FFWD Weekly
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| NIGHTLIFE What should you sip while with a hot date on a warm summer night under a patio umbrella? What's the best elixir for a solitary afternoon of staring out the window on a rainy day? Forget pairing booze with food, try matching booze with mood. Not sure where to start? Let the experts choose for you! Fast Forward dropped by five Calgary establishments and asked the bartenders to come up with something suitable for all occasions. The results were fruity and fun - tasty concoctions to help you cool off from the summer heat or battle the rain with a blast of sunshine. MORTAL COIL Brent has been bartending at Mortal Coil restaurant and bar on Fourth Street since its opening in December - the cozy space is decorated in shades of purple, and music is a priority. For this warm summer evening, Brent is mixing up a new drink, The Debaser, which will appear on the new menu. The drink includes a special vodka, Amaretto, banana liqueur, orange juice and pineapple juice, all combined in a chilled martini glass. · Appearance: The combination of pineapple, banana and orange results in a yellow-orange color - what did you expect? Brent adds a bit of fun and color by using a striped candy fish as a garnish on the side of the martini glass - apparently candy (especially fish, like blue whales) has become a trademark of Mortal Coil. "We're stupid on candy all the time," he laughs. "We give candy away like crazy." · Taste: A tangy thirst-quencher - tastes like a fruit bowl in a blender, but it's no breakfast drink. · Impact: Don't be deceived, it's like a fruit punch with a right hook - two ounces multiplied by however many you drink, to be exact. The debaser rates high on the amorous scale, so take a date. · Floaties/sinkies: Well, a fish doesn't really float or sink, but you can dunk it like a cookie. VICIOUS CIRCLE Christopher has worked on 1st Street SW for just over six years and now makes his home at Vicious Circle, a sunny corner location where patrons enjoy the coffee as much as the cocktails. The restaurant/café/bar has special drinks and coffees every day - it's the bartender's choice. On this warm evening, he's in the mood for a Meltdown, which includes a bit of pineapple juice, cranberry juice, orange liqueur and Malibu rum, all shaken with ice, then strained a poured into a chilled martini glass. · Appearance: Looks cool; tastes warm. This drink is a contradiction - it's the blue-green color of the ocean and has a froth on top like the crest of a wave, but it tastes much better than salt water. Christopher says the secret is the Blue Curaçao, a blue-colored orange liqueur. · Taste: A fruity flavor with a hint of coconut makes it perfect for the patio - and Vicious Circle has a great patio. This cocktail is high on drinkability, with the potential for sipping from dusk 'til dawn (or until they call you a cab). · Impact: There's booze in this? Yes there is, bit it's very subtle at one-and-a-half ounces, so you can have more than one. · Floaties/sinkies: Aside from a bit of pulp, this is a cool, crisp drink with nothing between you and the bottom of the glass. THE PALACE The Palace nightclub on 8th Avenue recently celebrated it's grand opening, but there's a familiar face behind the bar. Rod has worked in a few Calgary bars (you may even remember him from last year's cocktail column), and is now bartending in this impressive venue. On the afternoon I dropped by, he invented "The Cleo" to go with the bar's pharaoh theme. He's not giving away the exact recipe, but the ingredients included something green, something purple, something yellow, something pink and something else, all poured over ice in a martini glass. · Appearance: The odd mix of colors results in a luminescent hot pink, giving off a glow as mysterious as Cleopatra herself. · Taste: Cool and crisp with a hint of fizzle. Remember sweet tarts? Well, this candy is a liquid version for adults - not too sweet and not too sour, so you can suck on it all night. · Impact: This mixture is high on drinkability, but don't let the cream soda color fool you, there's two ounces of booze in this baby. Pace yourself! · Floaties/sinkies: The only thing left in the glass when you finish will be the remainder of a few cold cubes - unless you give in to temptation and suck on them, too. SEÑOR FROGS Ernie is the owner/operator of Señor Frogs restaurant/bar in the Eau Claire area, which he and his partners took over about a year ago. He mixed up the house specialty, Jus d'Amour, which includes.... Sorry! Secret recipe, although the drink itself may work as truth serum if you can persuade him to do several taste tests. The only thing Ernie will say is that it has tons of fruit juice in it, which should be obvious with the first taste. · Appearance: Jus d'amour is a pink grapefruit color that can be served two ways: poured over ice into a giant goblet, or served neat in a martini glass. Either way, it looks both innocent and seductive at the same time. · Taste: An explosion of fruit flavor! And do I detect a hint of coconut? Ernie's lips are sealed. · Impact: "We call it the sneaky drink because it comes to get you in about one hour," he says. You'd never guess it, but there's two-and-a-half ounces of alcohol in this - be careful or you may find yourself flirting with the ceramic frog behind the bar. · Floaties/sinkies: Comes with ice or without, and includes a straw (or two, if sharing) for added fun. DIABLOS Pay a visit to Diablos, a restaurant/bar which just opened on 1st Street next to Mescalero (same owners), and you'll find the friendly smiles of Jeremiah and Jody behind the bar. The small, intimate space is painted warm, rusty color, providing the perfect atmosphere for the rainy night I visited. Jody countered the rain with a nectar she used to make as a bartender in the Cayman Islands. Similar to a Bahama Mama, the drink includes Malibu, banana liqueur, dark rum, orange juice and a squeeze of fresh lime - she named it Sunray on the spot and poured it over ice into a large glass. · Appearance: A ray of sunshine to light up a dreary day - this drink is liquid gold. · Taste: Freshly squeezed flavor from the tropics, with no sweetener added. This one's so good it'll be gone before the ice cubes start melting. · Impact: You'll find out long after the sun has set when it's time to go home - another double ouncer. · Floaties/sinkies: A bright green wedge of lime is hiding amongst the bobbing ice cubes, but you can dodge it with your straw. |