Food & Drink/Drink

With most bars closed, many people will be drinking alone—or, with any luck, with their bubbles—during the happiest season of all. Luckily, plenty of local haunts are delivering DIY kits to take the guesswork out of crafting the perfect cocktail. Skeptics with well-stocked home bars may wonder: why bother? But it’s the kits’ special touches—chocolate bitters, candied ginger, even festive ornaments—that separate them from just another lockdown libation. Here, a trusty collection of award-winning independent taprooms that offer a little bit of everything, from spirit-specific kits and mix-and-match sets to pre-mixed bottles and holiday packages.

Where to Get Them in Your Town

TORONTO

Stay Home Cocktail Club
Veteran bartender Evelyn Chick’s delivery service offers 10 DIY drink kits, including classic cocktails like Manhattans and martinis, as well as packages tailored to specific spirits: the tequila kit includes 1800 Silver Tequila, ginger beer, margarita salt and dehydrated lime.

$45 to $80
evelynchickprojects.com

Marben
This farm-to-table King West restaurant delivers both pre-mixed cocktails, such as a dirty margarita or alto y claro (a rye and mezcal cocktail with chocolate bitters), as well as at-home mixing sets that lean toward the classics: Manhattans, French 75s and Dark and Stormies.

$18 to $189
marben.ca

Project Gigglewater
This West End bar lives up to its name with an inventive list of nine cheekily named choices. The tropical 2020 Sabbatical pairs rum Appleton rum with coconut water and lime, while the Cran Me a River is a tricked-out vodka cran with cinnamon, grenadine and orange bitters.

$65 to $67.50
projectgigglewater.com

VANCOUVER

Di Beppe
The Gastown Italian joint offers a single option from quarantined cocktail artists: a make-it-yourself Aperol Spritz box. Anyone looking to skip the mixing altogether can order one of two pre-made Campari cocktails: the Aperitivo Americano (with sweet vermouth and soda) or the Bicicletta (with white wine and soda).

$12 to $80
dibeppe.com

Juke Fried Chicken
Ordering cocktails from Juke is a choose-your-own adventure: the restaurant sells its mixes—including Purple Rain, with black currant syrup, almond orgeat and lime juice—in three-ounce bottles along with single-serving-size liquors. How you mix them is up to you.

$99
thechickadeeroom.com

The Bar Cart
Launched in direct response to the pandemic, The Bar Cart specializes in DIY drinks like the Spiced Pumpkin Sour—a wintry concoction that comes with a vegan foamer—and A Word to the Wise, a scotch cocktail kit that includes candied ginger and an atomizer spritz bottle.

$37 to $116
barcart.ca

CALGARY

Market
Downtown’s award-winning locavore restaurant sells three drink kits that make three cocktails apiece: vodka black lemonade, which features agave and activated charcoal; tequila mule, which is delivered with house-made cardamom syrup; or a classic rum piña colada.

$29 to $39
marketcalgary.ca

Proof
One of Canada’s best bars is offering locked down Calgarians a crack at the bottles on their majestic booze wall. Classic kit options include an old fashioned, negroni and martini, while the newest additions are playfully festive—the Jolly Koala set comes with four marsupial Christmas tree ornaments.

$85 to $140
proofyyc.com

Native Tongues
It’s never too cold for a margarita. Go-to Mexican kitchen Native Tongues offers everything you need to make a tart tipple for two: mini bottles of both Don Julio Blanco and Grand Marnier, plus garnish and lime wedges.

$26
nativetongues.ca