Gibson's on Rush

[birder53]

Spent a few days in Chicago last week on business. Dinner on Thursday was courtesy of one of our vendors and he chose Gibsons. The bartenders looked to be an experienced lot and quite an assortment of drinks and cocktails were being ordered and served in the crowded and very noisy bar. I decided to ask for an Aviation. The 60+ year old bartender got closer, looked me in the eye and said 'A what?'. An Aviation, I repeated. 'What's that?' I listed the ingredients and got another 'What?' I tried to explain the maraschino liquer. Well, they didn't have the maraschino and he had also never heard of it. I mentioned Dale DeGroff's book, trying to assure him I hadn't just made it up to stump him. He said he was going to check into it and asked me what my second choice was. I went with a very dry Bombay Sapphire martini. It was wonderful! I later asked him what vermouth he had used ( I was talking with friends and didn't watch him prepare the drink) as his drink tasted better than any martini I had made at home. The answer - no vermouth! He explained that so many customers sent the martinis back because they weren't dry enough that they just stopped adding the vermouth. Even so, he said some folks still send them back because they aren't dry enough! Now I know I like my gin stirred, not shaken, and hold the vermouth!

[trillium]

That's a sad tale in so many different ways....

[birder53]

That's a sad tale in so many different ways....

I hope the sad part isn't the fact that I found out I enjoy pure gin!

[beans]

Sad that Maraschino liqueur isn't widely available for legal sale or service either.

[trillium]

That's a sad tale in so many different ways....

I hope the sad part isn't the fact that I found out I enjoy pure gin!

Not at all. The sad part is that what you enjoy gets called a martini, when it is clearly not one. The other sad part is that an experienced barkeep at a busy bar hadn't even heard of maraschino liqueur. And I know for a fact that 3 different brands are for sale in Chicago.

regards,

trillium

[beans]

The sad part is that what you enjoy gets called a martini, when it is clearly not one. The other sad part is that an experienced barkeep at a busy bar hadn't even heard of maraschino liqueur. And I know for a fact that 3 different brands are for sale in Chicago.

Oh, the horror!

[ned]

So what are your recipes for the aviation?

Mine is:

2 pts gin

1pt maraschino

dash of simple syrup

juice of 1/2 a lemon

garnish of preserved cherry