Who | Calliope Kingdon
Where | Toronto, Canada
Current Bar | Grey Tiger
Past Bar(s) | Famous Last Words
Favourite Spirit | Bourbon (RIP bourbon availability in Canada)
Favourite Juice | Grapefruit
Favourite Classic Cocktail | Jungle Bird or Boulevardier
Favourite Part of the Job | Menu development is both the bane of my existence and the thing that fulfills and drives me like nothing else. But making custom cocktails on the fly is quickly becoming a favourite as well. So much creativity can fit into so little time!
Favourite After Work Drink | Straight bourbon but a split base Sazerac is a close second!
Favourite at Home Drink | Paper Plane
Favourite bar in the world | Dear Friend in Halifax was one of the most exceptional bar experiences of my life. Amazing service with bartenders who are so excited to talk about the craft! But Le Tigre (Toronto) is also a new fave, recently had a drink there that was so good I cried.
Best known for | Colourful and creative sours and trying to make silly drinks fancy and fancy drinks silly!
Favourite “at work” memory | When my last bar (the beloved Famous Last Words) closed down and we stayed there till well into the early morning talking about how we’d grown there, listening to the music we all bonded over and doing our best to polish off the rest of the booze!
What do you collect? Coupes, I can’t stop buying them! Thankfully my severe clumsiness is keeping the obsession contained.
Favourite thing about your city? It’s one of the biggest cities in North America but still feels like a small town sometimes, especially in the industry.
What was the last photo that you took? My very first (semi) successful milk punch
Where is one place that you have never been but would like to travel to? Italy for the Amaro, Chile for the pisco, and Greece because Canada is cold and I want to lie on a beach.
Any claims to fame? As of next week I will have made it 6 months without breaking a glass which is pretty impressive for my clumsy ass
Prosecco or Cava? Cava
Angostura or Peychaud’s? Angostura
Singapore or San Francisco? San Francisco
Grapefruit or Pineapple? Pineapple
Are you available for freelance gigs? I guess it depends on the gig!
Find them: Instagram
