It’s finally springtime in Northern Alberta where I live. This has been an unseasonably cold Spring, even for us northerners. We yearn for the warm weather and the first green shoots of grass after the snow melts. We search for all the signs of the summer to come. Finally the days are longer and the trees are blooming with the promise of summer on the way. An Alberta summer is magical in my opinion. There’s nothing quite like the anticipation of those long sun drenched days and that first patio drink.
To add to the excitement, we are also done with any Covid restrictions as the pandemic seems to have died down. This is encouraging myself and many others to get out much more than we may have in the last couple years when restrictions sucked the fun out of a lot of things. I plan to do it all this summer and get out as much as possible. This may also mean going to the movies which is something I haven’t done in a very long time.
If you haven’t heard, there’s a new Top Gun movie in theaters now! This has so many people pumped to go back to the movies and see Tom Cruise reprise his iconic role of Maverick. The original being such a classic, I decided to rewatch it and get inspired to make some flying related cocktails to share with you all. The cheesy one liners and music just did it for me and I can’t wait to go see the new one.
The first drink is The Aviation. I specifically bought Aviation gin to make this cocktail because I hadn’t tried it yet. It definitely does this floral drink justice and I would absolutely recommend it for this cocktail specifically.
The Aviation
2 oz gin
1/4 oz maraschino liqueur 1/2 oz creme de violette 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice Garnish: lemon peel
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Strain into a frosted coupe glass and garnish with a lemon peel.
Next up is the Paper Plane. I had tried making this cocktail a year or so back and I didn’t have the right amaro for it so it wasn’t my favourite. I finally got my hands on some Nonino Amaro and boy does the cocktail make a 180 for me. The ingredients form into fruitier whisky sour (minus the egg white) and it’s rapidly becoming one of my favourites. This is a relatively new invention by Sam Ross in 2008 and it’s named after the M.I.A. song that I featured in my video below.
The Paper Plane
3/4 oz nonino amaro 3/4 oz aperol
3/4 oz lemon juice 3/4 oz bourbon Garnish: lemon twist
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Strain into a frosted coupe glass and garnish with a lemon peel. You can also make a small paper airplane and spear it with a toothpick for a fun extra garnish.
You’ll be feeling the need for speed after having one of these because you’ll be rushing to make another round! I hope you enjoy the drinks and have a blast watching Top Gun: Maverick this summer.
