Drink Up!
As restaurateurs and bar owners, life is so hectic it’s easy to forget you’re keeping alive a fine Canadian tradition of public houses going back over 400 years. So before launching into our annual tour of the latest trends in beverage alcohol, let’s take a moment to honour our forebears, and their elbow-bending ways.
In 1824, English visitor Edward Allen Talbot sailed home to publish, “Gentlemen in (Upper) Canada…are very partial to Jamaica spirits, brandy, shrub, and Peppermint. Grog and the unadulterated aqua vitae are their common drink; and of these they freely partake at all hours of the day and night.” And despite its sparse population, the Halifax of 1760 boasted more than 100 grog shops, prompting one new settler to write home that “the business of half the town is selling rum and the other half, drinking it.” And let’s not forget that our renowned Mounties were formed as the North West Mounted Police, specifically to squash the roaring illegal whisky trade in outposts like Alberta’s Fort Whoop-Up, which, come to think of it, would be a pretty good name for a modern-day grog shop.
Considering Homo sapiens have been making wine for at least 7,000 years, it’s amazing there’s anything new to report. But, of course, today’s wine scene is more dynamic than any time in recent memory, defined by increased customer knowledge, and these new aficionados’ willingness to both experiment and open up their wallets.
“Consumers are not just looking for effect; they’re looking for quality as well, especially in the younger demographic, which is a change from years ago,” says David Salmon, chief marketing officer of the Peter Mielzynski Agencies in Oakville, Ont., one of Canada’s largest spirits distributors. Similarly, Chris Layton, a spokesman for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), says people are continuing to trade up to more premium wines. “At one time the under-$10 wines drove volume, and while those wines still represent the largest percentage of (sales), there’s been steady movement in the $12, $15 and $20 ranges — that’s where the growth is.”
Along with knowledge comes a refreshing open-mindedness, says George Milbrandt, co-owner of Toronto's C'est What Brew/Vin Pub Restaurant, which serves only VQA vino. “Over the 20 years we’ve been in business we’ve seen a lot more acceptance of local products. When we started, if it wasn't French, people would turn up their noses. Now that kind of snobbery is largely gone.”
At the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC), wine is the only category that has increased to licensees — up two or three per cent this year, slowing a bit after a stretch of double-digit growth. Danny MacMillan, manager of Corporate and Wholesale Operations, says this is partly driven by an increasing number of quality restaurants, including many outside Halifax, like Joe’s Food Emporium in Sydney, and Tempest in Wolfville. But the NSLC is also selling more middle-of-the-road wines to what it calls “family food and fun places,“ like Swiss Chalet or Boston Pizza, where non-smoking laws have brought back families who are also having a glass with dinner.
In fine dining, however, Steven Campbell, owner of Toronto’s Lifford Wine Agency and a restaurateur for 17 years, says by-the-glass choices are narrowing by necessity. “Offering too many wines by the glass led to spoilage and customers getting tired wines. So half-bottle selection has seriously increased in the last few years and remains strong.”
While Aussie wines are still extremely popular, Campbell says other New World wines are catching up. Argentina and South Africa currently offer great value, with excellent products priced low due to their devalued currencies. Spain is also one of the hottest locales, but generally, while Old World and California vintages are holding their own, they’re not showing much growth, the only exceptions being high-end Bordeaux and single-vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet like Joseph Phelps Napa Insignia. “The world as a whole is waking up to fine wine, and demand at the top end is far outstripping supply. People love to complain about the prices, but they will never decrease,” Campbell says.
As for hot varietals, the consensus is that Pinot Grigio is the new Chardonnay; New World Malbecs are on fire and red blends like Shiraz-Cab are now outselling either Shiraz or Cabernet on its own. What’s next? Believe it or not, rosé is back. After virtually disappearing as a category, this summer the LCBO’s premium Vintages unit saw strong sales of dry French rosé to both consumers and licensees.
“Canada is very much a nation of beer drinkers. Beer is by far the most popular alcoholic beverage among Canadian consumers.” So says Statistics Canada in a 2006 report. However, the same report also notes that between 1994 and 2004, the value of imported beer sales grew five-fold — a trend well known to licensees and liquor boards.
