The Boozecan

Mar 15

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[video]

Mar 13

[video]

Mar 11

The Boozecan hits Tales of the Cocktail for some libation edumaction. If you’ve ever been to a conference of any kind, you know they can range from so incredibly informative you think your brain might pop like a balloon, to so dull you feel like your skeleton will leap out of your body and beat what’s left of you to death. So more often than not, the best part of these gatherings is the booze. It’s either the only break your grey matter gets, or the only escape. Then there’s Tales of the Cocktail. A three day “conference” (for lack of a better term) that’s just all about booze. So, you know, for rubes like us, um…WIN! Unless you’ve been hiding in that crawlspace under the stairs eating expired Cold War c-rations for the last 10 years, you’ll know that the whole cocktail culture has seen a massive resurgence, with a whole new breed of bartenders & drink enthusiasts obsessively giving their creations the same devotion, care, and attention-to-detail Michelin-rated chefs would give to their last meal. So it stands to reason that in this day in age someone’s going to figure out a way of getting all these alco-geniuses together in one place to share recipes, techniques and probably more than a few bar horror stories. That’s where Tales of the Cocktail comes in. TOTC (as it’s affectionately known) is probably THE premier cocktail festival, in North America, if not the world. TOTC started out in New Orleans, where it’s been going gangbusters for eight years now. But this year by some miracle, the Gods of Alcohol smiled upon us, the great planetary martini glasses aligned, and they decided to take the show on the road to none other than our humble little burg: Vancouver. Three days of speakers, seminars, demos, competitions–and before you think it’s getting haughty–a pub crawl. And yea, The Boozecan shall attendeth. Stay tuned for a day-to-today recap (with writing getting progressively shittier as the days go on).

The Boozecan hits Tales of the Cocktail for some libation edumaction.

If you’ve ever been to a conference of any kind, you know they can range from so incredibly informative you think your brain might pop like a balloon, to so dull you feel like your skeleton will leap out of your body and beat what’s left of you to death. So more often than not, the best part of these gatherings is the booze. It’s either the only break your grey matter gets, or the only escape. Then there’s Tales of the Cocktail. A three day “conference” (for lack of a better term) that’s just all about booze. So, you know, for rubes like us, um…WIN!

Unless you’ve been hiding in that crawlspace under the stairs eating expired Cold War c-rations for the last 10 years, you’ll know that the whole cocktail culture has seen a massive resurgence, with a whole new breed of bartenders & drink enthusiasts obsessively giving their creations the same devotion, care, and attention-to-detail Michelin-rated chefs would give to their last meal.

So it stands to reason that in this day in age someone’s going to figure out a way of getting all these alco-geniuses together in one place to share recipes, techniques and probably more than a few bar horror stories. That’s where Tales of the Cocktail comes in. TOTC (as it’s affectionately known) is probably THE premier cocktail festival, in North America, if not the world.

TOTC started out in New Orleans, where it’s been going gangbusters for eight years now. But this year by some miracle, the Gods of Alcohol smiled upon us, the great planetary martini glasses aligned, and they decided to take the show on the road to none other than our humble little burg: Vancouver. Three days of speakers, seminars, demos, competitions–and before you think it’s getting haughty–a pub crawl. And yea, The Boozecan shall attendeth.

Stay tuned for a day-to-today recap (with writing getting progressively shittier as the days go on).

