The Best Beverages Our Editors Drank in 2025

Creating a magazine is thirsty work, and our editors know how to stay hydrated. Here are the cocktails, bottles and cans that kept the thirst at bay as we cranked out the content you know and love.

What Our Editors Were Drinking This Year

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by June (@juneoncambie)

Genmaicha Clover Club at June, $18

While I’m usually prattling on about the food at June, the fact is, the drinks are really worth a trip in and of themselves. And while they may be known for their signature martini, what really stuck with me this year were the more unusual creations on the cocktail menu. The Genmaicha Clover Club is my favourite (so far!): there are toasty notes here thanks to the genmaicha, but also a brightness thanks to lemon, raspberry and (duh) gin; horseradish offers a further kick, while egg white foam add a creamy finish to the whole concoction. It’s balanced and sophisticated, while being off-the-wall in all the right ways. If that’s not weird enough for you, though, don’t worry: the Mushroom Old Fashioned awaits.–Stacey Mclachlan, editor-in-chief

Subalpine Meadow at Five Sails, $28

Lordy, am I a sucker for a pretty cocktail before a fancy dinner. And one with a blueberry sugar rim and edible flower? Forget about it. I am in. The Subalpine Meadow at Five Sails is floral and tart and berry-forward, part of the restaurant’s “Sea to Sky cocktail journey” inspired by the view from Five Sails massive floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Pacific and North Shore mountains. With a casamigos base, mountain berry syrup, sparkling grapefruit and notes of calamansi and lemon, this is the perfect pre-dinner cocktail to kick start your palette before diving into Chef Alex Kim’s culinary and artful culinary delights.–Darcy Matheson, editor-in-chief, BCBusiness

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Prophecy (@prophecybar)

Kitsune at Prophecy Bar, $21

I’d had my eye on Prophecy Bar in the Rosewood Hotel Georgia for a while before I asked a friend to meet there for drinks in September. And it did not disappoint. The low-light ambiance? Immaculate. The cocktails? An experience in every sip. Flipping through the extensive (but beautifully crafted) cocktail menu was like reading a book—intimidating at first, but I learned something by the end. When my first—and favourite—drink arrived, I knew I had made the right choice. Arriving in a skinny flute, the Kitsune (an allusion to Japanese mythology) is a vodka-based cocktail that’s flirty (might be the bright pink colour) and exciting. With white chocolate, raspberry, ginger, lemon, sparkling wine and milk clarification, the Kitsune satisfies my sweet tooth without making me parched for water. There’s clearly a reason Prophecy is named on several Best Bar lists (#53 in North America, and #7 in Canada). But what I loved most about the Kitsune? The sparkles, of course. –Sandrine Jacquot, editor, BCLiving

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Vancouver Magazine (@vancouvermagazine)

Zipolite at Chupito, $17

I first had Chupito’s Zipolite cocktail in 2021, back when they had their secret back patio, and I told everyone who would listen that it was the best drink I had ever had. It’s clarified milk punch and rum with pineapple and coconut, making an incredibly refreshing, sweet and fruity drink (all my favourite words when it comes to cocktails). With their Mount Pleasant reopening this year, I had to see if my memory was correct, and I can confirm four years later: it still slaps. It’s best served on their patio in the summertime. –Rebekah Ho, digital marketing manager

Dessert Rose Martini at Moltaqa, $10

When Starbucks first came out with their Blossoming Rose Tea latte back in 2018, it spoke to me on a soul-level, but finding the Dessert Rose martini (and yes, that is how it’s spelled on the menu) felt like coming upon the blueprint for mass-produced latte. Fragrant notes of damask rose hit my nose as I watched cardamom seeds bathed in a Moroccan iced tea, making it both indulgent and refreshing as a zero-proof cocktail. Take this out of a martini glass and pour it into a tumbler, I could sip on this all day (and also devour the sweet, dried fig decorating the drink). Still, it works well as a once-in-a-while indulgence, which is to say I’m excited to get back to Moltaqa to get my lips back on this soul-touching ‘tini. –Kristi Alexandra, managing editor

CedarCreek Willamette Valley Pinot Gris, $25

Holy hell. If we needed any more proof that the wine industry is in trouble look no further than the fact that none of the four tastemakers who have gone before me elected to go with fermented grape juice. So, despite some of the wonderful cocktails I’ve had this year (including a killer martini at Chez Celine and almost everything on the awesomely out-there drink list at Kavita, and that was just in the last week!), I’m choosing some wine. And not just any wine but wine from our beloved Okanagan Valley, where, notwithstanding an excellent 2025 harvest, they are still reeling from last year’s killer frost.

A few provisos: The above bottle from CedarCreek was not “the best” bottle of wine I had all year. I’ve chatted about some of those bottles here and in the recent issue of the magazine. But what it is, is a bottle that represents everything I love about B.C. wine: it’s well-priced and widely available; with its Oregon-sourced grapes, it shows the resiliency of the industry and it’s just flipping delicious. I know there was a lot of hand-wringing over using imported grapes for the 2024 vintage but, to me, it’s been the perfect win-win. Wineries get to survive and we get some some cool bottles that, while not Okanagan VQA, are from amazing vineyards down south. And, in the hands our winemakers, there were some truly special bottles and this Pinot Gris—maybe a bit fuller than we’re used to but also with it’s own very present shaft of acidity keeping it taut—is a lovely, yet approachable, example.—Neal McLennan, wine and spirits editor