Straight, No Chaser looks to Vancouver’s talented mixologists for stories from behind the stick. We find out how they create, what they love, where their favourite bar is, and what they grew up watching their parents drink.

Who are you

I’m Liam Hatton, bartender at Published on Main. I moved to Vancouver three years ago from Nova Scotia. When I can, I’m outside on my paddleboard or in Lions Bay hiking around the woods.

My parents mixed

My mom doesn’t drink much, but my father made wine and beer when I was growing up. He is the reason I also chose to pursue the life of a bartender, because he had a pots, pans, and kitchenware store called The Cookhouse and he put on wine classes to get your WSET [Wine & Spirit Education Trust] or CAPS [Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers] level wine education. So I became the wine pourer, and since then I haven’t stopped pouring liquids that taste great.

The creative process

My creative process is very theme-based—I have to have a plan for what things are going to be. I have made wild cocktails like a donaire cocktail, and I have made fountain cocktails, and the thing that connects them all is they are all based on classic specs. I also use the motto my old brewer, Mike Gillespie, told me when I was making new beers: “Make something other people will like, not what you like.”

Best drink I ever had

The best drinks I have had would have to be the smoked old-fashioned from Bar Chef in Toronto. I was given the Bar Chef book for Christmas years before, and I kept trying to recreate it. Then one year I took the train from Halifax to Toronto just to see if I could work at Bar Chef. When I checked out the bar, it was the first drink I had, and it lived up to all expectations in show and flavour.

World’s best bar

After meeting a couple of bartenders from Salmon Guru at Vancouver Cocktail Week, I don’t think there is a bar in the world I would love to check out more than Salmon Guru. It is as wacky as I am, and has all the profiles that I look for in a bar. Madrid is also a city that has been on my list for years, so I can’t see why it wouldn’t be the best bar to go.

Signature creation

My signature cocktail is from Published. The cocktail is from the hometown menu—I encapsulated Nova Scotia’s foggy weather. I called it Into The Mist, and it uses St. George Terroir Gin, Sheringham Seaside Gin, Lillet, and an Earl grey lavender and kombu foamer. This cocktail is a bright, light, refreshing sour.

I’d love a cocktail with

The person I would love to have a cocktail with is Nathan Moran from Laowai. He is the kindest person I have met in the cocktail scene and I have loved seeing him grow and move up in his space.

Try this at home 

From New Orlands with Love

● 1.5oz St Remy (or brandy of your choice)

● 0.75oz Lillet

● 0.75oz Averna

● 1 bar spoon of absinthe

● 2 dashes of of Peychaud’s and Angostura bitters

● Orange twist

Add to a shaker with ice and stir until well chilled. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice or a cocktail glass. Garnish with the orange twist.