Tonight we are at the kickoff event of this year’s Vancouver Cocktail Week 2025!
I was excited for the evening having never been to Ama Bar nor ever trying basbas prior to this event.
Located on Fraser Street the cocktail bar is hard to spot. You could easily walk past the persimmon orange door, behind a locked gate. With no signage and a dark and ominous climb up a steep set a stairs, I would classify this as a hidden bar.
The space unexpectedly opens up, kept dark with the dim glow of golden lights. Walls become shelves to house back lit bottles of premium spirits. This was the ideal setting for an intimate seminar on Basbas.
I am an avid drinker and appreciator of the spirit arts, I so am always interested in learning about a new brand, and even more when it has so much history behind it like Basbas does.
“Bas” means “wild” in the Basque language, this is a nod to the wild foraged herbs that goes into distilling this elegant and complex spirit. With its origins in Ibiza, this is a recipe that has been protected by Ibicenco families for generations, and dates back to 16th century from monks living in the Isles of Balearia.
Today’s led seminar with cocktail and appetizer pairings would take us through the history and landscape of Ibiza, which we discovered is so much more than just its reputation of a travel party destination.
The spirit itself is described as being closely resembling Chartreuse. It is herbaceous and reminded me of a more floral black liquorice. Our table mates described it as having an after sake, clean mouth finish. Whereas I thought it reminded me of Indian style mints. The ones that look like coloured rice in white, yellow, and pink; that are typically offered by the exit or at your table to help to cleanse the palate and leave your breath sweeter.
As guests entered we were greeted with a welcome cocktail of sparkling wine and Basbas. The vegetal liquorice notes came through the effervescent bubbles for a lovely mouthfeel and a drink you continued to sip and discover.
As we all found our seats and settled we were welcomed by the brand rep and heard from the owner of Basbas, as a self proclaimed introvert and nerd. We would learned about his family and life and how this lent itself to marketing Basbas as more than just a spirit, “but a tool for removing space”. It sounded cryptic, but made sense at the end, being best described as a “Social lubricant bringing people together for generations”.
This is a historic spirit that you can’t make off of the island or sell unless you have a license. Basbas is first family to have it. And despite it being 100’s of years old, it hasn’t really made it mainstream. Destilled in a Arabian copper still, only four people know how to make the product, and our owner/host is one of them. Other distilleries take ten days, whereas Basbas distills for ten months, and are awarded many accolades for their efforts.
We would then heard from both Ama’s Head Bartender and Executive Chef, as they walked us through each course, going through the inspiration behind the drink, and how the food was crafted to pair with it.
The cockatils were designed to go beyond the party and to better showcase the actual geographical island . The “Bigger They Are” is a take on a French 75, prepared with basbas, limestone, sea fennel, uni, and cava sparkling wine. This was inspired by Ibiza as a massive limestone island that was fabled to be the home of the Sirens, who tried to lure Odysseus from his ship in Homer’s “Odyssey”.
As the myth goes two brothers needed sea fennel to cure their dying father. They went in search for some, but got caught by a Giant, who said he would set them free in exchange for some octopus. The brothers feed the octopus sea urchins who killed then inside out with their spikes. When the Giant ate the octopus with the sea urchins in their bellies, they caused it to fall asleep. Thus allowing the brothers to escape with the sea fennel, to make it home in time to save their father.
The cocktail did well to incorporate the tale with the use of sea fennel and uni, we were just missing ink from the octopus. It was a lovely orange hue in a striking oval glass, topped with a sprig of sea fennel as an edible garnish. It starts off floral then leads into tart. You get the funk of uni, if you are searching; especially the way its chalkiness hits the top of you palate. I was impressed by how they were able to draw out its umami flavour while minding this texture. The sea fennel topper is edible and it cut into the drink much like a briney olive would.
The food pairing was an appetizer featuring Jamon Iberico, toasted milk bread, and ricotta. A surf and turf combo with the cocktails where the salty pork was meant to contrast the oceany uni. The toasted bread was carved to represent the mountains of Ibiza and made for the perfect base to load up on the chunky cheese spread that married ham and bread with added honey. This was an amazing start that well represented the artistry of the kitchen.
The next cocktail was Beyond the Pines: basbas, pine nut, olive, juniper, and lemon. This was a rift on a sour that spoke to the trees of the island. And in-line with that vision this was described as being herbaceous and vegetal, although I got more dessert. Sharp lemon like in a meringue pie merged with the mouthfeel of a calpis yogurt. This I found complimentary to the Mediterranean flavours of our second course.
This was thinner slices of Venison prepared Tataki style. Perfectly seared, delicate venison loin coated in a sheen of pressed kalamata olive oil, and finished with vinagreta ibicenca. I found the flavour of the olive pretty distinct with the onion adding freshness. A lovely refined bite, where you were meant to enjoy the luscious chew of the meat.
I found our final course more herbal and vegetal in representing the sea. Eden’s Tide with basbas, coastal gin, algae, and ‘garum’ (which is a style of fermented fish sauce). As an island, Ibiza is surrounded by the ocean and this cocktail well demonstrated that with its briney dirty martini quality and the aquamarine colour from the olive through the liquid. This was a savoury drink that really leaned into the characteristics of the basbas. The table agreed that this was the most complimentary pairing with the cocktail adding sea salt to season the dish.
Our final food course was meant to represent a rock pool. The diversity you find at the bottom represented through kobujime cured japanese bream, edamame, mozuku, dashi, and white sesame oil. Compared to the drink and following it, the fish had a wonderfully silky texture, but was slightly bland. You needed the ikura and seaweed for flavour and salinity. I would have liked to taste the white seasame oil, whereas it only added to the overall body and scent of the dish.
In short, this was a great way to uncover the versatility of such a unique spirit, and to demonstrate how approachable it is with food. And best of all we were already in the house and comfortable for the “Basbas Soirée” that happened right right. Themed as a “true Ibiza-style party” with live DJ spinning and the ability to order speciality snacks, and drinks from a one-night-only cocktail menu.
Ama Bar
3980 Fraser St, Vancouver, BC V5V 4E4
