SPIRITS + COCKTAILS EXPLAINED FLAVOR FIRST
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visual guides, approachable education, and a shared language for curious drinkers that want to understand what’s in their glass.
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round-ups
flavour files: nostalgia edition
The Flavour Files explore how familiar flavours appear across the drinks world. This edition finds the taste of a 1990s and early-2000s childhood hiding in Canadian whisky.
15 cocktails that play with smoke
Smoke has a way of making its presence known, but in a cocktail, it doesn't always have to steal the show.As part of our October Smoky Flavor Camp Cocktail Challenge, we invited drinks professionals to explore the lighter side of smoke using Shinobu Pure Malt Lightly Peated Whisky. The result?…
The Flavour Index: 18-year-old Whisk(e)y Edition
We gathered 18 whiskies from around the world, each aged for 18 years, to see how little an age statement tells us about what is actually in the glass.
one hundred years of decade-defining drinks
Each decade is defined by a signature cocktail that reflects the culture of its era. Here are one hundred years of decade-defining drinks, with recipes.
3 Tips for Pairing Cheese & Whisky
Pairing cheese and whisky is less about rigid rules and more about understanding how flavour and texture interact. When done well, the combination can highlight nuance in both, turning a simple tasting into something layered and memorable.
The Bitter Battle Manhattan vs. Boulevardier
Few cocktail debates are as quietly divisive as Manhattan versus Boulevardier. Both are spirit-forward. Both lean bitter-sweet. Both have devoted followers who insist their choice is the only correct one. At the heart of it, this is not really a battle of recipes, but a question of preference, mood, and…
cocktails
Komorebi
about the cocktail Komorebi was created by our Flavor Camp community member Adam Rucker, who is a beginner home bartender from Vancouver, BC. The inspiration for this cocktail, as Adam explains, “Komorebi is the Japanese word for sunlight filtering through trees, a single concept with no direct English translation, much…
Season of the Witch
about the cocktail Season of the Witch was created by our Flavor Camp community member Amber Peppler, who is a working bartender from Victoria, BC. The inspiration for this cocktail, as Amber explains, “Being inspired by the Halloween season, I wanted to create something that felt smoky, rich, and a…
Cherry Blossom
about the cocktail Cherry Blossom was created by our Flavor Camp community member Randy Walker, who is a home bartender from Abbotsford, BC. The inspiration for this cocktail, as Randy explains, “I find the flavors of malt whisky require a gentler, more nuanced approach to building a cocktail. I was…
Orchard Embers
about the cocktail Orchard Embers was created by our Flavor Camp community member Jessica Toews, who is a working bartender from Vancouver, BC. The inspiration for this cocktail, as Jessica explains, “Rather than amplify the smoke, Orchard Embers gives it room to breathe. Apple rounds the whisky’s earthy character, lemon…
Watakushi no Kioku
about the cocktail Watakushi no Kioku was created by our Flavor Camp community member Justin Draper, who is a home bartender from Edmonton, Alberta. The inspiration for this cocktail, as Justin explains, “‘Watakushi no kioku ga tashika naraba’ or, ‘If Memory Serves Me Right’ was the iconic catch phrase that…
O-Ren Ishii
about the cocktail O-Ren Ishii was created by our Flavor Camp community member Tyler Laitinen, who is a home bartender from Port Moody, BC. The inspiration for this cocktail, as Tyler explains, “Halloween is nigh so let’s have fun. This smoky sour is inspired by former member of the Deadly…
featured flavor map
flavor index:
Eighteen 18-year-old whiskies from around the world
Each 18-year-old whisk(e)y is a liquid snapshot of decisions made nearly two decades before it reached the glass. Some are bright and delicate; others rich and dark. Some lean toward cereal and grain, while others show the influence of oxidation and extended maturation. In this flavor index, we explore each whisky through a flavour-first lens, examining not simply how long it has aged, but what time has allowed it to become.
