When Calgary bartender Walter Chell created the caesar in 1969, he had no idea that the beverage inspired by his favourite pasta dish, spaghetti alle vongole, would go on to become Canada’s signature cocktail.

Fastforward to 2016, and two Vancouver-bred caesar enthusiasts are paying tribute to the man behind the famous concoction with a Canadian-made mix that is true to its roots.

Aaron Harowitz and Zack Silverman put themselves through university by working behind the bar, making thousands of caesars throughout their school years.

“The only thing on the market as far as caesars went was a mass-market mix owned by a big American company, full of MSG, high-fructose corn syrup, and artificial colours and flavours,” Harowitz tells the Straight over a caesar at a Railtown bar. “We recognized that that was crazy, especially for something so iconically Canadian, so we had the idea that we could make a craft, all-natural caesar mix, made here in Canada, and people would be into it.”

He and Silverman spent a year developing recipes, and in late 2013, after finding an artisanal juice producer who agreed to work with them, they made their first run of what has come to be known as Walter Craft Caesar Mix—aptly named after Chell.

“At the time, it seemed like so much money and so many bottles,” Harowitz says, “and now, we laugh, because after our first production run, we stood in the warehouse looking at all the pallets of product going, ‘Oh my God, what now?’

“We had no distribution and no sales, and it was just the two of us.”

It didn’t take long for support to grow for the craft blend. Since that first production run, they’ve introduced Walter to numerous restaurants, bars, and grocers across the country.

Caesar lovers everywhere will be happy to know that Walter comes in two varieties: Classic Spice, complete with grated horseradish, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, sea salt, and ground pepper; and Mild Spice, a more customizable blend made with a fraction of the seasoning.

Compare Walter to your standard caesar mix, and you’ll find a few notable differences. Not only is the colour much more vivid, but the texture and flavour both offer more complexity.

“It’s intentionally thicker, because it’s rare that people drink it right out of the bottle,” Harowitz says. “They’re adding citrus juice and spirits and ice, and we wanted to avoid the watery caesar that you get when the ice melts with the other guy’s product.”

In putting the finishing touches on the product, Harowitz and Silverman decided it made sense to take the all-natural and Canadian-made beverage one step further, sourcing the blend’s clam juice from a sustainable fishery and partnering with the Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise program.

While beer has remained supreme in the craft-beverage world for quite some time, Harowitz and Silverman are happy to have carved out a place for Canada’s prolific cocktail.

“The beautiful thing about it is that the spectrum of what a caesar can be is so wide, more than any other cocktail I can think of,” Harowitz says, taking a sip from his beer caesar, made at this particular joint with one part pilsner and one part Walter.

“We’re not solving world peace; we’re just trying to make a better cocktail.”