Guest Post – Victoria Distillers: “Phun” with Gin

July 31, 2018

A huge thanks to Bill Wittur for this latest guest post on Victoria Distillers, as I continue to manage a too-hectic schedule!

It’s late spring in Victoria, BC. Thousands of cherry trees are in full bloom and the sea air inspires outdoor time.

Victoria is also home to a vibrant craft alcohol trade and Victoria Distillers has been leading the charge for a decade. They started in 2008 as Victoria Spirits under the ownership of Bryan and Valerie Murray, but in 2015 they were purchased and the name was changed to Victoria Distillers. They are one of Canada’s oldest small-batch producers. Their original production site was more rural, but they expanded and moved to Sidney (close to the airport and ferry terminal) in 2015. This move made the distiller a more serious operator and tourist destination, worthy of a pit stop on the way to Victoria.

Victoria Distillers produces a wide range of products, but their ‘signature’ product is the Empress Gin.

Purple: The Colour of Royalty

Historically, the colour purple has been used as a sign of royalty for a number of crowns and leaders. It’s hard to believe, but at one point, British legislation actually existed that forbade the wearing of purple outside the royal family.

Eventually, folks figured out how to reproduce the colour and dye easily, making them very rich as the colour’s popularity spread.

In an effort to pay respects to the royal family, the Empress Hotel in Victoria created a ‘high tea’ program, featuring the purple tea produced by the Asian ‘Butterfly Pea’ flower.

If you’re visiting Victoria, the afternoon tea may cost a bit of coin (roughly $75 per person – book ahead), but it’s a fun way to feel spoiled and indulgent when you visit British Columbia’s capital city.

The Empress Gin: A Tradition Continues

If you haven’t guessed already, what makes the Empress purple – and very unique – is the use of the butterfly pea as a key ingredient after the base product is made.

The first launch of the gin was mid-2017, in collaboration of the Empress Hotel. The gin is made as a combination of a classic London dry gin, but with some elements of ‘new world’ influence and unique botanicals. Ingredients include the Fairmont Empress Blend (black) Tea, juniper, grapefruit peel, coriander seed, rose petal, ginger root and cinnamon bark – in addition to the butterfly pea.

The formula has generated substantial accolades and attention, with sources like Wine & Spirits Magazine declaring it ‘one of the tastiest gins of the year’ and a growing list of medals.

Source:

The gin is ‘steeped’ (just like tea) in the butterfly pea after being distilled. The steeping also adds light nuances in flavour, including more earthy notes than you might expect with a gin and delicate violet notes.

Interestingly, the butterfly pea flower is sensitive to pH, making it variations in the final colour of a cocktail possible, depending on what you mix it with.

Enter … Phun With Gin

I have fun with gin on pretty much any day, but when I spoke with Jason at the main bar at Victoria Distillers, we decided to do a little science experiment with the gin to see what would happen to the colour with different ingredients.

The changes were very interesting!

The neutral – or base – spirit is a luscious indigo purple colour.

When you increase the level of alkalinity, the colour changes to a pale blue. On a simple level, you can add water, but another ingredient common to gin cocktails is a little bit of cucumber muddled in with the gin. To get the most extreme result, you can add milk, but that would result in a pretty gross combination (picture curdled milk).

Next, we added ginger to another sample of the gin. A ‘gin gin’, if you will. The chemical composition of the gin changed it from a bright purple to nearly clear.

Squeeze in a little grapefruit or citric acid via tonic water and the gin changes to a pink shade!

Introducing: The Sidney Sipper

Jason and I (well, more Jason) created an outstanding cocktail that I’ll label the ‘Sidney Sipper’.

Here’s the recipe:

Muddle 1 teaspoon grated ginger, 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary and 1 teaspoon Elderflower syrup (or Grenadine)
2 oz Empress gin
3 oz of your favourite tonic water (I suggest Fentiman’s)
Shake ingredients together
Strain over crushed ice in a medium sized tumbler

More Information

Victoria Distillers is in a small town named Sidney on Vancouver Island, just a short drive from both the ferry terminal and Victoria airport. If driving from Victoria, it’s about 20 minutes north of Highway 17.

Details about the Empress Gin can be found here: http://www.empressgin.com/

To collect more information about Victoria Distillers, visit their website: https://victoriadistillers.com/

They also provide a number of cocktail recipes: https://victoriadistillers.com/cocktail-recipes-2/

A huge thanks to Bill Wittur for his report on Victoria Distillers! Learn more about Bill on his website: BillWittur.com

Upkeep Updates

Upkeep Updates: Summer Drinks Edition

July 9, 2017

Summer is well underway and at my house we’ve been taking full advantage of the recent patio weather to enjoy lighter, easier-drinking wines on our balcony. I’ll follow this post with a rosé round-up, but for this one I thought I’d share some of the other summer sippers that have been filling our glasses as we soak up as much vitamin D as possible.

