We got in touch with Manifesto through some new guests that sat at the bar. Nate was given the details of Manifesto on a scrawled out napkin and when we say details, we mean twitter, facebook, email, websites, everything. These were passionate KC cocktail geeks up here visiting and thought that we could take advantage of a great bar similar to ours.

So we did. And the result through a few tweets and emails was a great menu from Ryan Maybee, the acclaimed man behind the cocktail resurgence in Kansas City. Manifesto is a small speakeasy style bar under a hotel, it features more classically driven cocktails with a focus on local and sustainable. Either way, we picked cocktails that are unique and approachable. Most especially the Smokin Choke, while we don’t have Four Roses in BC quite yet (a whisper says it’s coming), we spoke with Ryan about a substitute, that being Evan Williams.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wQ5JhbsF-g

MAD MEN LUNCH

$15

With your choice of side

Crispy Farmhouse Chicken Sandwich

melted parmesan, fresh tomato & basil aioli

Roasted Turkey Club

thick cut bacon, havarti, avocado, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise on cranberry flax bread

Portobello Mushroom Burger

fresh spinach, tomato, rathtrevor cheese

Clive’s Signature Kobe Beef Burger

shredded lettuce, tomato, wilted onions & pickle

Everything Salad

cucumber, tomato, red onion, toasted almonds, avocado, fresh pea shoots

Served with

6oz pour of Grolsch, Fuller’s ESB or Hacker Pschorr Dunkel

 3 oz pour of any of our by the glass wines

1 oz Classic Gin or Vodka Martini

Here are the important stats -

Alcohol volume: 8.5% ABV

Colour and sight: pale blond, the fine and regular effervesce ensures a fine and stable head.

Scent: Slightly malty, a nice touch of alcohol, spicy.

Flavour: Feels like the sound shot of alcohol is igniting the mouth. In reality the tongue and palate are warmed. The taste is characterized by its roundness. The aftertaste is strong, long-lasting and dry bitter.

Come on in tonight for the one of the first glasses of the season.

Switchel is a classic “drinking shrubb” originating in the Caribean and becoming a favorite for the American Colonies in the 17th Century and then spread throughout the US. We treat it almost as ice tea sort of drink, mixing it with southern style flavours such as Bourbons and apple brandies.

To hone in the next menu, we played around on Saturday with a few creations for the next menu.

It was all about the recent love affair with white whiskey, white dog and “moonshine” and I had to apply the cocktails to the Experimental Night. But I digress, it was all about the rarity that I had been lucky enough to pick up in a recent order, a few of the FEW Spirits range from Chicago.

Recently bought up from Chicago for the Tales of the Cocktail in Vancouver, I was lucky enough to procure a few cases of the White Whiskey and the American Gin. Both outstanding with a flavour profile all of their own. The White Whiskey is a typical unaged spirit, malty, huge mouth feel and a long bready finish while the gin builds on these flavours while adding the characteristic flavours of juniper, citrus peel and a hint of vanilla. Both are excellent mixes and great cocktail ingredients.

I was lucky enough to use two recipes from the article and did a twist on a Death in the Gulfstream, a classic using Genever from Holland.

Homage Cocktail Friday is back this month with a deeper look into the wonderful world of Cure. No I am not talking about the band but the fantastic “bartenders” bar in New Orleans. Whenever I go to NOLA for Tales of the Cocktail, I make a giant effort to make it out to this bar, it’s a bit of a hike and a mile away from the slushy machines on Bourbon St.

The cocktails are classic in nature and extremely tasty along with a huge selection on the back bar, a good selection of beers from the US and quick concise service, this is one of my favorite all time bars. Of course we needed to homage them again.

Today is World Whisky Day, why wouldn’t you celebrate whisky everyday but this makes it extra special. As a tribute to this fine day, we are featuring Bowmore Islay 12 year paired with delicious Cortez oysters au Natural on the half shell.

This does seem like an odd pairing but after trying it at Tales of the Cocktail in Vancouver, I was hooked. The light smoke that the Bowmore 12 year has is subtle and works perfectly in adding a dimension to the oyster. I have seen this sort of briny pairing before, once I was asked for an ounce of olive juice with a Laphroiag and the guest mixed them together. Weird but oddly wonderful.

You can follow our tweets plus the #worldwhiskyday on Twitter. 

Experimental Mixology on Saturday’s has been a little on and off as of late due to the multitude of special nights we have been putting on such as National Absinthe Day, St Patrick’s Day and Pisco Sour Day. While we love doing these events, you do miss the fun of creating weird and wonderful cocktails on the fly for Saturday nights. Nate found this little number at the Strath Liquor Store and brought it in to play with. First and foremost, the Blackmaker isn’t your typical rootbeer liqueur. While it isn’t as complex as Root, it has some depth and flavour that no other fake root beer schnapps have.

We tooled around with it for the night and came up with quite the cocktail menu.

DUNKEL ROOT BOILERMAKER

Blackmaker Root topped with Warsteiner Dunkel

RB2-FB

Blackmaker Root, house made root beer with Extinct Chemical Co. Lactart & Fernet Branca Ice Cream

HAD YOUR FILLA SASPARILLA?

Appleton Estate V/X, Punt e Mes & Blackmaker Root

We aren’t really into green beer, silly hats and the like at Clive’s; however we do love our whisky. On St. Patrick’s Day, we give thanks to the abundance of Irish Whiskey heritage and toast to it’s unique taste. Come on in for some quality Irish.

What makes Irish Whiskey so unique?

Key regulations defining Irish whiskey and its production are established by the Irish Whiskey Act of 1980, and are relatively simple (for example, in contrast with those for Scotch and Bourbon whiskey). They can be summarised as follows:

• Irish whiskey must be distilled and aged in the Republic of Ireland or in Northern Ireland.
• The contained spirits must be distilled to an alcohol by volume level of less than 94.8% from a yeast-fermented mash of cereal grains (saccharified by the diastase of malt contained therein, with or without other natural diastases) in such a way that the distillate has an aroma and flavour derived from the materials used.
• The product must be aged for at least three years in wooden casks.
• If the spirits comprise a blend of two or more such distillates, the product is referred to as a “blended” Irish whiskey.

Yesterday we were lucky enough to host Bob & Dana from local meadery and honey farm, Tugwell Creek. Now before you scrunch up your nose and think of those sweet, cloying meads you may have been exposed to in the past (if you were in England, you probably had Braggot) you need to rethink mead.

Bob & Dana moved to the island about 15 years ago in search of a better life and a better environment for Bob’s true passion, bees. Bob has always made mead for home but they thought it was about time Western Canada had its own meadery (Quebec has had some that date back 20-30 years) and so began the arduous foray into getting licensed into BC. Needless to say that being the first isn’t always the best thing. But after sometime they got it started.

Yesterday we tasted a myriad of meads from Tugwell Creek including the citrusy and floral Harvest Melomel and Solstice Metheglin all the way up to the sherry like 12 year Acerglyn Maple Mead along with everything else in the middle.

If you ever thought you knew what mead was, forget it and head out to Sooke (it’s a lovely drive regardless) and take a tour with Bob & Dana. It might suprise you.

Tugwell Creek Meadery is open for tastings and self guided tours

May 1st through September 30th,
Wednesday – Sunday
from 12pm – 5pm.

October 1st through April 30th,
Saturday and Sunday 12pm-5pm.

CLOSED JANUARY

Bob Liptrot and Dana LeComte

Tugwell Creek Honey Farm & Meadery
8750 West Coast Road
Sooke, BC