Mixology Monday: Niche Spirits

 When you're in cocktail creation mode what is the first spirit you lay your hands on?  Gin?  Bourbon? Rum?  How about Akvavit, Cachaca or Armagnac?  Probably not.  We all have our favorite spirits and flavor combinations that we enjoy when making a cocktail but for this Months Mixology Monday hosted by Filip at Adventures in Cocktails we will be encouraged to go outside our comfort zone and experiment with spirits that are often over looked for no reason other then our unfamiliarity with them.

"…Any cocktail where the base ingredient is not bourbon, gin, rum, rye, tequila, vodka etc would qualify.  So whether you choose Mezcal or Armagnac get creative and showcase your favorite niche spirit."
- Mixology Monday

Seeing how it is summer (or at least it officially is in two days) clear spirits are my poison of choice at this moment.  One of my absolute favorite cocktails to enjoy on a hot summer afternoon is a quality margarita.  1.5 oz Tequila, 0.5 oz cointreau, 1 oz lime juice, dash of simple syrup, shaken and served on the rocks.  Using this classic as the point of departure, I wanted to create a cocktail equally refreshing while steering off path enough to distinguish it from any preexisting recipes.

Lapageria Rosea
- 1.5 oz Pisco
- 0.5 oz Giffard Grapefruit Liqueur
- 0.5 oz Orange Juice
- 0.5 oz Lemon Juice
- 0.25 oz Simple Syrup.

- Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker
- Add ice and shake
- Double strain over ice into chilled rocks glass
- Express oils of orange peel over drink
- Discard orange peel

Lapageria Rosea

This is one of those cocktails that you can easily adjust an ingredients proportion to suit your tastes.  I had to make this drink four times before I got it absolutely perfect for my liking.  I original used Aperol but found that the taste of the Pisco to be very overwhelming.   If you can't get any of Giffard's products in your area feel free to substitute any other grapefruit liqueur.

I would like to thank Mixology Monday and Filip at Adventures in Cocktails for this months theme of unusual base spirited cocktails.  If you haven't been to Filip's site defiantly check it out!  Thanks for reading and please comment!  A tweet for my blog with result in a tweet for your blog.  Follow me at spirit_imbibing on twitter and I will be sure to return the favor!

Classic Cocktail of The Month: Aviation

With only a couple weeks until the first official day of summer, here in Victoria B.C. the sun has made an early appearance after nearly two months of hibernation.  On such a beautiful day, one can only help but to think of a cocktail to enjoy.  With a slightly grey sky, an Aviation seems like the perfect fit for today.  The Aviation first emerges in the early 1910's in Hugo Ensslin's 1916 Publication of "Recipes for Mixed Drinks".  Head Bartender at Times Square's Hotel Wallick, Hugo was responsible for  publishing the last guide to bartending before prohibition was enacted in the USA.  This possibly could account for the reason behind the lost of the much beloved creme de violette, which takes a leave of absence in nearly all cocktail books after then ratification of the volstead act in 1919.  The original 1916 recipe for the Aviation calls for 2oz of Gin, 0.5 oz lemon juice, 2 tsp maraschino liqueur and 1 tsp of creme de violette.  In most modern cocktail books and bars your find the recipe some where along the lines of the following.

 Aviation
- 2 oz Gin
- 0.5 oz Lemon Juice
- 0.5 oz Maraschino Liqueur
- 0.25 oz Creme De Violette

- Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker
- Add ice and shake
- Double Strain into chilled cocktail glass
- Garnish with a brandied cherry and/or a lemon zest

Aviation

I tend to drink my Aviations slightly different from both above recipes, nothing of a major changes by any means.  For my tastes I find the following recipe more suited to me.

Aviation

- 2 oz Gin

- 0.75 oz Lemon Juice

- 0.5 oz Maraschino Liqueur

- 0.25 oz Creme De Violette

  

Only an addition .25 oz of lemon juice was added but I feel it really balances the cocktail perfectly.  I find the maraschino is very over powering otherwise.

For this months variation I didn't want to make too dramatic of a twist of this classic.  As you'll see, all the flavors of the original Aviation are there just with a slightly altered state of delivery and a couple extra ingredients.  

Aces High

- 2 oz Gin

- 0.75 oz Fentimans Victorian Lemonade

- 0.5 oz Maraschino Liqueur

- 0.25 oz Creme De Violette

- 1/2 an Egg White

- 2 Dashes Orange Bitters

- Add all ingredients except lemonade to cocktail shaker

- Dry shake

- Add ice and shake

- Double Strain into chilled champagne flute

- Top with Fetimans Victorian Lemonade

- Garnish with a long lemon twist

Aces High

Although I could never hope to have any of my cocktails achieve the cult status that has become of the Aviation, I would love for you to give this or any of my original liberations a try and let me know your honest opinion.  I'll also be trying to update my blog at least once a week with some new ideas and topics of conversations.  Future blog posts include this coming Mixology Monday post on the 20th, couple more post for cocktail beginners and some blind tastings.  Remember comments are always appreciated!