This New Canadian Cocktail Book Will Make You a Better Bartender
Once or twice a year, I'll get together with a few friends for something we call Cocktail Club. It's exactly what it sounds like: we'll make each other a drink, sometimes a classic or a riff on a favourite, and vote on the one we like best. It's always fun, and sometimes a little competitive—a few in the group have worked in bartending and know their stuff when it comes to balancing flavour and texture in a glass. (Once, one of us built a margarita tower!)
While I can make a decent shaken margarita and stirred red hook (two of my all-time favourites), I've never been expert-level at drinks. This is partly why I enjoyed Three Cheers, award-winning Vancouver bartender Kaitlyn Stewart's debut, so much. As a cookbook, it's a deep dive that will please any cocktail buff, replete with recipes for professional-grade ingredients such as oleo-saccharum (sweet citrus oil) and acid-adjusted fruit juices. But as a resource, it's also tremendously accessible, offering simplified versions of techniques, riffs on standard drinks, and—crucially—a delicious zero-proof version on every recipe in the book. Plus, it's just fun to read! With a brief history on every cocktail in the lineup, ranging a timespan from the 1800s to today, it's fascinating to see how tastes in drinking has changed over the years, from the fluffy, egg- and cream-laced confections of the Gilded Age, to the syrupy flavoured martinis of the ’90s.
Here are three recipes from Three Cheers, each with a classic, updated and non-alcoholic version. Next cocktail club, I'm making Stewart's Eiffel 75—a riff on the French original. I think it's time blue curaçao made a comeback!
Espresso Martini
"Although the original recipe is really quite simple, there are so many ways to make this classic drink your own. For my modern twist and zero-proof recipe, I wanted to highlight how versatile coffee in cocktails can be, especially when pairing it with a touch of spice or using tonic water to make it a long refreshing drink." Get this espresso martini recipe.
French 75
"Named after the French 75-millimeter field gun, I promise you this drink is much friendlier than the name suggests. The modern twist, Eiffel 65, adds a touch of orange liqueur as a nod to another great brunch drink, the mimosa. And of course, there’s always the zero-proof option." Get this French 75 recipe.
Negroni
"Typically made in equal parts, the Negroni relies heavily on the gin you choose and the vermouth you pair it with. Campari is always a staple in the classic recipe, but feel free to play around with other aperitifs when it comes to crafting your own. The High & Dry is one of my favorite variations I’ve come up with on the Negroni." Get this negroni recipe.
Excerpted from Three Cheers by Kaitlyn Stewart. Copyright © 2025 Kaitlyn Stewart. Photography by Jayme Lang. Photographs copyright © 2025 Jayme Lang. Published by Penguin, an imprint of Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
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Chantal Braganza is a writer and editor living in Toronto. She is deputy editor, food at Chatelaine, a cookbook nerd, lover of vintage dish ware, and currently training for yoga teacher certification. Her first book, Story of Your Mother, is out with Strange Light Press.
