An August Tour of Calgary Cocktail Bars (Which Begins & Ends At The Same Place)

 Cocktail Correspondent: Weldon Gardner Hunter

In late August, I made the annual summer visit to my parents in Calgary, which gave me a chance to check out the cocktail scene in my old stampede grounds. 

I stayed at a hotel in the Beltline, which in my time in the city referred to 10th, 11th, and 12th Avenues, bounded by 14th Street and Macleod Trail. Calgary seems to have put on some weight recently, because now I see brochures and signs that extend the Beltline to 17th Avenue. Well, Calgary could say the same about my beltline!

The Best Western on 8th Street and 14th Avenue SW: The "Beltline"?

NIGHT ONE

The first place I stopped was Tubby's (1210 8th Street SW). When I lived half a block away from this place back in the 1990s, it was Kathmandu Cafe. The bartender told me it then became a Starbucks that pulled a midnight run, and now it's a small tavern that slings suds, sells hot dogs, and has a small cocktail list. I had a decent Daiquiri but I decided to move off because it was Trivia Night and the hosts had stentorian voices and that awkwardly self-conscious mien that many amateur comedians have.

My second stop on the first night was Bridgette (739 10th Ave SW). This place used to be a furniture warehouse back in my day: the space is vast like the Prairies and has high ceilings. A very Alberta room and not a cocktail lounge per se, but there is a bar and that's where I set up. 

The first drink I ordered was a Dr. Jones:

Averna Amaro, red vermouth, orange, dr pepper, lemon, mint

The Averna's dark cherry notes blend so well with the slightly medicinal flavour of my colleague & mentor Dr Pepper. The vermouth adds some spicy caramel accents. The tumbler was the right vessel for the liquid: the seriousness of a highball when you're really sippin' boozy pop. Mint for freshness. This drink was a real pick me up after an early start, a flight, a bus ride, and a family reunion. A balm for a busy day. 

Elegant interior, mood lighting, friendly, Italian-movie-handsome barbacks, Supremes "You Can't Hurry Love" on the soundtrack. An unusual attraction of the place is the men's room - it's at the back and has a huge, curtained window that overlooks the alley and the wait staff smokin' darts on their breaks if you twitch it (er ... the curtain, that is).

I never just have one cocktail, so I followed up with a Spaghetti Western:

Bourbon, cognac, Amaro Montenegro, hazelnut, basil

Spirit forward, but the Montenegro and hazelnut gives it a slightly sweet & nutty finish. Although it has the same name, this is not the same drink as the one at 515 Bar in Vancouver, which consists of Bourbon, Strega, Simple Syrup, and Egg White.  

I must admit, I don't like the word "spaghetti" appearing in a drink name: why not just name it after a specific Italo Western movie or actor? I'd drink a West and Soda, or a Franco Nero. Maybe not a For a Few Dollars More if I were on a budget ...

NIGHT TWO

The day was gloomy and rainy, not the average Calgary summer weather. After spending the day with the folks, I made my way to Missy’s This n That (348A 14th Ave SW). Online searches omit the 'n', but it's on the door:

Missy's is on the second floor of a nondescript building, the space was formerly an acupuncture clinic. My buddy Matt had a brief phase where he touted bars and restaurants above ground level, so I thought of him. I had mild anticipation walking up the stairs and the bar did not disappoint:

My first essay was the Bourbon Berry Barracuda: 

Blackberry, Mint, Michter Bourbon, Willibald Gin

Very rich, grapey, wine notes (to do with the blackberry) – the Gin and Bourbon make it very long & strong - it's a sipper.

Next, I had a Layover (no photo): Nikka Gin, Plantation Rum, Orgeat, Black lime. Trust me, it looked pretty in the glass. Bartenders said this drink was their most popular & sweetest, but it’s quite mild. I guess Calgarians have a different sense of "sweet." Is this why I left Cowtown back in '01?

Ambience at Missy's This n That

Missy's was a great spot to unwind after a long, and uncharacteristically gloomy & rainy Calgary summer day. The bartenders were friendly and the room was filling up. When I stepped out back onto 4th Street, I went for a night walk down the dark Elbow River pathway, then through the affluent, spectral, and quiet neighbourhood of Elbow Park: 

Peeping Tom?

