Last night's dogbite: The Aviator
Bitters, Creme de Cassis, Drinkage, Gin, Maraschino, Orange July 9th, 2007
The 'Aviator' is a variation on one of my favorite cocktails, the 'Aviation', which started me on the road to cocktail obsession. This particular recipe is from a collection I recently purchased while at the bookstore (I seem to find myself stopping by there when it's out-of-the-way for my errands, like a literate H.I. McDunnough at the local Kwik-E-Mart) in the Food and Wine Cocktails 2007 guide. Now, I'll write up a full review of this uneven, if well-produced, guide later on but you should know that essentially it's a compendium of cocktail (and some bar food) recipes from around the U.S. that the Food & Wine magazine editors compiled in their research and visits during the past year. Thus, it was natural in flipping through it that I was attracted to the 'Aviator', developed by Jay Crabb at the 'Martini Monkey' bar in the airport at San Jose, California. It takes the basic 'Aviation' cocktail and puts a spin on it that includes creme de cassis, egg white, and throws in some orange bitters to boot to keep the drink more balanced against the sweet liqueur.
The Aviator
- 1 1/2 oz gin
- 1/2 oz maraschino liqueur
- 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 oz simple syrup
- 2 dashes orange bitters (used Regan's No. 6)
- 1 large egg white
- 1/2 oz creme de cassis
Combine all ingredients in an empty cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Add ice and shake again until cold. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and lightly pour the creme de cassis onto the drink.
The first things you notice are the head on this drink as you would expect from the egg white in the recipe, and how pretty the heavy creme de cassis at the bottom of the drink is. The aroma of the drink is floral but light, and brings to mind a fresh-faced Leonardo DiCaprio facing the first test flight of Hughes' XF-11 in the movie of the same name. Fortunately, the crash one experiences is not quite as catastrophic as Hughes' crashing of said XF-11. The start of this drink is very much like the Aviation with a crisp and bright start but is more muted because of the egg white. The bitters add a welcome back-end to the drink that one appreciates more as one gets into the heavy creme de cassis.
As you progress through the drink, as Jeffrey Morgenthaler suspects, it gets sweeter and sweeter and becomes less and less related to the Aviation (a bad thing from my perspective). Now, I'm not a fan of sweet drinks (especially berry-based ones) and given this drink's very close relation to the Aviation figured I would give it a shot, and the wife agreed that the front-end of it was very pleasant. However, as one lands this cocktail on the runway one ends up in a sweet land of imbalance and demanding water to flush the palate. Granted, I'm using the low-rent version of creme de cassis, but my distinct impression is that this would be the case regardless of the quality. One redeeming quality of this drink is that those who claim, 'But I don't like gin!!' may find this a suitable starting point. So, in the end, in most circumstances, save yourself the trouble of mixing this labor-intensive drink and just serve up an Aviation; my friend Jay heartily recommends it and, at the end of the long day of appreciating well-balanced drinks, your friends will thank you.
The Aviator Rating: 
Update: As you can see in the comments, Jay Crabb, of the Martini Monkey Bar & Lounge and the developer of this drink, stopped by to provide some corrections to the recipe I found in Food & Wine as well as reinforce his, and his establishment's, commitment to balanced and quality drinks. After seeing the changes he mentions (in the areas of garnish, and maraschino, cassis, and lemon juice proportions), and how it correlates to my impression of the Food & Wine version, I have not doubt that this version is far superior and avoids the sweet 'crash' I refer to in the above post:
The Aviator (correction)
- 1 1/2 oz gin
- 1/4 oz maraschino liqueur
- 1 oz lemon juice
- 1/2 oz simple syrup
- 2 dashes orange bitters
- 1 large egg white
- 1/4 oz creme de cassis
Combine all ingredients in an empty cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Add ice and shake again until cold. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and lightly pour the creme de cassis onto the drink. Flame an orange peel over the drink and use the flamed peel as garnish1 .
