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Tag Archives: aviation

Cherry Lillet

Day 290, Cocktail 287

Wednesday night and my stream of consciousness cocktailing took me from the Ty Ku Cherry with it’s gin and maraschino (along with the Ty Ku, of course) to a combination of gin, maraschino and Lillet Blanc.  Why?  Well, regular readers know by now that I love the Luxardo Maraschino liqueur.  Gin, well, that’s a no brainer – just check out the cocktail index and see how many gin drinks there are.  And the Lillet Blanc?  Why not?  It’s been sitting in the fridge, feeling a little left out lately, so I pulled it out.  Here’s what I came up with.

  Cherry Lillet

  • 2 oz Beefeater Gin
  • 1 oz Lillet Blanc
  • 1/8 oz Luxardo Maraschino liqueur

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing glass and stir vigorously with ice.  Strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with a lemon twist.

Hmmm, delicious.  The floral and orange flavors of the Lillet work wonderfully with Luxardo’s cherry to create a multi layered flavor profile that blends very well with the gin.  I suggest using a London Dry type gin such as Beefeater or Bombay for this drink.  A lighter gin would get lost behind the Lillet and Luxardo.  If you like the Aviation or French 75 cocktails, I think you’ll like this one as well.  Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Cheers!

Am I On a Diet?

Day 63, Cocktail 59

It used to be that if you mentioned grapefruit it meant you were on a diet (pass the cottage cheese, please).  However, I’ve found grapefruit juice to be an excellent mixer for cocktails.  And, since I have a bottle of it, what better time to explore the possibilities than now?  Tonight’s cocktail is a twist on the classic Aviation.

  Colonial Cocktail

  • 1-1/2 oz gin
  • 3/4 oz grapefruit juice
  • 1/2 oz Luxardo maraschino liqueur

Combine the gin, grapefruit juice and maraschino in a shaker with 4-5 ice cubes.  Shake thoroughly to mix and chill.  Pour into a cocktail glass.

I used my slightly larger 6 oz glasses for this.  After the ice melt, there was well over 4 oz of liquid and I would have overflowed my 4 oz glasses.  This was very similar to the Aviation, as mentioned above.  It was a very nice drink to sip while enjoying some pool time this afternoon and was not quite as tart as the Aviation.  Try it out and let me know which you preferred, the Aviation or the Colonial!

Cheers!