Traveling Cowboys: Trying Out New Hat Styles at Calgary's Only Custom Hat Manufacturer, Smithbilt Hats

It's a Fedora

Some people will call just about anything with a brim and a fixed crown a “fedora”. For the purist, a fedora is a felt hat with pinched sides and a lengthwise crease down the crown. It gives the front a familiar wedge-like shape.

One of the big advantages of a fedora and one of the reasons for the style's popularity is the wide flexible brim. Fedora brims are flat with no constructed edge or curl. The brim can be bent up or down as the wearer pleases.

The crown and the brim can both be moulded to the wearer’s taste. It means one can extract a lot of personality from these hats. The shape of the hat always communicates personality. So does the way it is worn. For example, it can be tilted down over the eyes which gives a mysterious "I mean business" look. It can be angled slightly upward for a more open and approachable form.

GET YOUR DESTINATION OR BUSINESS FEATURED: Click Here

We love wearing out Cowboy hats. Brian Hanson from Smithbilt Hats shaped them for us and over the years it's become a part of who we are and a key element of our brand.

There are many practical reasons for wearing a hat and we don't need fashion to convince us to do it. We wear hats because without it we're not dressed properly. It enhances our personality, keep the sun out of our eyes and it means business.

Enhancing personalities with hats is something Smithbilt has done for almost a hundred years. They've done it for many, many celebrities and visitors alike to Canada's largest western city. We are glad to be counted among them and glad that we can support one of the last hat makers in our country.

There's a saying that goes, "Never touch a Cowboy's hat". We are quite happy with ours, so don't even try touching or interfering with the way we look. However, Brian invited us to find out more about some of the other, more contemporary, styles of hats manufactured and shaped by this iconic company. We were introduced to the Baby Grizzly and the iconic Fedora.

If you want to see more of the "newer" style hats we recommend a visit in person to their new more contemporary building. If you cannot make it in person, check out their hat collection and accessories in their recently launched online store.

Observations

We wear hats and we encourage more people to do so. Remember, that when you wear a hat there is an etiquette.

For example, it used to be polite to take your hat off when entering a building, but the loss of hat-check girls (what an era!) and hat racks means this is no longer a rule. No one wants to put a hat that costs hundreds of dollars on a seat a greasy countertop or hold it in your hands trying to go about their business.

Take your hat off when eating. A real cowboy still takes it off in the presence of a lady, or in church. Tip your hat to a gentleman the first time you meet him and to a lady every time you greet her. Tipping your hat to a man thereafter becomes "weird". For a lady, it continues to be a sign of respect.

One last and important rule, never touch another cowboy’s hat. That’s just asking for trouble.

Hendrik van Wyk

Cowboy

We earn our livelihood by producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. We use Patreon to publish our premium content. Please become a patron at http://www.travelingcowboys.com if you want to see more of this and other local maker stories.

Photos

The Hat

Fedora

Celebrities

Hat Shaper

Cowboys

Traveling Cowboys: The ¡Perfecto! (Best) Margarita at Aroma Mexican Restaurant in Canmore, Alberta

¡Perfecto!

The problem with our line of work is that our palates are spoiled. We have the privilege and plenty of opportunities to eat the best and drink the fantastic wherever we go. The result is that our expectations are high. It also means that our standards are ever-increasing.

We do have our favourites, though. Ever-so-often, we have to circle back to what we refer to as "our people". They are our friends where to we travel. Visiting them, eating and drinking the best they have on offer is like wearing a familiar pair of comfortable shoes or sitting in a favourite chair. There is no pretence. It is the casual and a part of us.

This is how our love affair started with Margarita, until Laura at Aroma Mexican Restaurant in Canmore, Alberta made it enduring.

GET YOUR DESTINATION OR BUSINESS FEATURED: Click Here

A margarita is a cocktail consisting of tequila, triple sec, and lime juice, often served with salt on the rim of the glass. The drink is served shaken with ice (on the rocks), blended with ice (frozen margarita), or without ice (straight up). Although it has become acceptable to serve a margarita in a wide variety of glass types, ranging from cocktail and wine glasses to pint glasses and even large schooners, the drink is traditionally served in the eponymous margarita glass, a stepped-diameter variant of a cocktail glass or champagne coupe.

There are various stories about the origins of the drink during the earlier parts of the last century. However, most people know its murdered cousin found at the typical all-inclusive Mexican hideaway or passed-off as a drink-of-choice for riotous partying Springbreak youngsters in warmer climate locations.

We've discovered that the real Margarita is a drink with character and a power that should not be underestimated. Laura at Aroma Mexican Restaurant in Canmore introduced us to her. Aroma is now our favourite place for our Margarita-time because we've not succeeded in duplicating their version. This spurred us into action. We had to find out more about the secrets behind their particular version that makes it so uniquely delicious.

Chef Jose Castillo and Laura Matamoros were both born in Mexico City and raised in the kitchen. In 2009 they introduced the Bow Valley to their authentic and traditional Mexican cuisine in the Bow Valley. The restaurant has a warm and cozy atmosphere. It emulates the intimacy felt around a Mexican’s family kitchen table. Jose, himself is behind the stove in the kitchen.

