New Westminster's Moodswing Coffee and Bar is gearing up for a night of nostalgia with a Ghibli-themed pop-up.
On Thursday, Sept. 7, the cafe and bar on 655 Front St. (formerly known as Old Crow Coffee Co.), will turn into a mini theatre for Ghibli movies and Ghibli-inspired cocktails.
The event is the brainchild of Chase McEwan, founder of Counter Culture Cocktails, who has previously organized a similar Pokémon-themed pop-up in New West.
The upcoming event is an ode to his love for Studio Ghibli’s anime stories that are among the highest-grossing feature films in Japan.
"I watched Kiki's Delivery Service and My Neighbour Totoro when I was a kid and loved them," said McEwan.
"Then I watched Howl's Moving Castle when I was 19 and loved it…. it sort of reawakened my love for Ghibli."
Inspired by these three movies, he whipped up a cocktail menu that interested attendees will get to taste for the first time.
The "comforting" breakfast scene from Howl's Moving Castle, he said, had him come up with a cocktail called "She Likes My Spark!" — a mix of black tea syrup, brandy, cointreau, orange tree bitters, and garnished with a flaming orange to represent Calcifer (name of the fire demon, one of the characters in the movie).
Meanwhile, the bathhouse in Ghibli's popular production Spirited Away was the muse behind McEwan's second cocktail, Herbal Soak.
He imagined what "the aromas of the water would be like" and made a concoction with house-made ginger liqueur, green chartreuse, gin and lime.
The third cocktail, he added, is an ode to Kiki's "delicious-looking" pancakes from the movie Kiki's Delivery Service — it has clarified oat infused bourbon, maple liqueur, and banana oleo saccharum.
While chugging a Ghibli-inspired cocktail is one way to show your love for the award-winning studio, joining a trivia session or showing up in costumes are other ways to be part of the Ghibli fandom at this pop-up.
Book your spot by sending a Direct Message to Moodswing Bar and Cafe on Instagram.
