Empress Gin: A Colorful Blast From The Past

Over a decade ago, The Greatest Wife In The World and I embarked on a trip that, in my mind, would not fail to disappoint. We flew out to Seattle to introduce ourselves to the city and depart for a cruise to Alaska, stopping at various points along the northwestern Pacific coastline. While I would love to spend time professing my love for Seattle's food and beverage scene or the amazing sights of Alaska, I am actually going to fill you in on a port visit that we did not spend a ton of time in: Victoria, British Columbia.

You see, one of the port excursions involved a trip to the Fairmont Empress Hotel to have tea, an experience it has provided since 1908. It sounded like a good way to get a change of scenery, so we were in. We were seated at a table with an older couple from Texas, and let me tell you...it was a great time. Sitting in a fancy room, sipping tea (we had a choice of many types) and nibbling finger sandwiches and appetizers...some high class all the way! We also took home the Fairmont's Signature black loose tea blend. Little did I know that here in the little New England village where we call home, I would recently encounter this tea again, only not in the form that I would have expected.

I stopped by Divine Wine and noticed a bottle on the counter behind the register where we keep special orders. I asked the boss what it was, and he handed it to me. What the hell was this? The liquid inside was a striking blue-purple hue (not a synthetic Windex blue or a Welch's grape juice purple). Is this some gimmicky liqueur? Then I read the label: "Empress 1908 Gin."

I was taken aback to find out this was a gin. Then I looked in greater detail: "Distilled and bottled by Victoria Distillers, Victoria, British Columbia." I asked the boss who found this/knows about this/where did it come from? It turns out a customer absolutely swears by this gin and asked if we could get it...so we did. Then I start reading the mini-pamphlet around the bottle's neck and realize that the Empress 1908 Gin takes its name from the Empress Tea blend we sampled from the Fairmont hotel. The tea is one of the eight organic botanicals used in producing the gin. How about that?

But what about the color? Well, that comes from this little beauty right here:

Image credit: Wild Hibiscus Flower Company

This is the butterfly pea flower. This is THE ingredient that is infused into the gin to make that color that almost doesn't seem to exist in nature, and yet...it does. I have to admit, I am all for a little clever marketing with fancy colors if it is not some artificial garbage standing in the way of a good spirit.

So the timing was such that I was able to pick this up for The Greatest Wife In The World's birthday gift and we recently gave the Empress 1908 Gin a whirl. We kept it very simple with the two ingredients below (with ice and a small squeeze of lime):

Let me tell you...this is some good stuff. Flavor-packed and grapefruit-forward, the Empress has plenty of juniper to appease the traditional gin drinker, but some ginger and cinnamon (each is part of the botanical recipe) to provide something a little different. It's a fragrant gin where the grapefruit definitely doesn't quit...a slice of grapefruit would be a fine garnish. The addition of citrus or tonic will also change the color to different shades of purple or pink depending on how much of those ingredients you add to the cocktail. From a flavor standpoint, I think the most impressive part is the use of corn-derived base spirit; a lot of corn-based spirits can have a full, sweet flavor that I would have imagined could interfere with the floral and spicy botanicals, but it was lighter and more refreshing than I expected and no perceptible sweetness (side note: wheat-based spirits tend to give you a soft, clean base that really allows the botanicals to shine through clearly).

The Empress is one you can have a lot of fun experimenting with on your own, but this is a really nice Mother's Day gift (assuming Mom likes her gin). This will cost you around $40 for a 750mL bottle. Get to know more about Empress Gin here.  This is absolutely worth it if you can find it in your market. If not...have your retailers pester their distributors to get it on board.

Drinking Through Disney: Canada Edition

Time to release a new series of posts! After returning from hitting the theme parks of Florida for a week and a half, I have much to share with you. Tolerating the combination of searing Orlando heat and crowds of sweaty people can be made so much easier when you realize there is always a good beverage or three to be had.

