Cocktail Trends You Might See at Canada Life Place' First Ever Cocktail Show

2018 is the year to break out from your cocktail slump. Leave the vodka cran behind and prepare to learn things you never knew or tasted before at this year’s first ever ‘Cocktail Show’ on Saturday, April 14th at Canada Life Place! Craft bartenders across the province will be scheming up new cocktails with fresh ingredients and methods, dabbling in everything from spices to fermentation at this year’s show. We sat down with one of London’s very own rising mixologists, Raven Brown to learn more about emerging trends within the cocktail industry that may be seen at the Cocktail Show.

Sustainability

Sustainability is perhaps the most important cocktail trend of 2018. Many people do not realize the environmental costs hidden in a single drink whether it be from importing seasonal fruit, liquor from afar, plastic straws, behind the bar waste and transportation. More bars are starting to make cocktails from locally sourced liquor in order to reduce their carbon footprint. If you’ve been out on the town lately, you might notice more bars are also starting to eliminate straws from their drinks in order help save our oceans. Straws are one such single use item that has recently made the ‘Top 10’ items picked up on beach clean-ups. Raven suggests a great alternative to plastic straws are environmentally-friendly paper straws that come in a variety of fun patterns and can either be reused or thrown away in the compost.

From Fruit to Vegetables

With the increasing popularity of “juicing” or the “juice cleanse”, bartenders are starting to hop on the bandwagon with homemade fruit and veggie juice blends of their own. Many vegetables have distinct flavours, from sweet to earthy to spicy and all find a way to pair well with select spirits. As we say goodbye to overly sweet cocktails, mixologists are finding new ways to keep an exciting flavour without adding extra calories to their drinks by swapping fruit to vegetables.

Cutting the Sugar, Adding the Spices

Speaking of cutting the sugar and adding in more “beneficial” ingredients for our health, a new trend that coincides with this is the addition of spices within cocktails. Spices such as turmeric and cinnamon have been increasingly integrated into drinks to add flavour and notch-up the overall colour and presentation of the drink. The golden yellow spice of turmeric has a pungent flavour reminiscent of peppers and ginger and pairs well with a tequila mixture. The addition of spices not only add a kick of flavour, they also integrate additional health benefits such as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents into an otherwise ‘health degrading’ cocktail.

Fermentation

Although alcohol isn’t exactly known for it’s stomach-cleansing qualities, ‘fermented cocktails’ have quickly become a buzz word now that bartenders are starting to add probiotics into their drinks. Fermented drinks such as kefir and kombucha are initiated by a combination of beneficial bacteria and yeast. The end result is a sour, pungent and mildly tonic apple cider that integrates well with spirits such as vodka and gin. One of Raven’s favourite fermented cocktails is the “dirty curdy”, consisting of shrubs, gin and a light fruit mixture of either pineapple, blueberry or even rhubarb!

The Classic Cocktail Comeback

The prohibition theme is on the rise in the cocktail industry. You may have noticed classic drinks such as the Moscow Mule, Old Fashion and Manhattan have been making a comeback in the world of cocktails. Raven mentioned that more bartenders are starting to use these classic cocktails as a base to which a modernistic twist is added. These classic drinks are less sweet, more bitter and tend to have a higher alcohol content compared to regular mixed drinks. The boldness of the drink allows consumers to sip and enjoy each flavour rather than chug back a sugar-dominant mix.

Cocktails will never go out of style. However, the way these drinks are crafted and the ingredients used are vastly changing over time. From tropical chuggers to sophisticated sippers, mixologists are bringing back the old and adding their own flare to it, whether it be through fermented kombucha, distinctive spices or even paper straws.

Interested in expanding your cocktail appreciation? Get your tickets now for this year’s first ever Cocktail Show at Canada Life Place on April 14th HERE.

About Raven

Raven is a self-taught mixologist who graduated from the culinary school at Fanshaw college. From cooking in Banff to serving in London, Raven has experienced many positions within the hospitality industry. She is currently an events coordinator and cocktail developer with Top Shelf Distillers as well as a server and bartender at Hunter & Co.

Hunter & Co. is a new restaurant in town, offering a unique-and-adventurous culinary experience. Their menu features small sharable plates from charcuterie boards to freshly shucked oysters served until last call every single night. Of course, great food is nothing without a great drink. Their bartenders are very serious about cocktails — whether it's a classic libation or one of with a modern twist, Hunter & Co. craft drinks that make nights memorable. Check out their menu HERE.