He offers a fusion of Indigenous and Spanish cuisine, traditional sauces, tortillas, and desserts. All are artisanal homemade and slow cooked from scratch for each order. It is worth the wait if you are lucky to get a seat during the busy times. We know Jose and Laura personally, so it is our weekly culinary gourmet trip to Mexico. There is always a special table reserved for us, the "familia".

Observations

Laura took us on an expedition of Margarita discovery without divulging a single secret. From that perspective, we failed in our quest to know how to make an excellent Aroma Margarita.

Instead, we journeyed through the traditional, the flavourful, the herby, the fruity, smokey and the savoury. Just as our faculties began to fail at number four (or was it six), Laura managed to wake us with the kick of a spicy Jalapeno signature Margarita. After that, it all became a blur!

Aroma is not a "fancy" restaurant. Jose and Laura succeeded in keeping it personal and homey with really good traditional, but refined food. If you take time to get to know them, you will find it quickly turns into a friendship. For us, it is a welcome friendship because it includes frequent rendezvous with the fabulous Margarita.

P.S. Some Margarita's are only available when Laura is in attendance, and you won't find it on the menu. She guards her recipes that closely ;-)

P.S.S. If you have the guts, ask for the Two Cowboys version. See what happens!

Hendrik van Wyk

Mexican Cowboy

We earn our livelihood by producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. We use Patreon to publish our premium content. Please become a patron at http://www.travelingcowboys.com if you want to see more of this and other local maker stories.

Photos

Order is Up!

Heaven

Laura

Mixing

The Perfect Time

Secrets!

Two Cowboys: Filling our Beer Growlers with (A Lot of) Fresh Beer at Our Local in Canmore, Alberta

But, Is It Any Good?

We've been on a craft beer crusade over the last two years. It happened for two simple reasons. Firstly, we discovered fresh beer. Secondly, Alberta Province finally stepped into the 21st Century by allowing small commercial craft brewing. Suddenly, we were spoiled for choice, and crucially, we discovered that we too are entitled to an opinion.

While drinking our way through craft brews and visiting breweries in the Canadian West and as far as New Zealand, we've made an undesirable discovery. Not all beer is created equal. Most of what is brewed and labelled as "craft" is merely failing expectations.

GET YOUR DESTINATION OR BUSINESS FEATURED: Click Here

Let's Talk About Fresh Beer. 

It was a revelation to discover (from a very senior and internationally well respected consulting brewer) that beer goes stale a lot quicker than breweries want you to know. Some beer you should drink within a week or fortnight after the brew. Some can still be in good shape with flavour developing up to three weeks, but then you are stretching it. After that, don't bother unless you are really in need of refreshment. Beer is like bread. Best when it is fresh.

There are ways to make beer last longer (staying fresh for longer). Keeping it in a keg, in the dark, sitting quietly at the right temperature or by adding some stabilizing agent, are ways to do it. The problem is that once it is transported or hits bottles or cans, beer is pretty much done for it. It won't live up to expectations if you are a connoisseur.

Beer's freshness is affected by some factors such as temperature, movement, light, oxygen, etc. The official story is that beer that is appropriately handled, bottled or canned has a shelf life of six to nine months. Expiry dates on your favourite brand typically reflect the beer to be good for up to that time. What it means is that you are unlikely to fall violently ill from the beverage. However, it is no guarantee of freshness or taste.

Here is the revelation: A freshly brewed beer, less than four weeks old, at your local tap room, poured from a chilled keg, is in the best condition for enjoyment. Try it for yourself. Buy the can. Pour a pint from the keg. Drink both. Which one tastes better? Voila! (No, it is not the beer-gas that is the difference.)

This is why we are in complete support of local brewing and local beer. Like you baker and your butcher, your local brewer (if he knows what he is doing) is your best source of fresh beer. Even better if they have a taproom because not only is it your oasis for beer, it is also the local happy place that brings people together and cements friendships.

Observations

Canmore Brewing Company is our favourite local brewery and we are proud of having Brian Dunn and his team in our town. The brewery officially opened on 1 December 2016, a full year ago. We were there when it began. We were there when the tap room opened. I think we kicked the door off a day ahead of schedule. We were there when they participated in Canmore Uncorked, there for the Calgary Beer Festival, and we are there almost every week (sometimes several times) when we are in town for a pint and to get our ten growlers filled.

Over the last year, Brian kept tinkering with the recipes and sometimes we were elated with the results as he mustered new flavours and developed his menu. We also shared in the disappointments and loyally helped to drink those away.

The one thing that stands out for us about Canmore Brewing's beer is that it is not a mad-science experiment (Craft Breweries tend to get a little carried away sometimes). Instead, it is our comfort food. The last thing we want is for someone to fiddle with the recipe when we've fallen in love with it. Brian respects us and honours our wishes. There are seasonal brews. Some are quite good.

However, the locals appreciate Canmore Brewing for doing a few brews really, really well and we hope Brian keeps it that way.

Hendrik van Wyk

Beer Cowboy

We earn our livelihood by producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. We use Patreon to help us gain from our work. Please become a patron at http://www.travelingcowboys.com if you want to see more of this and other stories.

Photos

Vegetables

Family?

Ice Beer

Snow Beer

Beer Sale

Fresh Beer