Cheap Eats Toronto restaurant guide blog

What To Drink On Canada Day

Whether you'll be at the cottage, watching waterfront fireworks or just barbecuing in the backyard, it's time to hit the LCBO to stock up for tomorrow's Canada Day celebrations. 

To help you out with your shopping list, we decided to whip together a list of:

6 Great Canada Day Drinks:

1. Bloody Caesar
   - a truly Canadian drink. Invented in Calgary in 1969 (!) by Walter Chell, and then perpetuated in 2002 by Mott's designing pre-mixed Clamato juice just for this purpose. You can't even get a Caesar (unless it's with grated parm) anywhere but here, though there is something called a "Clam digger" which is similar.  There's currently a petition to make it Canada's Official National Cocktail.
2. Steamwhistle 
   – a refreshing pilsner with a crisp, clean finish from right here in Toronto, Steamwhistle is a nod to Canada and Toronto on this day celebrating us.
3. Malivoire's Chardonnay Musqué
   - made at an eco-friendly winery in Beamsville, this light, sweet, effervescent wine is a big favourite in my house. With hints of fruit - apple, peach, melon - it is great slightly chilled for sipping on a warm afternoon or for before dinner bubbles.
   Now available (yay!) in the LCBO/Vintages unfortunately only in 1/2 bottles
4. Molson Canadian – while drinking Canadian doesn't give the nod to the increasing interest in microbrews and more complex flavours, it does say CANADIAN on the bottle and thus satisfies the most literal interpretation of a drink that says “I am Canadian”.  And besides, who doesn't love the I Am Canadian ads?
5. Canadian Club - with it's "Damn Right Your Dad Drank It" ads, it carries both the nostalgic and literal requirements to be a good Canada Day tipple. Drink it straight, on ice, or with a splash of ginger ale.
6. Canada Dry Gingerale - speaking of ginger ale, why not splash in a bit more Canadiana? Canada Dry has been the ginger ale of choice in my house since we moved from the Maritimes and couldn't get Sussex anymore.

Of course, you can also check out the list of beer Toronto is drinking on our #TObeers poll here

This post was inspired by SueB24 who asked why we didn't have a Can-con equivalent to Slashdot’s All-American Wines to Celebrate July 4.

Ontario Brewing Awards Winners

Yesterday afternoon, I had the opportunity to sit in on the 5th annual Ontario Brewing Awards and sample some of the Gold Medal winners. 

57 brands of Ontario brews were submitted for judging across 15 different categories.  The big winners were Mill Street Brewery walking away with 3 Golds, 3 Silvers and 1 People's Choice.  Close behind were Brick and Great Lakes Breweries with 2 Golds, 2 Silvers and 2 People's Choice each.  The People's Choice favourite was Nickel Brook with 3 People's Choice and 2 Silver Medals.

The awards, which caused some brew-ha-ha last year, were judged this year by a panel of beer experts and some regular beer drinking folks.  The Gold and Silver Medals were based on the expert tastings and the People's Choice were based on the whole panels input.  

As soon as the photo above hit Flickr, comments started coming in on the winners:

• Adam said "Hockley Stout? Gotta try that... the dark is already almost a stout."
• Raj said the Belgian Wit is "Good for the patio"
• Arieh added a note to Cameron's Auburn, "The Auburn is my favourite"

Which are you favourites? Any surprises on the list?

Keep reading for the full list of Gold, Silver and People's Choice Winners.