid gold is meant for sipping. Can't shake the hangover memories? Stick with the loca limonada, a mixture of tequila, mango puree and mango lemonade. Ole! Cocktails: $7.50, Tequilas: $5.25 - $19.25
- To put hair on your chest (even if you don't want it): Chill Winston
3 Alexander St.; 604-288-9575; www.chillwinston.ca
If you've survived the top four, you're ready for some real experimentation - and Chill Winston is the place to do it. The Brooklyn Bridge - with its intoxicating mixture of bourbon, scotch, gin and fresh lemon - will put some hair on your chest (or take it off). Cocktails: $8 - $10.
by Alison Amratlal