Art of the Cocktail Highlights West Coast Distilleries

Art of the Cocktail, Victoria’s two-day cocktail Festival, is only four days away, taking place Saturday, October 24^th and Sunday, October 25^th at various locations in downtown Victoria.

On Saturday, October 24th, the Crystal Garden hosts the annual Grand Tasting with a focus on the thriving ‘Best of the West’ coast distilleries, complimented by a pop-up store from Cascadia Liquor Store. This on-site store allows guests to purchase bottles on their way home.

The coveted VIP Grand Tasting has sold out but tickets for the Grand Tasting are still available. Any remaining tickets available to purchase will be on sale Saturday, October 24^th at the Crystal Garden between 2 – 6pm.

“Between the carnival games at the Grand Tasting and the new Cascadia on-site store, we have lots of new additions to this year’s Grand Tasting,” said Fulya Ozkul, Communications Coordinator.

Seminars will be held on Sunday, October 25^th at the Parkside Hotel and Spa. Tickets are $35 and seminars are 90 minutes in length.

Meet the Island Makers starts at 12:30pm and features a panel discussion with five different Vancouver Island Distilleries. The panel will be moderated by Tan Vinh from the Seattle Times and panelists are Peter Hunt from Victoria Spirits, Ken Winchester from de Vine Spirits, Jeremy Schacht from Ampersand Distilling Company, Matt Phillips from Phillips Fermentorium Distilling Co. and Jason MacIsaac from Sheringham Distillery.

The 3pm Cheese, Please! seminar will make you rethink cheese pairings. Lori Palmiere from Dairy Farmers of Canada and sommelier Daniele Mereu from Sysco will host the 90-minute seminar, complete with samples of the pairings of cocktails and spirits with a variety of the 2015 Grand Prix cheese winners.

The Best of the Pacific Northwest bartending competition will conclude the weekend. The annual bartending competition pits bartenders against each other to create unique cocktails that represent the Northwest with a special ingredient. The 2015 ingredient is mushroom.

Purchase your tickets online at tickets.artofthecocktail.ca, by phone at 250 389-0444 or at 1215 Blanshard St. For more information, visit the artofthecocktail.ca website.