If you rely on little Pokémon creatures for your entertainment fix, then here is a pop-up that you've got to catch this week — with as much enthusiasm as you would tap and hold a Poké ball.
Port Moody’s Counter Culture Cocktails, a private business that organizes cocktail pop-ups, is bringing a one-day Pokémon-themed event to New West’s Moodswing Coffee and Bar on Thursday, June 15 — complete with cocktails, snacks and trivia that would largely make sense only to Poké fans.
The cafe and bar space on Front Street will celebrate the fictional creatures from the Pokémon world that have had people chasing after them since the 1990s, at the one-evening event.
The Japanese anime and game series is sort of a big deal, for it has grown to become the highest-grossing media franchise in history (as per Techzim), spawning generations of Poké fans along the way.
One such fan is Chase McEwan, founder of Counter Culture Cocktails, who floated the idea of a Pokémon cocktail pop-up to the Moodswing Bar team and immediately got the go-ahead.
“The owner said that a lot of people who work there are obsessed with Pokémon.”
So, McEwan and the Moodswing staff got to work, planning a themed night that will include a Pokémon Stadium where people can play Pokémon games for free, a 20-question “Who’s That Pokemon” trivia game and a set of three cocktails that McEwan will offer as an ode to his three favourite Pokémon starters (a starter, in Pokémon lingo, is a creature that a Pokémon trainer obtains right at the start of a game).
For the pop-up, McEwan has brought out a drink based on Charizard, a fire-type Pokémon that does sword dances and body slams. Called Charizard Chillin', the cocktail is a “perfect wind-down drink, intriguingly desserty, with notes of tart orange, vanilla, coconut all tied in with a cloudy mouthfeel!,” he wrote on his Instagram page.
Next, with the frog-like Pokémon Greninja as his muse, McEwan developed a cocktail called Greninja Jammin’, which he wrote, is a “vegetal, tart and spirit forward” drink that includes light rum, lily pad, blue curaçao and lime."
And for the third, McEwan took inspiration from the pale-green reptilian Pokémon Meganium. This dinosaur-looking Pokémon also has a set of petals that release an aroma to weaken its enemy’s fighting spirit. McEwan created this “floral, easy and revitalizing” drink with gin, geranium cordial, lime and elderflower tea to align with the Pokémon's vibe.
With a menu that offers drinks that each tell the story of a little Pokémon and snack options that also add to the theme, the pop-up might be the perfect place to remind yourself of the game’s oft-used slogan: “Gotta catch ‘em all!”
Just remember, in this this case, it refers to the swills.
Check out Counter Culture Cocktail's Pokémon-themed pop-up at Moodswing Bar and Coffee (655 Front St.) on Thursday, June 15, at 5 p.m.
