“Some of the recipes just kind of come to you—you’ll know you want to work with a certain spirit or ingredient and you’ll know it just works,” says Little Oak bartender Andy Dunphy. That’s how he struck gold with current menu standout Two Thyming, an approachable, earthy and seasonally affective cocktail, inspired by both bourbon […]
cocktails
Roy Clorey, straight-up legend
Roy’s Lounge, The Westin Nova Scotian 1181 Hollis Street “Squeezing oranges. That’s how I got here,” says Roy Clorey. “It was in 1963. That’s where I started. At that time to become a bartender you worked for three solid weeks in the background. You had to know 150 cocktails before you went to serve the […]
Emily Orr’s fresh take
Emily Orr moved to Halifax five years ago with no real plan. “I just packed a bag for a week, hopped on a train and wasn’t sure if I was going to move here or not. I was just checking things out,” she says. “I stayed at the hostel for a little bit, fell in […]
Steven Cross: called to the bar
“I started downtown,” says Steven Cross, bartender at 2 Doors Down. “I’m one of the old guys. I started in 1993 at the Misty Moon; I was a doorman first. I could list off all the bars: I was at Rogues’, the Palace, The Old Triangle. It’s a lot.” Anybody who regularly went to a […]
Made With Love is in the air
Made With Love Regional Finals Monday, November 28, 6pm Westin Nova Scotian, Commonwealth ballroom 1181 Hollis Street $65/$75, enjoymadewithlove.com This year marks five years since Made With Love became a key component to establishing Halifax’s behind-the-bar stars. Every year, a crop of the city’s most talented bartenders test their mettle, serving up creative cocktails at […]
Some like it hot
It’s not quite a cold, but there’s one on the horizon. Camping out in the back of your throat and all up in your sinuses, waiting for the imperfect moment pounce on your immune system. A spoonful of Buckley’s, well it tastes awful. And a tall glass of OJ—or worse, a fizzy vitamin supplement a […]
Sangria science
OK, let’s not complicate things. The science of the supreme backyard-sipping, party punch—sangria—doesn’t take a cocktail chemist to figure out, that’s the beauty of it. This easily adaptable drink can be a fresh summer quencher, or a spicy winter warmer, a one-glass one-off or a pitcher to pour out for all of your friends. “You […]
Tending topic
“My first job ever working in the industry was as a dishwasher at The Bitter End,” Shane Beehan says, a breathless storyteller let loose inside him. “I was, like, 21 years old and going to university and I would walk to work or bike to work each day and I’d go by Mosaic, by that […]
Drink to that
“You’re passionate about your work, you truly believe in it, and it’s a very long uphill battle,” says Courtney Morrison, the 27-year-old who plans to bring a little more attention to Green Drinks. “It’s frustrating and exhausting.” Morrison attributes this exhaustion to “activist burnout”—a considerable concern among people working within the environmental sector. She says […]
May I Imbibe you a drink?
In case you forgot, the Savour Food and Wine Festival—the month-long celebration of all things tasty— is still in full swing, and this week it’s debuting a brand new event dedicated to the art of mixology. And it is an art alright. Thursday brings Imbibe: A Cocktail Story (Schooner Room, Casino Nova Scotia, 7pm) an […]
Canuck Cocktails
Mosaic Social Dining Lounge Nothing could be more strong and free than Cooper Tardivel’s award-winning True North martini. Tardivel concocted the drink using a maple dessert wine from Jost, garnished with maple-candied apple balls. “It’s a dessert cocktail…in other words, great for warming up in the ski lodge after a gold medal run,” writes Tardivel. […]