So, yeah...I worked on vacation, and I am proud to have done it just for you. This week's installment of Drinking Through Disney takes us to Epcot, a place that our entire family can agree to go to at any time. More specifically, we made a stop at Canada in World Showcase, a place we often breezed through in order to grab a beer at an English pub or a dessert from the French pastry shop. With July 1st being Canada Day, I thought it made a ton of sense to share the lunchtime experience at Le Cellier Steakhouse.

When we sat down, our greeter informed us that the character of Winnie-the-Pooh was inspired by the city of Winnipeg, which was also a bear named by World War I Lt. Harry Colebourn of a Canadian cavalry regiment. He bought a black bear cub in 1914, named him after his hometown of Winnipeg (shortened to "Winnie"), and joined on Colebourn's journey to the his training camp in Valcartier, Quebec. Winnie eventually accompanied the lieutenant to England as a pet for the Second Canadian Infantry Brigade Headquarters. Winnie stayed at the London Zoo while Colebourn was sent to France. Mind you, I thought this was all made up nonsense; it all sounded like something I would just tell people if I was a tour guide. However, the good ol' Internet proved it to be true.

With this blog being called Flight School, I could not have been more excited to see so many flights of beer, wine, and spirits made available to me throughout Disney. At Le Cellier, I had many options.

There was the Ice Wine flight (delightful-looking, but drinking sweet wines on a 90+ degree day wasn't appealing), the French dessert wine flight (same as above, but kind of cheating by using France), the Crown Royal flight (fun, but prefer not to fall asleep while walking through World Showcase mid-afternoon), and the Unibroue Brewery's beer flight (ding, ding, ding...I'm in!).

Unibroue, based in Chambly, Quebec, produces a lot of Belgian-style beers. Their La Fin du Monde was the first non-American craft beer I ever had, and it was part of this flight, along with the Éphémère Pomme and the Trois Pistoles. One of things I really like about Unibroue is that they tend to bottle their beers unfiltered, so the brews are packed with flavor.

Left to right: Éphémère Pomme, La Fin du Monde, Trois Pistoles.

The Éphémère (5.5% abv, $7/4-pack) is actually a series of white ales brewed with different types of fruit; Pomme (apple) is available year-round, while others such as Canneberge (cranberry) and Sureau (elderberry) come out seasonally. The Pomme tastes almost like a refreshing cider; you really notice the green apple flavor, but it doesn't take over the whole beer. It's tart and lively.

La Fin du Monde (9% abv, $10/4-pack) is a Belgian-style Tripel ale; I remember how hard this beer hit me the first time I had it since I never noticed the alcohol content back in my days of ignorance. Today, I appreciate its tropical fruit flavor and creamy texture. Unibroue considers this to be their international flagship product as it has gone over in the U.S. better than any beer in their range.

Trois Pistoles (9% abv, $10/4-pack) is a Strong Dark Belgian-style Ale that is sturdy and chocolatey, but it finishes very clean and refreshing. This is one of those dark beers you can drink year-round without it feeling too heavy on your palate.

The beers were all very enjoyable with the prix fixe menu that I ordered from. The Éphémère went so well with the poached pears and blue cheese appetizer, while both the La Fin du Monde and Trois Pistoles each worked with Le Cellier's Wagyu beef burger "Oscar." The Trois Pistoles even worked nicely with the chocolate mousse dessert since the whipped cream was not sweet.

Our server mentioned that these should all be available to order through your local retail store, though I always put in the caveat that each state might have different products available due to individual state regulations, taxes, etc. Additionally, I encourage you to visit their web site; I love how it is set up. Unibroue has tons of food pairings, and they also show you the type of glass to use for maximum enjoyment, but a standard pint glass will always do fine in a pinch. They even have some unbelievable recipes (La Fin du Monde Bacon Jam, for instance).

I couldn't be happier to have taken the time to slow down and explore Canada's food and beverage in World Showcase. The best part is, even if you can't get down to Le Cellier, you know you have access to the beers, too. Additionally, keep an eye out for wine and spirits from the other flights. If you want to see those, I have them below. 

Now I raise a glass to our neighbors to the north...Cheers/À votre santé!