“We’ve come a long way from the tavern where you had two choices: Moosehead on tap or Alexander Keith’s on tap,” says Danny MacMillan of the NSLC. In Nova Scotia, beer sales to licensees are down six or seven per cent in volume, but draft sales have rebounded, mainly due to premium brews like Stella Artois, and full-bodied amber ales like Clancy’s and Keith’s Red.
Al Arbuthnot, president of the Alliance of Beverage Licensees of B.C., and owner of four pubs on the Lower Mainland, including The Landing in Delta, sees similar movement on the left coast. “Traditionally ‘premium’ meant Sleeman and darker beers, but the trend in our restaurants and our liquor stores seems to be toward Stella and other high-end pale ales.”
Toronto’s C’est What has 35 taps serving only Ontario craft beers, and “publican” George Milbrandt says the best sellers are the most-accessible lagers like Steamwhistle and King Pilsner, but “If you’re a ‘beer weenie’ your tastes have gotten hoppier and hoppier.” For the more typical tippler, Milbrandt says wheat (weisse) beers are more popular than ever, including Quebec’s Blanche de Chambly and Denison’s Weissbier, “which is the best one I’ve tasted either here or abroad.” Across town at the hip Czehoski resto and bar, GM Seika Gray also says Blanche de Chambly is a hit as well as McAuslan Apricot Wheat Ale from Montreal. “I just brought it in after the rep sold me by saying the ladies love it. And it is delicious,” she laughs.
In Ontario, the LCBO sells about 15 per cent of the province’s beer, with The Beer Store, a private but heavily regulated entity owned by Labatt, Molson and Sleeman supplying the rest. But within its slice of the market, LCBO spokesman Chris Layton agrees that interest in premium beers has meant big gains for both microbrews and imported brands. “Year-over-year Ontario craft beer sales grew by more than 42 per cent. That’s on a small percentage of the overall beer market, but it certainly means something.”
What it means, says Milbrandt, is even casual beer drinkers are more willing to experiment. “When we started 20 years ago, if a beer wasn’t advertised, customers would order a rum and coke.” But now if someone asks for a Blue, he says the staff can suggest an alternative and often the diner will follow along. “I think the global branding of beer — the way you can get Guinness all over the world — has pointed out to people there are more [choices],” Milbrandt says. “Once you break through that ‘I’m a Brand X drinker for life’ attitude, you’re free to try new things.”
Quick — what’s the country’s top liquor? Someone who doesn’t pour drinks for a living would probably say “Canadian whisky,” and they’d be right...a few years ago. Those who actually stand behind the bar, like Al Arbuthnot of The Landing, know it’s, “Vodka, vodka, vodka — the trend continues.”
In Ontario, licensees bought $53 million of vodka from the LCBO, making Smirnoff and Polar Ice the province’s top two spirits. Celine Delorme, national marketing manager of Maxxium Canada, says vodka recently outsold whisky for the first time, with growth driven by their premium brands like Absolut, and super-premiums like Level. Maxxium has also enjoyed very strong sales of Alberta Pure vodka, especially in the west. “We are constantly amazed, but it’s good quality vodka,” she says. “The old value vodka that was bad has been disappearing, but there’s still a population looking for something unpretentious, not (focused on) image, and with a bit of national pride.”
But when out for a big night on the town, “People are being brand-specific, and asking for higher-end [vodka] — going one, two or three times higher than what would typically be found in a well,” says Michael Leigh, owner of The Bitter End in Halifax. Why vodka? Cocktails, of course. After gestating quietly for a few years, it looks like cocktail culture might finally be taking hold in Canada.
“Ten or 15 years ago if you went looking for great restaurants there were only a few. Then many more appeared and the wine got better. So the next evolution is bar and cocktail culture,” says Len Fragomeni, president and founder of the Toronto Institute of Bartending (TIB). Yet Fragomeni says most Canadians haven’t encountered great cocktails yet. “The bars that are doing a good job are sparse — maybe five or 10 in the city, though some of the best are hotels because they have access to good ingredients.”
