The Shaft: Calgary's coffee cocktail that conquered Western Canada
From a late-night secret at a 17th Avenue restaurant, the Shaft became a bar staple across the prairies — and now it's available canned.
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Walk into a packed bar in Calgary on a busy night and you'll likely spot someone downing a creamy coffee cocktail with gusto. The Shaft has become ubiquitous in Western Canadian bars over the past few years, thanks to its social nature — you'll rarely see anyone drinking one alone — and its ability to pep people up for another round. The drink's roots trace to Calgary in the mid-1990s.
Bartender Mark Smith, working at the now-shuttered Cilantro on 17th Avenue S.W., created what was essentially a long shot of Kahlúa, chilled espresso, and a touch of milk to keep coworkers awake through late shifts and post-work partying. He named it after the 1970s movie character John Shaft — "tall, dark and cool." Smith and some Cilantro coworkers later moved down the street to The Living Room, a newly launched restaurant that's now celebrating its 25th anniversary. While the Shaft has never appeared on The Living Room's official menu, the restaurant stakes a reasonable claim as the drink's birthplace.
"The idea behind it was that we were always in a bit of a rush as service staff," says Living Room owner Patrick Hill. "It was designed to be a one-timer, top to bottom. You give it a stir with the straw and slurp the whole thing back." For nearly two decades, the Shaft remained an "if you know, you know" secret among Calgarians, though it exploded earlier in Victoria and Banff, each region developing its own variation.
The drink's recent surge across Calgary bars comes down to one thing: pre-mixed, on-tap Shaft products. "Now, bartenders change a keg and there's 250 more Shafts on the line," says Matthew Hendriks, operations director of byHendo, which supplies kegs to more than 100 bars across Western Canada. "It revolutionized the drink." This convenience means Shafts are now available everywhere from craft cocktail lounges to Stampede party tents.
Proof has served handcrafted bourbon and sherry riffs, while Banff's Brazen offers a version with Frangelico and maple cream. Most bars take a reverent approach to the original recipe — three parts: Kahlúa, skim milk, and espresso. The drink has even made its way into canned ready-to-drink formats.
Park Distillery's Mountain Joe and byHendo's Shaft (which also comes in a non-alcoholic version) are now on shelves. Hendriks says the cans opened new audiences — people who prefer to nurse their Shafts around a campfire rather than slam them at a bar. "It really opened our eyes to a market that we didn't realize existed," he said.