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| - Traveling through Western Canada I've been pretty impressed by the availability of well thought out cocktails all around. None however, impressed me as much as the spirit selection, cocktail menu, and staff at Proof.
Walking in the first thing you'll notice is the floor to ceiling array of spirits. It's beautifully displayed, organized by spirit type and distillery, and the staff knows a whole lot about each one. I noticed quite a few bottles not available stateside and really enjoyed chatting with Ian and Nathan about them. Ian actually offered me a sample of one of the bottles of Japanese whisky I'd been looking to try for quite some time, and both of them were so willing to share their knowledge of the booze scene in Calgary too. Amazing resources for any enthusiast or someone just looking to dip their toe.
Cocktail wise though, this bar is on point! The menu is divide by spirit type including American Whiskey, Canadian Whisky, Scotch, Gin and even liqueur based cocktails! I gravitated toward American Whiskey first and spotted the TMO right off the bat, but it included a coconut rum, which totally turned me off was definitely turned me off. After chatting with Nathan he explained the coconut was in there to amp up the coconut flavors imparted into Whiskey from chemical compounds in the wood known as tramethylamenineoxide (or something like that) which is where the drink got its name.
This cocktail was extremely balanced. I was surprised how nicely the rum played up those notes in the Whiskey, and it went down way too easy!
I followed that up with a dealer's choice only specifying that it needed a Canadian Whisky base and be a booze forward cocktail. Ian threw down the Hometown Hero, made with Alberta Premium Rye, bee pollen, honey, and apple cider vinegar, which he went back to the kitchen to get for the drink. Again, another home run with the sweetness and flavor of the honey being balanced by the tart vinegar and spicy rye. Again, went down too easy and that meant time for food.
There's a small but mighty bites list and the pork belly steamed buns caught my eye at $5. That price is each, but I'd gladly pay that all over again because these were tiny Asian inspired bites from heaven. Instead of the expected sriracha mayo, these had SHRIMP MAYO! Yes. You read that right, and if you've never had pork belly as a surf and turf, you're missing out! The pork belly was braised perfectly and the buns were pillowy soft, with crunch coming from some delicious pickled veg. Hell yeah!
Proof, if you want a second home I'd love to welcome you to the Biggest Little City! We would love to have you, and you can call your brother over at Native Tongues and bring them along too!
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