I walked around this area fairly often back in the 90s, when I was a bagel baker who worked 11 at night to 7 in the morning. I lived in Mission/Cliff Bungalow, in the same apartment building as two of the members of Chixdiggit. On my nights off, I would sometimes stroll along the Elbow River in a desultory fashion, sometimes finding lamplight to read surrealist poetry by. I also once skinny dipped in the river with a foxy flame, and a curious beaver swam past us. All these images came back to me in my pleasantly inebriated state, before I turned back for the Best Western.

NIGHT THREE

My parents live in Glamorgan, a neighbourhood of 1950s bungalows and home to a bakery known for its cheese buns and Boston Cream donuts. It's charming, like my folks. We went for dinner at Bella Roma in Lakeview (6449 Crowchild Trail SW #17). This place is an institution for residents of the North Glenmore area, with a dining room full of seniors and families, and a lounge full of people like me. Only I didn't venture into the room, though the menu announced that cocktails were 10 bucks - and not just at happy hour! If you live in Calgary, drink there and publish the report here.

However, I was on a mission to visit The Weaselhead Bar & Grill (4604 37th Street SW). It's located in a strip mall where my Dad gets his hair cut. It's named for the geographical area on the Tsuut'ina First Nations lands with hiking trails, and the history of the name and place is exhaustively and interestingly explained here: Finding Weaselhead

From the Weaselhead's website: there are no cocktails, and there is no place called "Festuburt"

Now here's a cautionary tale: don't believe everything you read, and don't try to research pubs in strip malls. 

I looked at an online menu for the Weaselhead that showed a small selection of simple, reasonably-priced cocktails. I was excited to drink at a good ol', unpretentious Alberta drinking hole, but if I could avoid beers, I would.  The place was packed with beer drinkers talking about NFL football, but there was room at the bar, and a guy drinking wine a few chairs down. I ordered a "Maple Bourbon Smash" and the server looked at me like I was speaking a Latvian dialect and then insulted her ancestors in English  - that is to say, with incomprehension and annoyance.

Quickly I realized I was a West Coast weirdo in the Foothills. I attempted to adjust and asked for a Pilsner, but I was actually asking if they had a craft beer on tap. Of course, I received this:

Now, this was no big deal, because Pilsner is a fine beer, and it's how I got my humble start. We used to count the rabbits on the label, claiming that some were hidden in the train, or the tipi. But I was batting 0 for 2 at the Weaselhead. 

I was considering having a second Pilsner while watching the Dodgers game on the TV, but the bartender took me out of the game when she handed me a bill and the card machine, unrequested. The weirdest bumrush ever? Very effective, at any rate ... I did the walk of shame up Sarcee Road, resolving to lick my wounds at a proper big city, fancypants cocktail bar. Where I belong.

Which was Proof (1302 1st SW). In my day, you would have only ventured north of The Castle Pub (the best place to drink in 90s Calgary) in search of sex or skag, but now there's a bunch of ultra-modern windows-and-glass buildings that totally disoriented me. Once I reoriented, I walked in, sat down at the bar and ordered A Little Bit of Northern Hospitality.

        Reifel Rye, Amaro Lucano, Lemon, Black Tea, Earl-Grey Infused Lager

The lager comes as a chaser, but I took an exploratory sip and then dumped it in (along with the teabag). The drink has serious cola notes, one of the reasons I ordered it, sensing a theme after my Dr. Jones at Bridgette. This one was a little minty, spicy, peppery, and pleasantly mediciney. 

Anecdotal: Calgary quaffers swear way more than I’m used to – but then I remember it’s just Alberta. At the bar, there's a guy talking to his pretty companion about his standup act – he’s self-conscious, like all standups, and he also swears unconvincingly. Another guy at the bar talks about a colleague who is a "fucking pussy." He's much more comfortable with cussing. I'm back home, I guess.

I decided to keep going and ordered a Brown Sugar:

- Tito’s Hand Made Vodka, Becherovka, Amaro Meletti, Tea, Milk, Tapioca Pearls

I love Becherovka, a herbal Czech liqueur which adds a type of Eastern European Xmas Spice to this creamy concoction. Good King Wenceslas would love this drink.  

The Amaro Meletti adds more of those cola & caramel notes that have been the theme of Calgary Cocktail Crawl ’24. Obviously, the tapioca pearls make the drink a boozy bubble tea. If I’m honest, I would not run the jewels: I found them a bit bland.  It comes in a very conspicuous, tall glass and looks like a milkshake. I sipped my milkshake and eavesdropped on the Swearers.

