Stirred, Not Shaken: the Keefer Bar collaborates with Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival for its Akebono cocktail kit
Mixologist Amber Bruce devised the pink drink in celebration of sakura
The Keefer Bar’s Akebono cocktail is an accompaniment to the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival’s Sakura at Home event.
Stirred, Not Shaken is Stir’s cocktail series featuring locally made drinks that incorporate the best-of-B.C. ingredients. (Note: sometimes, the beverages are shaken.)
COCKTAIL KITS HAVE become a popular pandemic-era item, and given Vancouver’s talent behind the wood, the options on offer are wildly creative.
Consider the Akebono cocktail kit that Amber Bruce has created in collaboration with the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival. Bruce is bar manager at the Keefer Bar (and its outdoor space, the Keefer Yard) and vice president of the B.C. chapter of the Canadian Professional Bartender’s Association.
Akebono is one of several species of cherry blossom tree, its name meaning “dawn” in Japanese. With fresh floral and citrus aromas, the cocktail evokes a bright spring sunrise. It’s garnished with a house-made matcha white-chocolate coin.
The cocktail features Sheringham Distillery’s Kazuki Gin, which won gold (Canada) at the 2021 World Gin Awards. Kazu means harmony and ki means radiance. The spirit comprises cherry-blossom petals and yuzu peel imported from Japan and procured green tea leaves and flowers from the Cowichan Valley’s Westholme Tea Farm.
Bruce builds the drink with yuzu-lavender cordial, and the kit comes with the coins as garnish.
Available in servings for two (with a 100-mL bottle of Kazuki Gin) for $30 or eight (375-mL) for $80, the kits come with the chocolate coins and can be picked up on April 24, in advance of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival’s Sakura at Home event the next evening.
For more information, head to the Keefer.
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