Best Cocktails In Calgary
Calgary, Alberta, once known as Canada's “Cowtown” with its honky-tonk flair and world’s largest rodeo, has had a cosmopolitan face-lift in the last few years with a wave of sizzling clubs, speakeasies and late-night lounges. Cocktail culture is booming as Calgarians eagerly trade in their Coors Light for crafty concoctions from the city’s most innovative mixologists.
One of Calgary’s top master mixologists, Scottish Colin Tait of Raw Bar at Hotel Arts, gives the low-down on Calgary’s best places to get your cocktail groove on.
Hotel Arts’ Raw Bar
Touted as Calgary’s hippest poolside scene with DJ'ed swank parties, Raw Bar has twisted traditional Tiki drinks on their head under Tait’s inventive direction. Try a Tea-jito with Martin Miller’s gin, St-Germain elderflower liqueur, muddled cucumber, mint, green tea and topped with ginger beer or a circa '50s Zombie Redux of three types of top-shelf rum, passion fruit, pink grapefruit juice and bitters.
The Milk Tiger Lounge
Tait describes this as a “little late-night bar that's more akin to the New York speakeasy type of joint.” Milk Tiger’s name may sound innocent but their drink menu is not. Tipplers with a retro-thirst will be tempted to croon a Sinatra classic with Milk Tiger Lounge’s Sloe Gin Fizz, Rusty Nail or Dark & Stormy.
Ox & Angela
A mere infant of two weeks old, Ox & Angela is already Calgary’s trendiest spot to see and be seen. The stampede starts early for these Latin-inspired libations as it's first-come, first-serve for the bar. Get your "la vida loca" on by sipping on a naughty Guns 4 Nuns of espresso, el amo silver tequila and amaretto, or to christen a night of debauchery, start with the Demonico, a red chili Wyborowa vodka martini with muddled cucumber and ginger.
District
With a motto “Where Foodies like to Drink," District’s artisanal cocktails have Calgarians imbibers in a tizzy. In a bare bones warehouse setting, mixologist Franz Swinton (a.k.a. Booze Boy), cranks cocktails out in canning jars to cure any weekend collateral damage. Try the Bacon Samurai Caesar – a cocktail and meal in one with Gekkeikan Sake, Foo King Caesar relish and clamato, infused with District’s homemade bacon. Boozy brew-tails are made with in-house beers like the mellorillo of melon liqueur, blueberry vodka, and amarillo IPA.