Possibly to try and forget the debacle at The Weaselhead, I ordered a third drink, an Oddly Fashionable:

Rittenhouse Rye, Amaro Averna, Amaro Vecchio del Capo, Black Garlic, Mole

This one is like an old fashioned, with Amaro spice (plus the garlic) for a boost. The mole gives it a chocolatey finish. I can't, after all this time, capture in words the pleasure this drink gave me. A winner.

Here's something someone said at Proof: “I hate the methodology of restaurants these days.” I really wished my Calgary friend Alec could have joined me to drown out the words I was hearing. 

We could have talked about Dahlia Seed's 1996 album, Survived By & reminisced about all-ages shows at The Carpenter's Union Hall. But I had a good, solitary time at Proof. I walked home down 15th Avenue, passing the Nellie McClung house, a bastion of fuckin' respectability and history.

NIGHT FOUR

In the afternoon, I visited the Weaselhead, the original Weaselhead:

After my sojourn in nature, it was time to do some urban adventuring. There were two new-ish cocktail bars in Chinatown I wanted to visit.

The first was Paper Lantern (115 2nd Ave SW, Basement). In a strange twist of events, I accidentally deleted my notes about this spot, but here's what I remember:

Night Alley: Lapsang Infused Hennessy, Jagermeister, Green Chartreuse, Cola Syrup, Lime Leaf

The Lapsang is the head of the gang, with two other strong spirits at play here – but I mainly enjoyed the cola edge, in keeping with my theme. I savoured it slowly.

Here's a blurry snap of my second drink: a Hawaiian Plaza:

 Blend of Rums, Acidified Pineapple, Orange Curacao, Sesame Orgeat, Demerara

What I remember about this one is the toasty notes of the Sesame Orgeat and a Grand Marnier undercurrent. Pleasant acidic creamy notes from the pineapple & orange liqueur. I liked it. I wished I didn't lose the other notes - I remember writing a lengthy paragraph on this drink. 

Paper Lantern doesn't have any signage, from the street it looks like a tailor's:

But after you walk in, there's no pseudo-speakeasy "password" nonsense, the bar is in an adjoining room and I was quickly seated and given a menu. It's an elegant space, here's some pictures of the washroom wallpaper and other bric-a-brac:

Somehow, I knew the night wasn't over after two drinks. The cool summer night air and the ambience of Chinatown beckoned me to stay. For a change of venue, I only had to walk about 50 steps outside of Paper Lantern to their sister bar, Prosperity Bar (107 2nd Ave SE). This one has gonzo sidewalk signage:

I was ready to get Zombie-fied. Prosperity is a wild tiki bar – it has storm sound effects and a fog machine which come on every twenty minutes or so. Very comfortable seats. I realized how tense I had been visiting all these hip spaces on my own, but the vibe in Prosperity was divey and welcoming.

I ordered a Jungle Bird: 

Rum, pineapple, molasses and Campari:

The menu informed me this drink was invented in Kuala Lumpur in the year of my birth, so I was intrigued. A complex blend of flavours. The molasses adds a thickness to the drink, and it combines with the rum into pronounced maple notes. It's also kind of tangy. 

I'd had three drinks. Was the night going to end now? This was a crucial point in the trip. Possibly the climax of the whole (drinking) experience. The night was young, unlike me. I was on holiday. I decided to go for it.

The next selection was an Angel Eyes, advertised as a "sipper."  I did not write down the ingredients - it was one minute to 11pm (I wrote that down), but it contains Amaro Meletti and Punt e Mes. The Angel Eyes is rich, bitter, with rhubarb and black cherry flashes. The Punt E Mes adds a vermouth-feel and the drink has the cola notes I have been seeking. 

How could I leave a tiki bar without a Zombie? A classic cocktail. This one is a blend of 3 rums, plus grapefruit, cinnamon, and "secret spices". I detected a spicy falernum in there. The drink is fruity, which was a nice return after some bolder flavours. I was right about the falernum, I found out - my tastebuds have come a long way since the column started!

This was a Flaming Zombie

More cool washroom bric-a-brac:

A cute lil Axolotl

A cute lil Octopus

And curiosity took me into the alleys of Calgary's Chinatown:

A Night Alley of a different kind

A lovely, soused walk home along the Bow River and through Eau Claire. You can see why I wasn't writing up these evenings at the time - my days & nights were full ...

NIGHT FIVE 

During the day, my mother and I travelled to the mountains and Kananaskis Village. There were stops at Canoe Meadows and the Mount Lorette Ponds. 

