Spirits

If Now Is Not The Time To Splurge on a Bottle of Fancy Gin (for a Good Cause), I Don’t Know When is

The BCHF (and your palate) will thank you.

By Neal McLennan /

The weird times continue gang, and we couldn’t be more impressed by how people are stepping up to show their support of our decimated restaurant industry. But in the midst of all this outpouring of genuine concern we’d be remiss to not make note of the key fact that the BC Hospitality Foundation has been standing up for the underprivileged and the disadvantaged in the hospitality industry since 2006. They are the OGs about shining the light on how hard this industry can be on those who give so much to be part of it. 

So anytime there’s an opportunity to help them, VanMag is in. And any time there’s a chance to help them and throw back some premium we’re, uhm, double-y in? And when it includes some help from one of our most illustrious Bartender of the Year alumni we’re in x infinity.

I first saw Isle of Harris gin in the UK last year where it’s distinctive ingredients (like sugar kelp seaweed) and very cool bottle made it a bit of a thing in the swank London bars I happened to find myself in. So imagine our surprise when we saw a bottle on the shelves at our local South Granville liquor store (JAK’s). We were prepared for the price – $89, because it was well over 40£ in London, but when we saw that $10 of that princely sum would go to the BCHF to help support laid-off industry folks, we were honour bound to buy it. It turns out that that’s the deal at all of JAK’s 13 locations (BTW I also notice they had JoieFarm’s Noble Blend on sale for under $20!)—buy the cool gin, help the cool people.

And as kicker, they’re wrangled the elusive Jay Jones, King of New West, serious Star Wars nerd and BOTY 2014 (and Joey Bar Development Manager), to craft a cocktail that channels isolation and gin in equal measures.

“Isolation of Harris”

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Isle of Harris Gin

• 0.5 oz St~Germain Elderflower Liqueur

• 0.5 oz Giffard Abricot du Roussillon

• 1 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice

• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Steps:

1. Combine all ingredients and shake with ice.

2. Strain into a cocktail coupe

3. Sip and enjoy the moment!