When you get a cocktail kit delivered from The Bar Cart, featuring the honey-based spirits from Vancouver Island's Wayward Distillery, you're giving back to the bees, too!
By CINDA CHAVICH
It’s always fun to learn something new from an expert — and today I got a lesson in mixology with a dash of good will.
Wayward Distillery makes all of their products using BC honey and is on a campaign to support their hardest workers, the honey bees.
“Honey is at the heart of everything we do, supporting our local agriculture and food system while crafting delicious spirits,” says Dave Brimacombe, the Comox Valley-based craft distiller. Because BC honey is the foundation of their distilling business, Wayward has always worked with local apiaries and has pledged to donate 1 per cent of all spirit sales to Pollinator Partnership of Canada to help keep bees and their habitats healthy.
Today they’ve joined forces with The Bar Cart by Lavish Liquid (a Vancouver cocktail catering company that specializes in bespoke events, cocktail kits and mixology classes), to create a cocktail kit that gives back even more to bee conservation.
And I’m zoomed in on a Virtual Cocktail Class to learn how to make their Float Like a Butterfly and Sting like a Bee cocktails, both featuring Wayward Raspberry Gin Liqueur.
At their craft distillery on Vancouver Island, Wayward ferments honey to make their spirits. There’s Unruly Gin, the first gin in Canada fermented and distilled from pure honey, Drunken Hive Rum made with caramelized honey, and the toasted honey liqueur, Krupnik, that’s spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and citrus peel.
But today we’re shaking up their Raspberry Gin liqueur, made by adding crushed fresh raspberries and extra honey to their gin. You can mix it with bubbles, serve it over ice, even drizzle it on ice cream. Or try it in any classic gin cocktail.
Pollinator Partnership Canada is dedicated to the protection of pollinators — including bees, butterflies and birds — with guides for municipalities, pollinator stewardship programs, and bee-friendly certifications, and other pollinator conservation programs.
By planting for pollinators in our gardens, yards and patios, we can all help the birds and the bees. Check out the pollinator planting guide on their website or download their Bee Smart planting app on your device. And plan to host a bee-friendly cocktail party featuring Wayward spirits to educate others about the issues facing bees and other pollinators.
Look for virtual cocktail classes, in-person experiences and cocktail kits from The Bar Cart by Lavish Liquids. They’ll host your happy hour or social event, and deliver kits for 7-8 cocktails, that come complete with all of the liquor, syrups, mixers, bitters, fruits and garnishes you need to shake up cocktails like a pro.
There are a wide variety of cocktail kits to choose, but the new kit featuring Wayward Raspberry Gin Liqueur, comes with all of the ingredients to make eight cocktails, including the frothy Float Like a Butterfly (with vegan foamer and pretty pea flower sugar to rim the coupe glass), and the bright citrusy Sting Like a Bee, enhanced with grapefruit bitters and Honey Orange Blossom Syrup.
The kit is $85 (delivered in greater Vancouver or shipped overnight to Victoria for about $28), with $13 from each kit going to support the Pollinator Partnership. It's the first kit in their lineup to feature two different cocktails, says Lavish Liquid owner Chris Chuy.
Meanwhile, the experts at The Bar Cart shared the recipes they created for summer sippers featuring Wayward Raspberry Gin Liqueur.
FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY
50 ml Wayward Raspberry Gin Liqueur
10 ml agave syrup (or to taste)
Half a lemon, juiced
1 straw vegan foamer (like Ms Better’s Bitters Miraculous Foamer)
In a cocktail shaker, without ice, add all of the ingredients. Shake for 10-15 seconds to froth the ingredients.
Open the shaker and add ice. Shake again for 10-15 seconds until chilled.
Double strain into a coupe glass rimmed with butterfly pea sugar powder and enjoy.
STING LIKE A BEE
50 ml Wayward Raspberry Gin Liqueur
20 ml Honey & Orange Blossom Syrup
One lime, juiced (approx. 30 ml)
1 straw Grapefruit Bitters
In a cocktail shaker, combine all of the ingredients with ice. Shake for 10-15 seconds until chilled.
Dump all of the ingredients, with the ice, into a rocks glass (or strain over fresh ice, your choice!)
Garnish with a dried lime wheel.
@barcartbc
@waywarddistillery
@pollinatorpartnershipcanada