Tag: Cocktails

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‘You’re creating your own life based on what you want:’ Meet the owner of Cocktail Bomb Shop

Kiana Gomes, a second year journalism student at Concordia, started a bakeshop in the middle of the pandemic from the comfort of her own home. A few months later, she expanded her business to selling cocktail bombs

During the first COVID Christmas holidays, most other students were taking a break from Zoom classes. Meanwhile, 21-year-old Kiana Gomes was converting her home into a Willy Wonka chocolate factory and perfecting her first “chocolate bomb.” 

Hot chocolate bombs are chocolate spheres filled with chocolate milk powder and marshmallows. When put into a mug with hot milk, they explode to make hot chocolate. Gomes thought they were a great way to treat yourself during the winter in lockdown.  

Gomes started her bakeshop to ease her boredom during quarantine and pursue her baking passion. During the first wave of the pandemic, she started baking cakes for friends and family. 

“I started making cakes because I didn’t really have a job because of the pandemic.” 

It was late October 2020; Montreal had just entered into a red zone, restricting people from non-essential activities and services. The weather was getting colder and the days shorter. Like many people, Gomes was stuck at home in need of distraction.  

When her mom suggested she sell her cakes on Facebook Marketplace, she began baking five cakes almost every week.  

Gomes baked custom birthday cakes using coloured frosting and edible decorations. Her personal favourite was an Among Us birthday cake. 

Inspired by a video she saw on Facebook, Gomes had the idea of making chocolate bombs for the holidays and decided to sell them on Facebook Marketplace.  The chocolate bombs were the perfect product to sell during the cold winter, stuck in another lockdown. In just a few weeks, she launched Kiki’s Bakeshop from her house around the Montreal area. 

Soon after she began her venture, her family members were welcomed  by the mouth-watering smell of chocolate and peppermint. In contrast, the room itself was cold and dry — they had to turn off the heaters to keep the chocolate bombs from melting. As her family entered the kitchen, they were welcomed by the sight of chocolate bombs scattered along counters, leading up to her dining table.  

Around fall 2020, while most students keep their cameras off during Zoom lectures, so no one sees their bedhead, Gomes closed hers so no one would see that her shirt was white with flour. With the help of her mom and two family friends, she made hundreds of chocolate bombs a day. 

Her family’s garage quickly turned into Gomes’ own mini warehouse. Sales exploded. Gomes was selling chocolate bombs on Etsy, shipping them to the United States, while also selling them locally in Montreal. Local orders were picked at her house, while the U.S. orders were shipped through Canada Post.  

 It was hectic; her days were long but felt short. During her Christmas break that year, Gomes started her days at 5 a.m, working over 12 hours. Time flew by as she packed what felt like endless boxes of bombs all day, drinking lots of hot chocolate in the process.  

 However, as the holiday season came to a close, her chocolate bomb business started to die down. She knew that they would not be very popular after the winter months. Gomes needed a new idea to keep her business flowing.  

Inspiration struck when she came across a video on social media of a bartender in New York City making cocktail bombs for a special event. She then searched the recipe online and experimented to find the perfect ratio for the ingredients.  

For Gomes, putting the puzzle pieces together was a matter of trial and error. 

“The first bombs that we made are not even the same bombs that we make now,” said Gomes. “Before, it took longer to dissolve, now it dissolves in two minutes, and the flavours are stronger. There’s a lot of things that I figured out along the way.”

The cocktail bombs are similar in concept to bath bombs. You add them to a glass of sparkling water and pour in a shot of liquor of your choice. They can also be prepared as mocktails, making it a great option for children and non-drinkers who wish to join in on the fizzy fun.  

 Gomes’ cocktail bombs are unique. The ingredients have a high quality and natural focus, with the final products packaged in biodegradable plastic. 

These bombs make a great addition to any drink by adding fun colour and taste. A popular flavour is the Peach Bellini bomb. As Gomes describes, it tastes like a peach with a splash of tequila. Other choices include margarita, blue raspberry, raspberry orange, mojito, mimosa, and piña colada.  

Gomes’ involvement on TikTok was also a major factor in the success of her business, as she began making short videos to promote her products.

“When I first posted the TikTok about the bomb, I knew it would be something big,” said Gomes.

Gomes was happy with the amount of good reviews and comments from her TikTok videos. 

