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In the world of whisky, the Canadian stuff is awfully popular, but doesn’t always get a lot of respect among connoisseurs. Davin de Kergommeaux is hoping to change that. The former sommelier turned whisky writer, whose palate and pen lie behind the Canadian Whisky website, recently released his book Canadian Whisky: The Portable Expert. He [...]

No matter how many times I try, I can’t quite seem to get a handle on sherry. I know the fundamentals: that it’s a fortified wine made in certain regions of Spain, that it’s fermented by a film-forming yeast called flor, and that it’s aged in a fractional blending system called a solera. But once [...]

Despite my abiding love for apples, especially at this time of year, I rarely seem to use apple brandy in cocktails. Applejack is a beloved ingredient among American mixologists, but it’s unavailable here in Ontario. What apple brandy there is – predominantly Calvados – is pretty pricy for a base spirit, so I think hard [...]

Two days from now, after a month of marrying Plymouth gin and local damsons, my latest batch of damson gin will be ready. I’ll taste it for sugar (the damsons seemed unusually sweet this year, so I was restrained with how much I added at the start), then I’ll get to mixing. After I made [...]

The Collins is not just one drink; it’s a family of drinks, and like any family, it has its luminaries and its underdogs. The complete family history can be found in David Wondrich’s book Imbibe!, but you’ve probably already met the most eminent member: the Tom Collins, which is made with gin, lemon juice, sugar [...]

Cocktail neophytes often wonder how to go about inventing new drinks. Personally, I don’t do it very often, because my back catalogue of interesting-sounding drinks culled from books and the Internet is already so long that I’ll probably be unable to get through it in this lifetime, unless I spontaneously develop a second liver. That [...]

After the indulgences of the Christmas season, January drinks should be more stripped down, even elemental. The Hot Toddy fits the bill, with the added bonus that it will keep you warm on a cold winter’s night. Although it survives today almost exclusively in hot form, toddies were once served either hot or cold. A [...]