Salut! How a Vancouver bartender is trying to save the bees, one cocktail at a time
Credit to Author: Tracey Tufnail| Date: Tue, 03 Dec 2019 19:00:46 +0000
One out of every three bites of food we eat is made possible by pollinators like honeybees.
Yet all over the world, bees are dying in record numbers, falling victim to a deadly combination of parasites, pathogens and pesticides.
“We know it’s somewhat of an issue,” says Max Curzon-Price, bartender at Botanist at the Fairmont Pacific Rim. “It’s so important to the food chain.”
But while plenty of people have talked about the issue, he actually decided to do something about it. Of course, being a bartender, he started by making a cocktail.
“This is kind of a fun little project I’ve been working on for awhile and I was lucky enough to loop it into the Bacardi Legacy proposal,” he says.
Each year, the international spirit brand holds what has become the world’s second biggest cocktail competition. Its goal is not just discovering the next modern classic; Bacardi also asks participants to consider how they can encourage better drinking, better work and better moral values.
“Each competitor is asked the question ‘What is the legacy you look to leave behind?’ and is able to interpret that in whichever way they see fit,” Curzon-Price says.
“I, for example, have opted to focus on nourishing both our spaces and species by encouraging use of local honeybee produce.”
In October, his cocktail, The Plight of the Bumblebee, a rum-and-grapefruit variation on the Prohibition era Bees Knees, won the British Columbia regionals. He will be going on to the Canadian finals in Puerto Rico in January, with the global final next May in Miami.
But Curzon-Price, who earlier this year was part of the Botanist team that won Bols Around the World 2019, wanted to do something more than just make another cocktail.
“I was looking for opportunities to get people into urban beekeeping,” he says.
“The idea is that I’m offering a subsidy for three individuals who I’m hoping are all in this industry (bars, restaurants, hotels), giving them all the tools and knowledge to begin beekeeping.”
Working with the B.C. Beekeepers Guild, Curzon-Price came up with what he’s calling a Hive of Apiarists. They will provide three levels of training, at a cost of about $1,800 a year, and those who are interested can apply through a soon to be launched website, hiveofapiarists.com.
“It is a commitment. It’s like adopting a cat or a dog. Anyone can do it, but it’s a commitment to keep it,” he says. “If that means putting a beehive on top of the restaurant, that’s a small victory.”
Curzon-Price is also raising money for the program by asking bartenders who put The Plight of the Bumblebee on their menus to donate a dollar from the sale of each drink to the cause.
Not only does he hope this will raise enough funds to train more urban beekeepers, but because he’s encouraging bartenders to make the cocktail with honey from their own backyard, it will be a fascinating experiment in the diversity of taste and flavour — call it the “terroir” — of local honey.
Bees typically forage for nectar within a radius of four kilometres from their hive. The honey they create tastes uniquely of the flowers in that area, whether it’s the tangy flavour of blueberry blossoms, the light mint of linden, the molasses depth of buckwheat, or the delicate floral notes of clover.
“It’s wild. It’s hyper local,” Curzon-Price says. “If you use Kits honey in a cocktail, and then go to a bar in North Van that’s using their own honey, it’s a totally different drink.”
He adds: “It’s an expression of your neighbourhood. You’re pouring a little piece of your neighbourhood every time you pour the drink.”
Already, The Plight of the Bumblebee is on bar lists from Poland to Panama, and he’s hoping more and more people will join his sweet cause.
“You’re making a small contribution to supporting pollinators and the food chain,” he says. “We’re just starting a conversation and encouraging people to think about it.”
Botanist bartender Max Curzon-Price created this cocktail as part of the Bacardi Legacy program with the intention of raising both funds and awareness for urban beekeeping. For more info, visit hiveofapiarists.com or follow @bacardibees on Instagram.
1.5 oz (45 mL) Bacardi Ocho rum
0.75 oz (22 mL) local honey syrup (see note)
0.75 oz (22 mL) fresh grapefruit juice
1.5 tsp (7 mL) fresh lemon juice
1.5 tsp (7 mL) Martini Bitter (available at Legacy Liquor; if you can’t find it, you can replace it with Campari)
Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake well. Fine strain over a large cube of ice in a rocks glass. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
Serves 1.
Note: On its own, honey can be a challenging ingredient in a cocktail. “If you just try shaking honey on ice, it solidifies and turns into a big lump,” Curzon-Price says. The trick is to dilute it first. Mix equal parts honey and hot water, stir well, and cool to room temperature before using.
• Joanne Sasvari is a Vancouver-based food and drink writer and the author of the Vancouver Eats cookbook.
CLICK HERE to report a typo.
Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com