Midnight Apothecary Halloween Cocktails at H Tasting Lounge

Five numbered potions, each with a label

Each potion is listed like a label on an old pharmacy bottle: volume, strength, price and what it's supposedly good for. Potion 00, listed as The Antitode (120 mL, 0% ABV, $14), is an alcohol-free restorative of black tea, smoked plum, black cardamom and verjus, and it's the least expensive thing on the list. Potion 01, The Love Spell (100 mL, 17.7% ABV, $17), is an elixir for attraction made with Ketel One vodka, rose, elderflower, raspberry and lemon. Potion 02, The Nightshade (142 mL, 16.3% ABV, $16), is a remedy for restless nights with Gran Centenario blanco, passionfruit, Thai basil, lime and scotch bonnet. If we had to rank them, The Nightshade wins on curiosity alone, and it's the one we'd steer a spice fan toward.

Potion 03, The Oracle (150 mL, 15% ABV, $21), is a tonic for divination: Tanqueray gin, butterfly pea flower, jasmine tonic and sparkling wine. It's the most expensive single potion and, to us, the most celebratory sounding, thanks to the sparkling wine. Potion 04, The Brew for Two (500 mL, 10% ABV, $25), is the lounge's ever-changing rum punch, and instead of listing ingredients, the menu tells you to ask what's brewing. That's our favourite detail on the whole list. Most menus answer your questions before you have them; this one leaves you one to ask.

Bayshore Drive hours, booking and lounge rules

Reservations go through SevenRooms. H Tasting Lounge is at 1601 Bayshore Drive, inside The Westin Bayshore Vancouver, with posted hours of 11:30 a.m. to midnight, Monday to Sunday. Minors under 19 aren't permitted in the lounge after 10 p.m. Groups of eight or more get an automatic 18% service charge. The event page doesn't say whether the potions are served for the lounge's full hours, so ask when you book. The menu ends November 1.

Sharing The Brew for Two

We'd go on a weeknight evening, book through SevenRooms, and order across the menu instead of doubling up: The Oracle for one of you, and The Nightshade or Potion 00 for the other, depending on who's drinking. Then share The Brew for Two and find out what it is this time. Whatever night you choose, make it no later than November 1, since that's the menu's last night. And if this is a date, five labelled potions mean the conversation has a starting point.