“Because the business came so fast, we had a lot of time to adapt on what people were saying: what we should change, what’s good, what’s not good, to finally come up with this perfect product, but I wouldn’t even call it perfect, because it’s constantly evolving. Like tomorrow we might change something or add new flavours,” Gomes said. 

“I feel like the product is so new. It doesn’t really exist, [it] is is growing with the business,” she added. 

Her cocktail bombs are now being sold in different Linen Chest stores around Montreal, as well as Pusateri’s Fine Foods, and smaller gift stores. They are also shipped to the US and internationally through the Cocktail Bomb Shop’s website.  

 Since March 2021,Gomes has seen her business grow exponentially. Instead of working from her workshop at home, she now owns an office in downtown Montreal, with 10 full-time employees. From working in her messy kitchen and garage, Gomes now has a small office and an open space with designated areas for her employees. The sections are divided into three departments: manufacturing, packaging, and shipment.  

 The employees are constantly producing bombs, while Gomes focuses more on the on the administrative side of the operation, such as clearing paperwork, answering emails, taking phone calls and attending meetings.

Though she misses making the cocktail bombs, she is very happy that her business has flourished. 

“Follow your passion, because I really liked baking so I decided to sell the cakes, and it brought me to this,” said Gomes. “Everything that I did was out of the fact that I enjoyed doing it. It wasn’t doing something that I was miserable in.” 

“If you want to be an entrepreneur, you just have to do what you love because the business can be generated from anything.”  

 Gomes still attends university part-time while running her business. She explained that she loves the program and is willing to finish her degree as a backup plan.   

“Every day, it just continues to grow. I guess sometimes it hits me that it’s not that small anymore. I think that every day is just an adventure. I don’t know how big it’s going to get or if it’s going to stop tomorrow. Who knows? But right now, I’m just going to ride and see what it becomes.”  

Gomes’ quarantine hobby ended up creating the perfect product for a socially distanced picnic in the park. 

 

Visuals courtesy of Kiana Gomes

 

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Student Life

Asian fusion co-exists at Kyozon

Try downtown’s newest trendy eat-and-drinkerie

Last Wednesday, Crescent St. christened it’s newest addition. Kyozon, the newly opened Asian-fusion resto-bar, gets its name from the Japanese word for co-existence. This is exactly the mentality behind the new establishment, which offers up a smorgasbord of Asian-esque dishes and specialty cocktails.

On opening night Kyozon was the place to be, as they welcomed about a thousand guests to sample their cocktails and cuisine. Looking around, the large space seemed full to the brim with media types and regular frequenters of the Montreal club scene.

Kyozon currently occupies the space that was once Montreal’s Hard Rock Cafe, having swapped rock n’ roll relics for distressed wood banquettes, a sushi conveyer belt and worked metal siding. The vibe inside the space is industrial-chic, with an open-concept floor space where the bar is surrounded by concentric rectangular angles of the dining tables and overhang of the second-floor mezzanine.

From the top floor you can look down and get a bird’s eye view of the action at the bar, as the mixologists concoct their poisons.

Press photo courtesy of Kyozon.

On tap for opening night was the Shojo Sour — an emerald green elixir made with Bombay Sapphire gin, Midori, fresh lime, egg white and a splash of sesame oil. The drink was sweet and fruity, and the egg white added a frothy texture. The sesame presented itself as a vague aroma that was more detectable by smell than by taste, though it brought an interesting element to the flavour profile and cut the cocktail’s overwhelming candy-quality.

Their other specialty cocktails all draw inspiration from classic Asian ingredients. Amongst others are the Shiso Tonica, made with their homemade shiso, sencha tonic and shiso leaves; the Leche de Geisha, which recalls Chinese herbal infusions and is made with black tea, orchids and roses; and the Gifuso Chiso, featuring rice milk, red bean foam, candied prunes and Hakutsuru sake. My mouth watered just reading the list.

Their bar menu also boasts a nice array of wines, beers and sakes, as well as classic cocktails.

Wrapping around the interior rails of the second floor is the Kaiten sushi conveyor belt — a concept popularized in Japan as an inexpensive novelty dining option. Pairs of sushi rolls float around the periphery of the dining space under little plastic domes for patrons to grab as they wish.

