A month ago I went to the opening of Cocktail Invasion in Montreal and I also went to the all-out MadeWithLove national cocktail championship. I’ve been in past years and this year was no less of a ridiculous party with tons of quality booze.
The room was set up so that each pair of bartenders using a particular alcohol (Campari, vodka, gin, etc.) were together. A couple of the setups were outside. The others were on two floors in TRH Bar on St-Laurent.
Somehow, I was not:
1. too tired
2. too distracted or
3. too drunk…
…to take pictures. Believe it or not, after sips of up to 10 cocktails per night (not the whole cocktail, and not even the whole sample glass of the cocktails that they poured at MadeWithLove this year, thank goodness…more on that below), I wasn’t drunk at all. Because that’s really not the point. The point is to enjoy the drinks.
And the drinks were delicious. For the most part. Here’s a rundown of some of the best ones:
This was my favourite and I believe it went on to win the judge’s prize. It really wasn’t complicated (apple juice, lemon juice, tarragon, tonic syrup, green sour grapes, bitters), but it was the perfect balance of sweet and sour. Actually, in this competition there was definitely more sweet than sour, because you need a strong flavour to make your drink stand out. So your favourite cocktail of this event might not be your favourite when you actually go out to a bar on any other night.
This was the other Disaronno-based cocktail. Cayenne and cardamom-infused coffee, orange juice, almond milk, blueberries coated in cayenne and cocoa powder and sugar to garnish.
In previous years, the competing bartenders from across the country at MadeWithLove poured entire cocktails for people who’d paid the ~$65 all-inclusive entry fee. That meant a lot of people were drinking way too much (because there are about 14 cocktails to try) and a lot of others weren’t finishing the drinks…meaning a lot of wasted alcohol; even though sponsors are generous, that’s just an inefficient use of booze).
This one was a bit weird. I expected to like it because it sounded so good: rum, pecan milk, banana purée, aquafaba, vanilla, grapefruit oil. But it wasn’t sweet enough and just tasted…well…like nut milk. It needed more banana for sweetness, especially with the bitter grapefruit oil. The aquafaba is a cool replacement for egg white (it’s the liquid from a can of chickpeas that whips up like egg, so it’s perfect for vegans, because they deserve frothy cocktails too).
I love Campari. It’s true. A lot of people don’t. So I thought this was an awesome cocktail, with lemon juice, grapefruit juice, salted passionfruit syrup, cinnamon bitters, arugula and black and pink peppercorn, mushroom and kosubu foam. You could actually taste the mushroom just enough to give it an earthy balance to the fruit and bittersweetness.
This one gets three pictures because it was more molecular:
This is the liquid nitrogen setup above. 
This is the 3D-printed apple candies hanging on a tree. 
And this is what was actually in the drink: Gin, apricot and star anise syrup, wild Quebec ginger (I tried some plain and it was alright, but didn’t really taste gingery, but I don’t think it’s supposed to?), lemon juice and malic acid and egg white. The star anise was cool if you like a really strong flavour. The 3D printed apple candies were fun. But it was a drink that was trying maybe a little too hard. And the line was super long because it took about 7 minutes to make a couple drinks.
You can skateboard in TRH Bar. So there was a cocktail pause when some people did just that. 
Back to the booze: The City Unicorn from Jason Frederick was made with rum, lime, habanero-alicorn syrup, flambéd banana (you could taste it a little), cucumber, basil and rum bitters.
Here’s the view of the outdoor patio from above: 
My drinking partner really liked this one outside: Tequila, lime, lemon, bee pollen, coffee and makrut lime leaf syrup, calamansi (lime) glue, yuzu crystal, himalayan pink salt and smoked paprika rim, coffee and kaffir lime mist and lime leaf and bee pollen to garnish. It was all smoked, roasted, sour, salty and sweet.
This one was more refreshing with the RISE Kombucha in there to make it sparkling and almost healthy (I’d rather drink RISE in a sparkling drink than cheap Prosecco anyday; it’s like the anti-headache). Tequila, ginger syrup, blueberry lemonade, hot pepper bitters and some blue candy. 
The Campari bar.
And last but not least, this was from the opening party: a drink from L’Assommoir, one of the sponsors. It was called L’Embargo and contained rum, Porto, pineapple juice, passionfruit purée, cinnamon and cardamom syrup and Angostura bitters. Shaken to deliciousness.
Notice the lack of Montreal representation. A couple from Quebec, a bunch from Ontario and a scattering of western provinces. I probably missed one or two from Montreal, but their drinks weren’t my favourites if I did. Maybe next year!
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