Stir Pairing: An honest toast to Dr. Seuss
This edition brings together a Vancouver exhibition of early works by Theodor Seuss Geisel with a new local company that’s shaking up the at-home cocktail experience
C. The Estate of Dr. Seuss
Honest Cocktails.
Every week, Stir Pairing suggests locally available drink and sometimes food to go with a local arts event.
The event
Dr Seuss: The Spark of an Icon at the Pendulum Gallery, June 20 to July 8
The drink
Honest Cocktails
C. The Estate of Dr. Seuss.
The lowdown
Oh, the places you’ll go… Like to this downtown Vancouver gallery to see a series of preliminary sketches and concept drawings by Theodor Seuss Geisel, the best-selling children’s author in the world.
Described as “dress rehearsals” and “the first spark of an idea”, the pieces in the collection are early incarnations of icons like The Cat in the Hat, Sam-I-am-, and Horton.
It’s a rare chance to get a glimpse into the genius’s creative process. Remember, as he put it, “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”
The pairing
From creativity on the page to creativity in the glass… Honest Cocktails is a new Vancouver company from a team that takes its drink-making seriously, so you can just kick back and sip a cocktail crafted by a pro without leaving home.
It makes fresh cold-pressed fruit- and veggie-based cocktail kits with a focus on local, organic, and vegan ingredients, delivered in an eco-friendly box to people’s doors.
Founder-operator Andrew Fletcher gave up architecture studies for the art and science of mixology. With experience at places like Maxwell’s in the heart of London and gigs such as curation for TED Salon The Macallan, Fletcher established his name on the global competition circuit. Research and development lead, Spencer Powell (formerly of Chef's Playground Eatery and Terminal City Club, among other hot spots), comes up with recipes for infusions, syrups, and shrubs.
Each quenching creation thoughtfully concocted.
Consider the Jaliscan Sunset Cold-Pressed Cocktail Kit. Riffing on the Paloma, it’s a sunny splash of grapefruit juice, Hornitos Tequila, basil, cucumber, and a squeeze of lime juice. Enough to make four drinks, the kit comes with dehydrated grapefruit wheels, garnish pegs, and a Japanese double jigger, all in a recyclable, 80-percent post-consumer waste box. (Priced at $82.99, it’s packed without those horrible-for-the-environment-Styrofoam bits; they use biodegradable pellets made of corn starch that dissolve under warm water.)
The drinks come in zero-proof versions, too, and Honest Cocktails offers virtual or in-person cocktail experiences for those who want to take a deeper dive.
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