Fleur du Cap 2015 Chardonnay – This is a fuller-bodied wine, but with notes of lemon, apple and baking spice. It was a delicious pairing for creamy pasta on the patio one recent evening and it’s a very affordable option if you like a heavier white to compliment your meal. We also enjoyed the opportunity to show off our Drink Guards—these easy-to-clean circles are a great way to keep your vino free of flies and other summer debris. Yep, a coaster would work too but these are fun and colourful and we’ve been using them frequently on the patio and at the cottage.

Sipsmith Gin – I love gin because this flavour-packed spirit is almost always perfect for light, summer cocktails. I had the chance to check out a new-to-Ontario London dry gin at the recent Sipsmith Gin event at The Drake Hotel. Founder Sam Galsworthy was a charming host to a fabulous night of cocktails and creative pairings for this authentic spirit whose team helped sway the British government to allow smaller pot stills and, thus, were at the forefront of a gin renaissance in London.

Sipsmith is made using traditional methods – no exotic botanicals or additives for this spirit – and Sam is extremely proud of that fact. It’s “gin made the way it should be,” he insists and he converted a number of fans to this smooth, mellow gin with notes of pine and citrus on the nose. A great option for cocktails and very enjoyable in a gin and tonic, this may not sway hardcore Hendrick’s drinkers, but it’s a pretty great option for classic gin cocktails – like the traditional gin martini.

Descorchados Tasting 2017 – The lovely team at WineAlign recently hosted a Descorchados tasting in Toronto to highlight some exciting South American wines. A few summer stand-outs for me included the Garzon Single Vineyard 2016 Albarino. This coastal wine from Uruguay has notes of lime and seawater on the nose and citrus and salt on the palate. It’s crisp and refreshing with a lengthy, almost slightly creamy finish. Tabali’s 2016 Talinay Sauvignon Blanc was also a stand-out for me. This coastal wine from Chilé has pronounced minerality and the nose reminded me of fresh ocean air with a hint of fresh cut Meyer lemon. It’s a more typical Sauvignon Blanc on the palate and is a pleasant, food-friendly sipper.

What have you been sipping this summer? Share your favourites in the comments or on social!

All of these beverages were samples or tasted at events where I was a guest. Opinions are, as always, my own.

Book Reviews

Gin Glorious Gin

May 30, 2016

It’s hard not to be horrified by some of the history chronicled in Gin Glorious Gin—the story of gin in London through the ages—children drinking pints of straight gin, drunken revelers so sauced they have to crash in the helpful piles of straw bars provided in the 1700s, or gin cut with such lovely items as turpentine. But this book is far from dour, author Olivia Williams has written a rousing history that starts off with the first references to gin in London and moves through to modern times.

I found myself reading passages out loud to Shawn on a recent drive to Niagara—completely entranced by the little old ladies who, drunk on gin, were a constant source of frustration to London police in the 1800s. It seems that the spirit made their behaviour less than exemplary, but somewhat amusing when viewed through a modern lens.

There’s a cautionary tale here to be sure. While Britain managed to make it through history without prohibition, they learned the hard way that unlimited access to alcohol—gin for the most part—was a recipe for disaster. The drunken madness that reigned in the 1700s until almost the First World War left a dark legacy. But, like most of the developed world, England started to regulate and manage alcohol consumption and it levelled off to where it is today. People discovered vodka and wine, leaving gin to flounder in the post-1960s.

For me, that was where the magic of this book started to wane a bit. The history of gin in London was just so vibrant and horrifying in pre-WWI that the post-war calm and cocktail craze seems practically quaint. The history of producers is interesting, though, and the notes about famous gin drinkers like author Kingsley Amis made for great additions. It was also neat to learn about the cocktails created for Royal weddings and that time the Queen’s butler had to break the rules to bring her preferred gin to an event.

I also enjoyed the final chapter, where Williams sets out distilling methods, explains the botanicals most commonly used in production and outlines where to drink the best gin cocktails in London. There’s some great info in this section that I was able to reference in my recent Introduction to Spirits course.

For those who are interested in the history of spirits, this book will make a fabulous addition to your library. While focusing solely on London was a bold choice, it turns out there’s more than enough from the city to make for a substantial read. Just be prepared to cringe and recoil in horror while reading about the excess and awfulness of alcohol consumption in the London’s early years.

And if you’re craving a gin cocktail now, I can recommend a few from Dillon’s Distillery in Niagara, Ontario. Shawn and I are big fans of the strawberry gin and are looking forward to cracking our bottle soon. Strawberry gin is best drunk on its own to fully appreciate the delicate flavours, but Dillon’s Unfiltered Gin 22 is a great base for cocktails, like the Blue Spruce or The Gin 22.

Do you have a favourite gin? Share it in the comments below or on social!

Gin