LCBO Food & Drink Early Summer 2023

WORTH THE TRIP

PURPLE GIN FIZZ P. 135

Junction 56 Purple Gin LCBO 31981, 375 mL, 19.95 New to the LCBO this summer, this violet gin, coloured with butterfly pea flower and flavoured with local strawberry and cherry, also has a creamy cardamom note.

LOCAL BITES

Junction 56 partners with legendary local sweet spot Rheo Thompson Candies (rheothompson. com) on a Mint Smoothie liqueur that’s a winter sensation. In the sunny season, try Thompson’s semi-sweet orange peel chocolate bark with this drink. Aged Gruyère-style Grand Trunk from Stone Town Cheese in St. Mary’s (stonetowncheese.com) is another inspired

snack pairing, as are the wood-fired pizzas from Jobsite Brewing (jobsitebrewing.ca) next door!

JUNCTION 56 DISTILLERY, STRATFORD JUNCTION56.CA

Mike Heisz had a flash of insight at a whisky tasting a decade ago: he wanted to distill his own spirits. Today, the former Blackberry engineer is doing just that, in a vintage Stratford building fronted by a distillery shop featuring a huge range of spirits, plus local goodies like Upper Thames Brewing Company craft sodas and Kvas cocktail syrups from Niagara. “We’ve been grain to glass from day one,” says Heisz. Spirit made with corn and wheat is distilled and infused with nearly a dozen gin botanicals that give it garden-fresh aromas and flavour. Rye and unique grains like triticale (a wheat-rye cross) are also distilled and barrelled, for the current and upcoming line of craft whiskies.

112 FOOD & DRINK EARLY SUMMER 2023