For now, Fragomeni says budding mixologists in TIB’s new bar chef program want to perfect the classics — martinis, manhattans, the original cosmopolitan — and he’s happy to get people away from “those nuclear-coloured cocktails toward something with fresh juices that’s a little more natural looking.” As well as the classics, Fragomeni says the hottest drink in London — the Mecca of cocktail culture — is the Bramble (gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, shaken over crushed ice). In fact, he thinks vodka will eventually lose some of its lustre to gin, especially among more refined palates.
Toronto’s Czehoski was an Eastern European-style grocery for 50 years, but is now a see-and-be-seen watering hole, where GM Seika Gray says top tipples are the Stormy Cloud (Gosling’s Rum and ginger beer) and a concoction made with Pearl Pomegranate vodka. Cocktails are priced as high as $12, but are made with fresh garnishes like raspberries, mint, cucumbers and orange slices.
Readers of local weekly The Coast have called The Bitter End’s martini the best in Halifax seven years in a row, and Leigh says business has never stopped growing. The reason, he believes, is service. “Our little bumper sticker catch phrase is: Bartending is an art, not a science. We don’t use any mechanical contraptions on our bottles, each drink is hand-shaken and poured over fresh ice, and the juices are all hand-squeezed or mixed — there’s nothing pre-made.” Leigh even closes the doors before the room (110 seats including patio) hits its legal fire limit, because sales actually drop when they’re too full to offer their famous personal service.
In other spirits, the trend of trading up to premium brands continues. David Salmon from the Peter Mielzynski Agencies says single-malt scotches, particularly trusted brands like Glenfiddich, are selling well, as is high-end Hendricks gin, though on a small scale. Conversely, blended whiskies are flat, possibly because younger people are now heading right to the good stuff. Salmon, a recent transplant from the U.S., says there’s also serious growth in American whiskey. “The bourbon producers have done a very good job of building a mystique about the category, which influences younger, more confident consumers who want to try different things.”
Speaking of younger consumers, the NSLC’s MacMillan says they can’t keep Jagermeis-ter in stock at their “high-energy accounts,” and it sells twice as much as the province’s second-place liqueur. Although it’s not a pattern the NSLC particularly wants to encourage, MacMillan suspects revelers “whose night out is from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. are drinking it with energy drinks like Red Bull.” Similarly, in Ontario the LCBO’s Layton says ready-to-chug energy drinks mixing guarana with alcohol, particularly Rev and Rock Star, are selling well to bars. Another LCBO category growing with licensees (though still so small it’s lumped in with “special markets”) is sake — not surprising given the popularity of Japanese food.
While those trends are interesting, another spirit — one you’ve heard of, but maybe haven’t thought about too much — is gaining momentum and just might have the potential to become the Next Big Thing: tequila. In fact, from June 2006 to June 2007, tequila sales in Canada grew 11 per cent, led by Ontario, B.C. and Quebec.
“Tequilas are becoming very boutique and stylish, driven in Canada by the launch of Patrón,” says Franco Timpano, Canadian brand manager for Sauza Tequila. “Sipping culture — similar to the way people drink cognac — is starting to emerge in key trend markets like Los Angeles, New York and London.” Long linked with frat parties and body shots, that fiery “bite” many associate with the drink comes mostly from additives mixed into brands with only 51 per cent agave. So Sauza recently relaunched its 100 per cent blue agave products in this market, including one super- and two ultra-premium brands.
To further rehabilitate tequila’s image, and introduce it to that hip, educated, 25-and-older crowd, Sauza is holding tasting sessions across the country in exclusive nightclubs and lounges. Timpano also thinks tequila has potential for mixologists. “Versus other ultra-premium products like vodka, [tequila] has that distinct agave flavour,” he says, “so it makes an entirely new cocktail.”
Whether tequila, sake or even mead hit the mainstream, there’s no doubt Canadians are getting ever more adventurous in their drinking patterns. But it still takes effort to keep the party going. The Bitter End’s Leigh says, “People can go to the liquor store and spend a heck of a lot less money to take home the same products I get. But what they’re not getting is the service and the show. And that’s just going to increase.”