Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/898117
november 2017 / the tasting panel / 7 Aviation Lands at Front & Cooper When Kate Gerwin began compiling the cocktail menu at Front & Cooper, which opened earlier this year in Santa Cruz, California, she mulled over the classics before asking herself, "How can I make the best version of that in 2017?" The simplicity of the resulting beverage program, she says, "has been the biggest advantage. "In my opinion, most of the best bartenders in the world appreciate and recognize that classics stand the test of time for a reason," she continues. "Everything that any of us have ever done at this stage in the game is really based on someone else's work and paying respect and homage to the people and the foundations that gave us our careers." Front & Cooper's riff on the Aviation, as well as its other lemon-centric cocktails, uses oleo saccharum in the place of fresh lemon juice. "We zest the outside of the skins of lemons and take equal parts sugar and the zest peelings and put it in a vacuum sealer," Gerwin says. "If you've ever seen when people zest the skin of a lime or lemon over a cocktail and it sprays the oil out of the little pores, essentially what we do is make a syrup out of that oil. So you get this really bright, fragrant, amazing, lemony flavor." The crème de violette, meanwhile, comes from Austrian liqueur brand Rothman & Winter, one of several producers that's revived the rare ingredient after it was widely unavailable for decades. "A lot of some of the older liqueurs and liqueur makers, they were very artificial, very colored, and highly sugared," Gerwin explains. "So I think for us, having producers who are making quality spirits with integrity has allowed us to reinvent the cocktails and make them more balanced and more approachable for today's guests." That endorsement applies to the base of the cocktail as well: Aviation American Gin. "For me, the thing I love about Aviation is that so many people obviously associate gin with juniper, but that doesn't mean that's all it has to be and all it has to provide," Gerwin says. "With all these New American Gins coming out, I love the sarsaparilla and the lavender; to me, Aviation really has that sarsaparilla, root beer flavor and the lavender just complements that so well." Front & Cooper also uses Aviation in its bestselling Gin and Tonics. Served sangria-style in big wine glasses, the cocktails frequently prompt skepticism from people who don't consider themselves gin drinkers, but Gerwin tells her bartenders they can always tell patrons that they'll buy it back if they don't like it. "I have yet to buy back a single cocktail," Gerwin says with a laugh. "I can't tell you how many times people say, 'Well, I didn't think I liked gin.' And I'm like, 'Well, you do, you just haven't had the right gin or the right gin cocktail yet." AVIATION COCKTAIL Created by Hugo R. Ensslin ◗ 1 /3 oz. lemon juice ◗ 2 /3 oz. Aviation American Gin (The original recipe uses the now-defunct El Bart Gin. —Ed.) ◗ 2 dashes Maraschino liqueur ◗ 2 dashes crème de violette ◗ Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice, strain, and serve. PHOTO: JOHN KAEMMERLING Kate Gerwin is the Creative Director at Front & Cooper in Santa Cruz, CA. The craft cocktail bar features an Aviation cocktail made with Aviation American Gin on its menu. Hotel Wallick in New York City's Times Square (a victim of Prohibition, the hotel closed in 1939). But the Aviation—which mixes gin with lemon juice, Maraschino liqueur, and crème de violette—is one of many creations he popularized that continues to pop up on bar counters today, like at Front & Cooper, a bar in Santa Cruz, California, that Molina says is a "longtime friend of the Aviation brand." The Aviation also served as the flagship cocktail at the series of Hotel Wallick–inspired dinners, serving as what Molina calls a "mini history lesson" for smartly-dressed guests who could have blended right in with Ensslin's clientele. "We're going to the 1900s to get a peek at what's currently happen- ing, and it's interesting how history repeats itself," he says. "We want to be that brand that builds that little time machine in your taste buds that makes these cocktails come to life in the way they were meant to be." Invitations for the Hotel Wallick parties encouraged guests to dress in "modern 1920s chic" garb—advice attendees certainly took to heart at The Cooper Lounge in Denver. Davos Brands' Market Manager Nicola Anderson and Brand Ambassador Dan McClary (pictured at center and at right) toast to Aviation American Gin at the Hotel Wallick party in Los Angeles. PHOTO: LEMAR GRIFFIN PHOTO: EUGENE LEE