I think this is, yet again, an example of how subtle changes to recipes can have drastically different results. I get the feeling this recipe will turn out to be more consistently from start-to-finish like the pleasant experience I had upon first tasting the Food & Wine version and not turn out so sickly-sweet at the last 1/3 or so. I'll certainly update this post and comment on the results when I finally do. Thanks again, Jay, for adding your experience and expertise to the cocktail world and my small corner of it. Cheers!
- If I've missed any steps in preparation or the garnish, please let me know and I'll correct them as well, Jay [↩]
Although I love cassis I suspect this one isn’t for me, but serious points for the H.I. reference!
Just goes to show, as is often the case in cocktails, less is more!
Hmm…
Yeah, that seems awfully sweet for an “up” drink. I dunno, If I were to make it, I think I would start by leaving out the simple. Seems completely unnecessary with the 1/2 ounce of maraschino and cassis. Hard to say without trying it; but, those may be overpours, as well.
Still, I’ve heard great things about Martini Monkey. Wish I could think up some reason to visit the airport in San Jose!
I think I recognize that “Law stay away” candle.
definitely a good bev for America West pilots.
Speaking of art, that’s not a Langford painting or print in the background, is it?
Nope. From left-to-right you have the Marx Brothers (left of Oban), Bing Crosby (right og Oban), and then a shot from ‘Gentlement Prefer Blondes’ with Jane Russell strutting down a line of men. Cropped out, and further to the right, is a print of Kelly Pound’s pop art of a sock monkey at a bar (http://www.pounddesigns.com/sockmonkey/sockmonkeymartinibar.htm).
And did you mean the scenery-painting Langford or the country music punk-art Jon Langford?
The country music punk-art Jon Langford.
Thought the Bing Crosby looked a bit like one of his prints or paintings.
Thanks for trying our cocktail.
Some background info on the recipe: there were a couple of mistakes in the recipe Food & Wine printed. Here are the corrections: lemon Juice should be 1 oz, Maraschino Liqueuer should be 1/4 oz, and the orange peel for garnish is quite important as the oil adds a subtle orange flavor to the completed drink. The Casis in the bottom of the drink is only 1/4 oz (Marrie Brizzard Casis de Brodeuax). Try bumping up the lemon juice and use less Maraschino and Casis (and don’t forget that orange peel), and I hope that you’ll find it a balanced and enticing cocktail that draws inspiration from the Aviation while bringing some new and interesting flavors to the table as well for those who might otherwise shy away from gin.
I am not a fan of sweet drinks either, and we truly, truly strive for balance in our cocktails at the Martini Monkey.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts.
CHEERS!!
Jay Crabb
Martini Monkey Bar & Lounge
San Jose, California
Jay, thanks for visiting and providing corrections. I definitely think the increase in lemon juice, decrease in Cassis, and, as much as I love it, a reduction in Maraschino liqueur would greatly help balance the drink. Thank you very much for taking time to clarify; I’ve updated and noted the changes in the post.
I’m sure it also didn’t help that the only Creme de Cassis available in my area are fairly bottom-of-the-barrel options such as Hiram Walker; Marie Brizzard products aren’t shipped here for whatever reason.
I’ve only heard good things about the Martini Monkey and certainly intend to make my own stop by it should I find myself in San Jose. Your input is invaluable and this is how we learn about how we can make changes to drinks/ingredients strive for balance, so thanks again.
Interesting post – i think this validates my theory that drinks with egg in them will probably never make a comeback to modern day bars. They’ll just have to live on via cocktail devotees like us. The labor involved in shaking, and shaking, and shaking sometimes gets to be too much. And God forbid you make this at a party and everybody wants one. When I researched the Clover Club for my MxMo post, would you believe that in the pre-Prohibition days they actually hired people whose only job was to shake the cocktails? Anyway I’m going to try your recipe at some point in the future.