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Posts Tagged ‘Bourbon’

Living in the City >> Bourbon sours, Red Fish Blue Fish and Roche Cove

Posted in food, life or something like it, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »


I had so much fun getting up to adventures on the weekend.  And I had so much fun writing about adventures from the weekend.  It only stood to reason… I’d enjoy podcasting the adventures.  Introducing the second installment of Living in the City.  Please have a listen and share.

Soundcloud: Living in the City >> Bourbon sours, Red Fish Blue Fish and Roche Cove

Oh wow, the times we’ll share.

You’ll learn:
1) How to make a bourbon sour from Katie McDonald, Veneto Lounge
2) How to make Malt Vinegar Syrup from Kunal Ghose, Red Fish, Blue Fish & Top Chef Canada
3) How to find Roche Cove Regional Park

***neat, here is an article about Kunal Ghose from the Times Colonist.***

We so excited. I love living in the city!

Go with yourself.

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I drank this, I ate that and I went there

Posted in ...this is your father speaking, food, life or something like it, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 19, 2012| 5 Comments »


The weekend was a gem.  And I watched a ton of Jem.

Got up to all sorts of adventures and like many of you, it probably had a bit to do with St. Patrick’s Day.  However, I did not get up to the green beer festivities.

Pol Plastino‘s lady Elea celebrated her birthday on Saturday night.  I was feeling like making cocktails because I see Simon, Josh and Katie make them all the time at Veneto and it seems fun.

Pol said Elea’s favourite cocktail from the bar was the Jenkins.  That one is too hard for me to make, but her next fave is the Bourbon Sour.  You’ll see the instructions above.

I brought a bottle of Baker’s bourbon… a giant bag of lemons, simple syrup (just dissolve equal parts sugar and water), bitters, egg whites (bought the carton from the grocery store, $3-ish)… a shaker, strainer, and juicer thing… and away we went.

I love the ice globes they serve at the fancy cocktail lounges and really REALLY wanted them to drop in the red solo cups (you know, to class it up).  Shawn from Clives Classic Lounge gave me a bag full of ice globes!

I will say, after jamming out cocktails for folk’s at the party… its a lot of work.  And I was only making Bourbon sours, or Bourbon Old Fashions… if I had to know anymore than two, my brain would have exploded.  AND I had Jess helping me.  Good times and great people at Elea’s birthday!


Sunday was sunny… Coral was in a Sunday movie mode, so Mads and I hit the town.  And I’ve got her into fish and chips.  Its turning into a weekend thing to head downtown, and lately our place to go is Red Fish, Blue Fish right on the water.

With the weather cooperating, the line for a fish taco stretched along the wood planks of the wharf.  But it was pleasant and Mads was in a good mood, so we waited and chowed down on Cod Fish and chips (with three dips!  That is important for Madelyn, so we had ketchup, their tartar sauce and then the Malt vinegar syrup) .  And I had the scallop taco and the Pacific Fish taco.  Mmmmm.  I’ll NEED to try the chowder sometime and the poutine.


After fish, and dropping some deep-fried pickles off to Mom… Mads and I hit the trails.

My brother had taken me to Roche Cove before… and I remember us thinking it would be a good place for a little one.  So I went back on Sunday with Madelyn.

I like Roche Cove because you get a lot going on with a fairly easy walk.  Ocean, rivers, lakes, rain forest, easy trails/or/muddy trails.  I also like the drive out to East Sooke.

Drinking with friends, eating fish tacos and hiking with Maddy was the best weekend EVAR.

Go with yourself.

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How To Make an Old Fashioned Cocktail

Posted in food, tagged , , , on January 17, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The other day I had a good talk on the internet with Hecker’s Bar & Grill bartender Smokey Hell Nelson about the Old Fashioned Cocktail.

We were talking bourbon and he told me about his favourite, Buffalo Trace Bourbon.

The distillery where Buffalo Trace is made in Kentucky is one of the oldest in America dating back to the late 1700s!  mmm history that I put in my mouth.

Last night, I braved the rain and hit Cascade Liquor store in the Quadra Village to buy a bottle.  Beside it in the store was a bourbon called Baker’s 7!  SWA?  I should have bought that, but I was on a mission and decided to stay focused.  Next bourbon will be Baker’s.

I am trying to learn to make better media at home so I thought it would be fun to try and make a “How To” video for one of my favourite cocktails from the Veneto, The Old Fashioned!

The Old Fashioned is a bourbon based concoction with bitters, sugar, water and fruit. This recipe is loosely based on what was taught to me by Simon Ogden at the Veneto Lounge in Victoria. The cocktail is fun and easy to make, will impress your friends and lovers… and get you drunk. Enjoy.

Thank you for watching my video.  One day I’ll buy one of those fancy HD SLR things… for now… hit play.

Go with yourself.  CUT!

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Bartender: Old Fashioned

Posted in food, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 1, 2010| 16 Comments »

On the weekend I DJ at a lounge in Victoria called the Veneto Tapas Lounge.

They make up their cocktails using premium liquor and ingredients. Something I never really cared or thought too much about before unless I was drinking with Dave Sawchuk or my buddy Bob.

I’ve been playing Motown and chillwave records there since December/January of last year and I’ve slowly been learning about the bartender craft.

Right now Solomon Siegel and and Simon Odgen quarterback the drink menu in the lounge and Simon shared with me the art of the Old Fashioned.

The Old Fashioned is often considered to be the first “cocktail” and was invented in Kentucky in the mid-to-late 1800s.  It was the drink of civil war veterans! Basically the cocktail is spirits, bitters, sweetener, water.  Yum.

At the Veneto I learned to add some orange and lemon zest to the equation and delicious.

On the weekend I tried to track down some Bulleit Bourbon which is Simon’s pick for the Old Fashioned.

Sadly, the backwoods of Coquitlam could not provide and seeing as my old man was out of real Kentucky Bourbon I grabbed a bottle of Maker’s Mark (another good Kentucky Bourbon that is popular at Veneto: I paid $42 for a bottle).

The bitters for a Veneto Old Fashioned is easy as they use the mainstream Angostura Bitters. You’ll remember I found this bitters at Save-On Foods.

Start your glass with a sugar cube and a few dashes of bitters with an easy splash of bourbon.  Let that sit there while you slice off two pieces of orange peel and one of lemon.

Get the knife in there and shave or cut away all the pith as its not delicious.

What you do next is what separates all the Old Fashioned makers as they have their way of adding the orange and lemon which I can’t really explain.  You’ll have to watch Simon or Josh or Katie do it sometime.  I tried to copy them as best I could at a dinner party and my Old Fashioned served… but they were no Veneto.

Muddle the the first orange peel in the glass with the sugar and bitters.

In a tumbler, pour two ounces of bourbon and stir with ice then strain into your Old Fashioned glass with your sugar/bitters/orange.  Add two ice cubes (or however many you want).

Then you release some of the lemon zest in the drink and drop the lemon peel in.  Finally you take your last orange peel, heat it with a lighter over the glass for a few moments and squeeze it into the glass.  A cool little fireball should happen. Don’t be scared, be brave! That is the fun part.  Then twist the orange peel and drop it in.

Your drink should smell yummy, like a fruit punch.

Then sip and get ready to get rose cheeked!  This beverage packs a smooth but deliberate punch.

Go with yourself.

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