Years ago, I lived in Okayama, Japan. After I returned home, two of the people whom I lived with came to Edmonton. My family and I showed them the festivals and culture of Edmonton, and we took them to the famously beautiful town of Banff, nestled in the Canadian Rockies. However, the moments which stuck with me from their visit were not the festivals nor the mountain hikes, it was their reaction to the scenic drive to the mountains. The look of disbelief on their faces at the endless expanse of what I thought of as emptiness, the parts of Western Canada I had become so accustomed to that they blended into the background, the cascading fields of Canola stretching across the prairies; The Space Between.
My cocktail, The Space Between, builds upon that memory. It recognizes the beauty between where we are and where we are going. The philosophy of the drink is a call to see the world with fresh eyes, to look beyond ourselves and our goals, and to cherish what we often look past. Our work must be rooted in the world around us to ensure it leaves nobody behind. We must not loose sight that we, as bartenders, are connectors of people, community builders, and champions of place.
.jpg)
60ml Suntory Roku Gin
20ml Canola Cordial*
15ml Canola Oil Infused French Peppermint Liqueur**
2 dash 10:1 Saline Solution
Garnish with six(6) drops of Lemon Infused Canola Oil***
Add ingredients to a metal mixing glass then add ice.Stir over ice to chill and dilute. strain into a chilled, etched Nick and Nora glass.
The lower thermal density of a thin metal mixing glass allows the cocktail to chill faster with less dilution.
*Canola Cordial
125g extracted canola greens
75g canola distillate
50g canola honey
1.25g lactic acid.
Add canola greens to hot water in a 5:1 ratio of water to greens by weight. Let steep for 5 minutes. Blend with an immersion blender to fully extract the flavour of the greens. Strain through a nut milk bag to remove solids. the resulting liquid is your extracted canola greens.
Add canola flowers to a large pot alongside water 10:1 ratio of water to canola flowers by weight. In a steamer basket placed in the pot place a metal bowl. Invert the lid of the pot and place it atop the strainer basket. Cover the lid with ice so that the resulting steam will condense and drip into the bowl once the pot has been turned on to medium heat. the resulting liquid which condenses into the bowl is the canola flower distillate.
Combine 75g distillate, 125g extracted canola greens, 50g canola honey, and 1.25g lactic acid and whisk until the honey fully dissolves. This is the completed canola cordial. Store the cordial in the fridge.
**Canola Oil Infused French Peppermint Liqueur
Add 30 ml Organic cold pressed canola oil to 250g French Peppermint Liqueur. Let infuse in the fridge for 12 hours and then transfer to the freezer for an additional 12 hours to freeze the oil. Strain the mixture through a coffee filter to separate the oil and liqueur. Store the infused liqueur in the fridge.
***Lemon Infused Canola Oil
To 100G Cold Pressed Organic Canola Oil add 20g lemon peel with pith removed. Sous vide at 55°C for 2 hours. Once the infusion has finished, strain out the solids and store the oil in the fridge.