Kananaskis River from Canoe Meadows

There were chipmunks and grasshoppers a-plenty. I even saw a Painted Fritillary. It was a wonderful outing with my loquacious mum.

For the penultimate night of the tour, I chose Ricardo's Hideaway (1530 5th Street SW). Or it chose me.

The place is just a little off of the epicenter of Calgary nightlife - 17th Avenue, known since 2004 as "The Red Mile." The lure of this strip means that few revelers make it to this spot. No one seems to hide on 17th, there's too much commotion. That meant the place was quiet, save for the patio, on the night I visited.

I started with a Pineapple Rum & Coke:

Some Angostura Bitters in there

A quick & simple pick-me-up. Very pleasurable.

The bartender, Sam, is an Alberta boy from Rocky Mountain House. I've been through there several times, I doubt you can get a proper cocktail there. Anyways, Sam must have taken a liking to me because he offered me a drink that he just invented, that apparently will be on the Fall Menu:

Unnamed: Mezcal, Benedictine, pomegranate, lime, Orgeat, egg white, pineapple star anise and Angostura bitters 

The balance is nice and not to sweet. Egg white cocktails were my early muse, but this includes a light amaroidal edge. Sip, and talk with the bartender. 

I needed to try the Trinidad Sour - I have been to Trinidad and Tobago! I have seen cricket played on Queen's Park Savannah. I have eaten shark burgers at Blanchisseuse. My Calgary friends Gregory and Travis and I even ventured into the Philosophy department of the Port-of-Spain campus of the University of West Indies to see if C.L.R James was around (he'd died in 1989, but his bemused secretary was happy to tell us about him). Here's the drink:

Angostura, Pisco, Orgeat, Lime

Angostura is the base spirit. It comes from Port-of-Spain. This is the first cocktail I've had where Angostura rum takes the lead. The drink has an oxblood colour and has a spicy finish, with Clamato notes (vegetal, garden). The Pisco adds a thick sauciness to it. The lime in there reminded me of how Trinis use the word "liming" to describe hanging out. 

When we travelled to Tobago, the sister island to Trinidad, we stopped at a roadside shop to pick up some snacks and Chubby Cola, and the old lady who worked there seemed mildly interested in us. When we said we were from Calgary, she told us her granddaughter lived there and worked at a place on 17th Avenue. So this drink had a special resonance. (Distant sounds of 90s Soca...)

The final drink of the night was a bespoke cocktail, tailored to my tastes:

Peddlers Shanghai Gin, Luxardo, Giffard banana liqueur, Pineapple, Passionfruit, and a dash of Wray and Nephew Overproofed Rum

Look at that chiffon/meringue colour! I'd call that colour "Doo-Lang" because it's so Chiffon. That's what I'll call the drink. Gin, rum, and copious fruitiness is a great way to cap off a memorable night at a Tiki bar.

I've withheld something very important. Since I arrived at Ricardo's after 9pm, it was Happy Hour til close, and the drinks were half price. That means every drink I had was $7.50. The final tally was under 30 bucks, because I think Sam comped one of them.

Of course, I gave a 125% tip, and it didn't hurt my pocketbook. What a night at Ricardo's Hideaway... every spot was a delight, but Ricardo's was the highlight of my trip. Thanks, Sam!

NIGHT SIX : 

During the day, a visit to Shannon Terrace in Fish Creek Park with Mom in the afternoon. Fish Creek Park is three times the size of Stanley Park here in Vancouver. Everytime I visit home, we always hit some part of Fish Creek Park. Walked some shady trails, saw a labrador enjoying the water like an alligator, and met some friendly birders who pointed out two Cedar Waxwings to us.

For my last night, I returned to Tubby’s for a good ol’ fashioned Old Fashioned and a hot dog. I savoured the drink and the atmosphere, thinking of how many times I would have sat in the same space with my friends Scott and Amy thirty years ago. Important moments and conversations were had here.

The area around the (real) Beltline has other great pubs and establishments that are frequented by the many Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrants who have come to the city since I left. The inner city walks I took around Connaught, Sunalta, and the Beltline I knew showed a new diversity that wasn't around when I lived there. 

Calgary is like a strong cocktail, a place that might take a few sips to adjust to, but then your relationship with it evolves and you know you will return to it again and again.

Addendum: my flight was substantially delayed the next day, and I enjoyed a couple of Old Fashioneds at Last Best at the airport, right next to my gate. Goodbye, Wild Rose Country!