Feb 21

Squeeze on in to Elwoods and get your drink on. Elwoods - 3145 W. Broadway - www.elwoods.ca If The Fringe Café were to have a kid brother, Elwoods would probably be it. Conveniently tucked away right across the street, you get the feeling it wants to be The Fringe, it’s just lacking that worn-in, rough-around-the-edges look that give its neighbour that extra bit of character. Or, maybe they just clean it too well. But that’s not to say Elwoods isn’t a great little place to imbibe. It’s a bit larger than its big brother neighbour, but still relatively small and cramped (read “cozy”—we just hate that word). But that’s what makes good pubs good, n’est pas? Sadly, a lot of places around town, for whatever reasons, never seem that “social” to us. You’re either confined to a booth you can’t escape from, or you’re seated in a room that’s twice the size of an aircraft hanger and half as inviting. But if you’re elbow-to-elbow with your fellow drinkers, you’re going to start talking one way or another—whether you like it or not. And isn’t that half the fun of boozing with your fellow humans? Fortunately, Elwoods is of the elbow-to-elbow school of thought. As far as hitting the sauce, there isn’t tons on the fancy/innovative cocktails front. It’s more of a pints and pitchers kind of hangout. That said, you can’t knock Elwoods Friday $3.99 highballs. And if you ask nicely, Colin the Bartender might show off some of his fancy-ass cocktail makin’ acrobatics, what with the flipping and the spinning and the twirling of the shaker.  (Word to the wise—watching the flipping and the spinning while inebriated can swiftly facilitate a painful introduction of skull to tiled floor.) You also can’t knock the $10 burger and beer special everyday. They’ve got a decent selection of brews on tap too: GI Honey Lager & Pale Ale OK Springs Hefeweizen & 1516 Lager Big Rock Traditional Ale & Grasshopper Ale Sleemans Original Draught Rock Creek Cider And for you hipsters out there - $3.99 pints of Pilly! Nothing out of this world, but better than a row of taps drawing big brewery piss—well, save for the Pilly maybe. They also serve the mind-fucking Snakebite should thoughts of blacking out or a good ol’ fashioned lose-the-plot gong show seem attractive to you. But hey, no judgment. So next time you’re in this neck of the woods or you’re dying for a post-movie beer (The Hollywood theatre’s within spitting distance), squeeze into Elwoods and belly up to the bar.

Squeeze on in to Elwoods and get your drink on.

Elwoods - 3145 W. Broadway - www.elwoods.ca

If The Fringe Café were to have a kid brother, Elwoods would probably be it. Conveniently tucked away right across the street, you get the feeling it wants to be The Fringe, it’s just lacking that worn-in, rough-around-the-edges look that give its neighbour that extra bit of character. Or, maybe they just clean it too well.

But that’s not to say Elwoods isn’t a great little place to imbibe. It’s a bit larger than its big brother neighbour, but still relatively small and cramped (read “cozy”—we just hate that word). But that’s what makes good pubs good, n’est pas? Sadly, a lot of places around town, for whatever reasons, never seem that “social” to us. You’re either confined to a booth you can’t escape from, or you’re seated in a room that’s twice the size of an aircraft hanger and half as inviting. But if you’re elbow-to-elbow with your fellow drinkers, you’re going to start talking one way or another—whether you like it or not. And isn’t that half the fun of boozing with your fellow humans? Fortunately, Elwoods is of the elbow-to-elbow school of thought.

As far as hitting the sauce, there isn’t tons on the fancy/innovative cocktails front. It’s more of a pints and pitchers kind of hangout. That said, you can’t knock Elwoods Friday $3.99 highballs. And if you ask nicely, Colin the Bartender might show off some of his fancy-ass cocktail makin’ acrobatics, what with the flipping and the spinning and the twirling of the shaker.  (Word to the wise—watching the flipping and the spinning while inebriated can swiftly facilitate a painful introduction of skull to tiled floor.)

You also can’t knock the $10 burger and beer special everyday. They’ve got a decent selection of brews on tap too:

Nothing out of this world, but better than a row of taps drawing big brewery piss—well, save for the Pilly maybe. They also serve the mind-fucking Snakebite should thoughts of blacking out or a good ol’ fashioned lose-the-plot gong show seem attractive to you. But hey, no judgment.

So next time you’re in this neck of the woods or you’re dying for a post-movie beer (The Hollywood theatre’s within spitting distance), squeeze into Elwoods and belly up to the bar.

Feb 18