Day 38: Aviation

  • 2 oz gin
  • 3/4 oz lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz Maraschino liqueur
  • 1/4 oz Crème de violette

The Aviation is the first cocktail that really got me into gin, and it’s because Lisa made me one with Hendrick’s many years ago. My only previous experience with gin was with Tanqueray, which is heavy on the juniper and fairly unpleasant to me. Hendrick’s has a wonderful cucumber flavor that makes it very versatile in drinks for people who don’t care for heavy juniper flavors. I’ve since been branching out and trying other gins, and the Uncle Val’s is a new favorite, so of course I needed to try it in an Aviation. It is glorious in this cocktail! It’s a fresh, floral flavor profile.

Day 14: Death & Co The Risk Pool

  • 2 oz gin
  • 3/4 oz lime juice
  • 3/4 oz simple syrup
  • 1/2 oz grapefruit juice
  • 1/4 oz Creme de Violette

William and I were running some errands to pick up supplies for Freezerburn this evening when I realized that I hadn’t done my drink for the day yet. Since he’s being a good sport and helping me out I wanted to make him something. He asked for a gin drink, so I flipped through the Death & Co book (yeah, you’ll be seeing a lot of recipes from there for a while) and found one where I had all the ingredients.

Their recipe calls for Old Tom gin, which I didn’t have, so I substituted Citadel. Presumably that makes for a bit of a drier drink than specified. I also initially balked at the amount of simple used here, but after trying it I am sold. This was so good I almost stole it from William! I love Aviations but haven’t had many lately, and this was a damn good variation on that theme. I really think the large amount of simple toned down the bitter/tart of the grapefruit, and the lime calms the floral of the Violette. I can see this becoming a standby for me.