Travel Tuesday: Canon Seattle

A visual visit with me to enjoy cocktails at Canon Whiskey and Bitters Emporium, “The western hemisphere’s largest spirit collection at 3500 labels and counting.” Located in the trendy Capital Hill neighborhood in Seattle, WA, they have been on my wishlist for a while especially when a few years ago they made the World’s Best 50 Bars (they ranked #6 in 2014, #15 in 2015, and currently they are not on the 2016 list, 2017 list to be announced this fall) and in 2016 they were nominated by Tales of the Cocktail for Best American Cocktail Bar, in 2017 they recently won The World’s Best Spirits Selection.

Behind an unassuming door is a one of the best libraries of liquors you’ll ever see.

If you come during the summer or good weather you may even get a chance to sit on their back patio for al fresco dining, but without the cool atmosphere above with all those bottles although there are still some bottles on display:

You can even find bottles as decor in the restroom, and as a soap dispenser! A radio show with old timey music entertained you as you went about your bio business.

They do serve some food here – about two 1/3 page worth, but meanwhile you will notice there are almost a dozen pages of beverages by the glass/large format for a few, and additional almost a 200 page liquor listing book. So no surprise that this is an establishment with a focus on beverages. In the cocktail section you will notice illustrations of the antique glassware or special serving ware they will use to present the drink.


By far my favorite drink that I had this evening was the Campfire in Georgia featuring mezcal, peach-habañero shrub, fresh oj, cinnamon french oak, bitters. The presentation included a lot of aromatics, and even while drinking this deliciously complex layered drink, I would keep sniffing my fingers to smell the smoke still on the glass.

A few other cool presentations included the Gnome Chomsky with absolut elyx, bourbon, yellow chartreuse, guava, lime juice, lime bitters.

Or for a drink for 2 (or 4 if you are willing to have 3/4 glass each) is the Transfusion large format drink with cognac, bourbon, creme yvette, ancho reyes, raspberry, fresh lemon, bitters. This was fun to look at, but I prefer the other two beverages above taste wise.

After that beverage I wanted something refreshing to so my next and final drink was the Bright Idea cocktail with tequila, fresh watermelon, grenadine, fresh lemon juice, racer 5 ipa

Have you been to Canon Seattle or heard of Canon before? Where is your favorite cocktail destination in Seattle or here in Portland or wherever your home city is? Do you know of other cocktail bars with such kinds of cocktail presentations?