It’s time to raise a glass!
This Thursday, March 24th is National Cocktail Day, and we want to help you try the best cocktail of your life, right here in Victoria.
Whether you like fruity drinks, blended or on the rocks, or a mocktail, it’s time to kick back and relax to celebrate the upcoming weekend.
Five local businesses have shared a delicious and unique cocktail they serve as a feature drink with Victoria Buzz to help celebrate the national day.
Here are 5 delicious cocktails in and around Victoria to try this National Cocktail Day:
Sherwood’s ‘Lodestar’
A Lodestar is a star used to guide you to your chosen destination, and in this case it’s straight to Sherwood!
Sherwood’s chosen featured cocktail, The Lodestar is a homage to the company, using many of the hallmark ingredients they started with.
The drink is a blend of bitter and herbal liqueurs, rhubarb shrub and a home-made sour that uses Earth’s Herbal tea. The drink is finished with Bella Sparkling wine and a twist of lemon.
The fun, sparkly cocktail is modelled after the French 75, balancing sweet, sour and bitter with refreshing BC Wine.
- Location: 710 Pandora Avenue
- Hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday to Thursday, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday
Collective Wine Bar’s ‘Spill the Tea’
The goal of Collective Wine Bar and Kitchen’s featured cocktail Spill the Tea was to go back to basics and replicate the classic cup of Earl Grey in a cocktail. And a lot of work goes into it!
To begin, loose leaf tea is infused in gin for four hours to create the drink’s base.
Next, a homemade floral lavender syrup, which helps brighten and draw out the bergamot in the tea is added.
The drink is then finished off with a few dashes of cardamom bitters and served on a vintage cup and saucer with a piece of shortbread on the side.
Spill the Tea is a little sweet, a little citrusy and a little floral, all working together to create an Earl Grey tea cocktail.
- Location: #107 230 Cook Street
- Hours: 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Tuesday to Thursday, 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday
Wind Cries Mary’s ‘Black and Yellow’
Wind Cries Mary’s featured cocktail, Black and Yellow, has proved to be one of the restaurant’s most popular cocktails to date, keeping true to the restaurant’s goal to represent all things local, seasonal and delicious.
Black & Yellow features local Stillhead distillery blackberry gin, local honey, juiced organic ginger and fresh lemon.
The drink is refreshing, simple and definitively Vancouver Island.
- Location: 45 Bastion Square
- Hours: 4 p.m. to 1 a.m., Monday to Sunday
Citrus and Cane’s ‘Oooh, dat’s SPICY!’
For those looking for an adventurous cocktail, Citrus and Cane has you covered.
The cocktail bar’s Oooh, dat’s SPICY! is a mix of fresh mint, Hornitos plata tequila, Sons of Vancouver’s chili vodka, pineapple, lemon, orange bitters and house made orgeat.
Orgeat is a sugar syrup made from organic Almond mylk, rose water and orange blossom water, providing a slightly floral and nutty flavour profile, a staple in tropical cocktails.
The spice in Oooh, dat’s SPICY! is well balanced by the mint, pineapple and orgeat and is sure to put a pep in your step!
- Location: 1900 Douglas Street
- Hours: 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., Monday, 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., Thursday, 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. Friday and Saturday, 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., Sunday
Clarke and Co’s ‘Okurrr, Henny’
Did you know Clarke and Co. has the largest collection of bitters and whiskies in all of Victoria?
Along with its large collection, the popular stop encourages visitors to try something new and let their bartenders come up with a drink just for you, making it a perfect stop for National Cocktail Day.
Back by popular demand, Clarke and Co’s feature cocktail the Okurrr, Henny is made with Hennessy VS, Peppermint, Jasmine, Lemon, Lime, Honey and Ginger Beer.
The Okurrr, Henny was a popular feature at Clarke and Co. in the summer of 2021, and is sure to be well loved once again.
- Location: 1002 Blanshard Street
- Hours: 6 p.m. to 1 a.m., Tuesday to Saturday
