Cocktail Correspondent: Weldon Gardner Hunter
Last week I had plans to go out drinking with friends on Wednesday and Thursday. I looked forward to these dates with Dionysus, but in a one-hour span of time on Wednesday afternoon, both of these outings were cancelled!
Faced with the prospect of a dry week in an election season, I decided it was time to put on my rainboots and head out for some solo cocktail drinking & writing. Throwing a metaphorical dart at the map of Vancouver cocktail bars, The Jungle Room (961 Denman Street, Vancouver) became the destination.
The Jungle Room is in the space where The Dover Arms used to be. The Dover had been around since 1975, and it was most likely the first boozer I went to when I moved to Vancouver in 2006. Back then, I was living in the closet of my brother's bachelor suite on Bute and Comox. The West End is a funny place to be closeted, I know. Here's a look at what The Dover Arms (not the closet) looked like in the 70s:
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| Photo: Ken Oakes |
[Fun story: I was once visiting with my brother and father at the Blenz on Denman and Barclay when the Canadian actress Gabrielle Miller (she played Lacey on Corner Gas) stubbed out a cigarette on the patio railing, making eye contact with me. As she continued, she stopped in the intersection to kiss her boyfriend passionately, then turned demonstratively back to me. If I was casting a reboot of Grease, she'd be a Pink Lady.]
Back to The Jungle Room: I ordered a Dive Bomb:
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| Blade and Bow Bourbon, Acidified Mango, rosé, Lagavulin 8 year, pickled blueberry |
I taste the Lagavulin first, but its punch is slightly slowed by the tang of the mango and rosé. The photo doesn’t pick it up, but the colour is light pink. It’s very Scotch forward, woody, varnishy, and astringent, though the bourbon is the major ingredient. I’m about halfway through the drink and the flavours are blending and evolving as the ice melts. The blueberries are a garnish – the combination of tart blueberry and vinegar is unusual but not unpleasant. I only ate one.
"Dreadlock Holiday" is playing while I sit and sip. My brother & I went on a Thanksgiving Day hike, and we tried to remember 10CC's other hit other than "I'm Not in Love." Think hard, there's a hint in the title of the latter tune ...
Next up was a Mexican Sunset:
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| Patrón Reposado tequila, amontillado sherry, Cynar, hibiscus punch, pulparindo cordial, candied thai chili, lime |
(Another steal from the Jungle Room's Insta)
Very zesty. The punch lurks at the bottom. The bartender told me I could mix it or just see what happens. The colour of the drink is amazing – it reminds me of layers of stratified red clay and adobe soil. The drink costs $34, so consider it an art investment.
It’s plenty spicy and salty, a lip-smacking sipper. Picante. Dense. Notes of watermelon. I like the addition of Cynar, the Italian artichoke liqueur I just discovered this month (the Cynar Spritz at Mum’s the Word is a nice pick-me-up). The Pulparindo is a Mexican tamarind-flavoured candy that is sweet and sour and, as the menu states, playful.
After eventually stirring, the flavours are more diffused. The chili has dipped its toes into the lake of fire. It’s not overpowering, but it’s even bolder and now spicier.
After two, I was through. Who needs friends, anyways? I walked down Pacific to the #2 bus stop, ignoring the Conservative election signs, resisting the temptation to pop into Maxine's. Or to walk across the bridge - it's the rainy season and you don't want to be stuck in a monsoon between stops.
An atmospheric night in the West End was at an end. Goodnight, Mrs, Miller, wherever you are ...
*the title refers to the late October election in British Columbia, where there was no winner declared for 9 days
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