The Aviation

[martin]

I just made something close to a Wondrich Aviation, although I left out the violette, because I currently have none (and prefer it that way), and I used Hayman’s Old Tom in place of Plymouth. One teaspoon of maraschino is plenty for me: the maraschino is clearly present, but the drink has not become—as @slkinsey put’s it—a “maraschino sour” (yick!).

The 1/2 oz of lemon juice, as opposed to the more “typical” 3/4–1 oz, is very interesting to me. The smaller dose of acid in the drink is instantly obvious in the taste, and takes me straight back to this discussion.

@slye

I bought the Rothman & Winter CdV when it came out and promptly tried it out in an Aviation… but it always turns the drink a dingy grey color, not the appealing “sky-blue” that seems to be a critical part of its identity. And I could never figure out if its primary purpose was to add color or flavor. (I mean, probably both, but is one of those secondary?)

Same problem with the Jupiter and its Parfait Amour constituent. The drink either looks like dirty dishwater, or it has way WAY too much of the floral liqueur in it. Blue food coloring has been proposed. Unfortunately, we don’t get to ask Ensslin what he really had in mind.

@slye

It’s like the grenadine problem. I think grenadine is more often used for its flavor, so I try to use the good stuff regardless of how it looks. But there is still a recipe or two where I surmise that it’s just there to add color, in which case I might use the bright red Rose’s stuff.

Historically, I’m pretty sure grenadine was mainly used for anything but color and sweetening. In the last couple decades, we’ve been basically been trying to insert pomegranate syrup in its place. And yeah, if you want the color, you have to use fresh pomegranate juice in your syrup, or reach for the artificial stuff.