Mixing business with pleasure: Pomeroy bartender serves special cocktails to G7 leaders
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Now that the 2025 G7 Summit has ended, Graham Hart can finally talk publicly about what he's been up to for the past few months. And as the head mixologist at Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, where this year's G7 was held, he has a few stories.
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Working closely with Global Affairs Canada, he and his team created the G7 Global Cocktail Series, seven cocktails inspired by each G7 country, plus one non-alcoholic option and one for the group as a whole.
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'I've never had the federal government weigh in on the ingredients I've used in a cocktail until now. Every ingredient had to be discussed,' says Hart, who began crafting the special menu for the hotel in September 2024.
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'There's been a lot of pressure. But I like to say: no pressure, no diamonds. We had one opportunity to do something fantastic, so there's no point messing around.'
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The nod to Germany? A Berliner Sommer beer cocktail with raspberry and dill. France? La Fille en Rose, a floral martini.
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And Japan's special drink paid a nod to kintsugi, the Japanese idea of embracing imperfections by repairing broken pottery. Hart hand-cracked and carved ice spears, then put the cubes back together with 24-karat gold to serve to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
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'I do. It's about finding strength and beauty in things that are broken.'
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Served as part of the offerings to the G7 delegates, the cocktails weren't the only drinks imbibed by the world leaders this past week.
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Turns out that French President Emmanuel Macron is a big scotch fan – in particular, Lagavulin. Hart poured him a rare Lagavulin 12-year-old Fireside Tales, and Macron liked it so much, his delegation came over to take photos and to ask where they could buy more. 'Macron requested the moustache guy – that's me. I had a big white cowboy hat on and a white shirt. I looked a little like Yosemite Sam,' Hart said with a laugh.
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