The sushi that I sampled tasted fresh, though the rolls themselves lacked innovation. The overall quality was only slightly better than what you would get from Sushi Shop or the like. Then again, it was opening night, and their Kaiten menus are advertised as a sort of variation on an all-you-can eat deal, which often means sacrificing quality for value. The prices vary depending on the colour of the plate you grab from the belt (i.e. a pink plate is $2.50 and a blue plate is $7). Also on the Kaiten menu are “new Asian” hot plates, like spicy edamame, crispy duck and watermelon salad, and green papaya and mango salad — all hovering around the $5 price range.

A more traditional dinner service is also on the menu, with à la carte items like cumin-scented lamb chops and tofu chili. I tried the salmon teriyaki, which was being passed around for the guests on opening night, along with their salted calamari and popcorn shrimp. All were good, if slightly predictable. I expected more pizazz from such a seemingly trendy fusion restaurant.

The one dish that did pleasantly surprise me was a dessert of skewered pineapple and marshmallows, drizzled with a wasabi puree. The sweetness of the candy and fruit cut the spice of the wasabi, and the pineapple gave it a tangy punch.

Hopefully Kyozon’s newness, novelty concept and trendy atmosphere will attract a younger, hipper crowd than the usual sleazy businessmen and tourists that descend upon Crescent. Overall, Kyozon has a lot of potential.

Kyozon is located at 1458 Crescent St, and is open from 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. on weekdays, and until 3 a.m. on weekends.

Categories
Student Life

Bar Brutus doesn’t bring home the bacon

New specialty bacon restaurant on Beaubien Street is better in theory than in practice

Ah, bacon: the food that transcends simple culinary appreciation. Bacon has become an internet and cultural phenomenon, with bacon bookmarks, bacon t-shirts and – at long last – bacon bars.

In theory, Bar Brutus’s local beer, good cocktails and bacon as far as the eye can see sound like a dream come true. Decorated as it is with a vibe devoted to old barber shops, and having  a monopoly over Quebec’s bacon vodka supply, you’d think it would be hard to dislike Brutus.

But somehow, they managed to make it possible.

Walking in, the bar is absolutely beautiful. The ceiling is covered in stylized tin tiles, with exposed brick along one wall, hardwood floors and beautiful antique lamps hanging from the ceiling. The exposed vents give a touch of that modern, industrial look. Topped off with warm lighting and purple accents, Bar Brutus is a gorgeous establishment.

Unfortunately, that is where my appreciation ended.

If the first thing you notice is the stunning décor, then the second is the noise. I’m no amateur when it comes to bars, but last time I checked, blaring music was typically reserved for clubs. I don’t think I would have been so bothered if the music  fit the bar’s gentlemanly vibe  – Classical? Jazz? 1960s crooners? – but what I got instead was pop and club music. After we were seated, my companion and I each had to lean halfway over the thin table to hear each other – and even then, it was touch and go.

Know what made it even worse? Screaming. Apparently, Bar Brutus has private rooms in the back. I don’t know what was happening back there, but every couple of minutes  a chorus of women would start to holler. Imagine what a drunken bachelorette party must sound like, and you have a reasonable approximation. In a small bar like that, the sound was impossible to escape. Why the management didn’t ask them to be quiet, I will never know.

Still, with bacon waiting for us, we were not to be  deterred.  We ordered three main courses for the two of us: the KD balls, the bacon sushi and their famous Jaegermeister poutine.

Unfortunately, I felt that all three could be summed up in a single word: average. The KD balls (made of deep fried macaroni and cheese) was simply what was advertised. The quality of the mac ‘n cheese wasn’t great, and made me wish they had used actual Kraft Dinner.

The bacon sushi was the dish I was particularly excited for, but I was disappointed to find the bacon was pink and nearly raw. In addition, none of the ingredients inside the sushi had been changed to complement the bacon: shockingly, raw bacon and traditional Japanese ingredients don’t go well together.

As for the poutine – well, I can think of many places in Montreal where you can get a better one. The sauce tasted a little too strongly of Jaegermeister for me, and the cheese curds were too sparse. I couldn’t even taste the bacon that was supposedly inside.

Each main course was $10, tax included, and the drinks were affordable (although a Coke will run you $5). With the exception of my waitress, the wait staff seemed extremely competent, and I often relied on them, flagging them down to take my order. I only met my waitress when she brought me the bill, and then she was surly and rude.

All in all, I was happy to stumble back outside onto Beaubien. I don’t think I will ever return to Bar Brutus – they, simply put, did not bring home the bacon.

Bar Brutus is located at 1290 Rue Beaubien E.

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