The Drinks Show is here! The world’s only interactive cocktail event is set to showcase unique handcrafted cocktails with hot new recipes and Toronto’s most innovative and popular bartenders serving it all up. The Drinks Show is returning to the trendy 99 Sudbury venue in the heart of Toronto’s sizzling Gallery District on Friday, June 8th and Saturday June 9th from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.
This year, The Drinks Show will be partnering with Toronto’s top bartenders from the city’s trendiest restos, pubs and bars. Here’s a little about them:
Oliver Stern is the bar manager at the Toronto Temperance Society. With more than 10 years of bartending experience, he has found ways to experiment with cocktails while showing the classics the respect they deserve.
Robin Kaufman from TTS is a lover of the classic cocktails, American whisky and great food. Throw a glass of wine or pint of beer in there and he won’t complain.
Jordan Stacey is the bar manager and resident mixologist for the King Street West hotspot Brassaii. His passion for classic cocktails fuels him to hone his skills by learning some of the world’s forgotten cocktails while pushing the envelope of creativity.
Matthew Larochelle has been making people drinks for 10 years in Toronto. He and his two partners opened Cold Tea in Kensington Market late last year.
Robin Wayne is a food-inspired bartender who likes to make cocktails inspired from the kitchen. He is passionate about bartending with a creative edge to challenge the palate like molecular cocktails driven with a focus on food-based ingredients.
Michelle Tham is a director of the Canadian Professional Bartenders Association. She brings to the craft a combination of culinary-driven technique with an avant-garde approach to flavour profiles and taste perception. Having lived a previous life as a traveled cook, she approaches the bar as a kitchen. Michelle has an appreciation for traditional and classical methods.
Clint Pattemore is the Caesar Mixing Officer (CMO) for Mott’s Clamato Caesar. His favourite garnish is his Mom’s pickled celery. Clint travels the country teaching people about the Mott’s Clamato Caesar. Oh Canada!
Brad Gubbins is the head bartender and bar manager at SpiritHouse, Toronto’s newest hotbed for all things spirits and cocktails. Brad loves drinks that are spirit forward and offers his patrons not just a great drink, but a great night as well.
Sarah Parniak is a bartender, freelance writer and flavour enthusiast who teaches and consults at the Toronto Institute of Bartending. You can find her behind the stick at Kensington Market’s Cold Tea on weekends, where she cracks a mean tallboy and likes to experiment.
Highlights of the ninth edition of The Drinks Show include an onsite whiskey taste test challenge and a whisky cocktail competition. Other contests, challenges, prizes, swag, photo ops and more will take place throughout the course of both nights.
For tickets and more information visit http://www.drinksshow.ca
