Notes

This is one of the very few instances in which I don’t love the version of a cocktail on Tuxedo no. 2. It’s too sweet.

I prefer the version Robert Hess uses in this video from the series he did for the Small Screen network. (It’s probably not a coincidence: this is the first version I learned to make.) The videos are a bit of a blast from the past, especially in their reminder that there was a time where it was not particularly easy to find crème de violette. But I fell in love with cocktails through Hess’s gentle, charming, accessible videos and they will forever have a place in my heart.

For gin, my favorite choice here might be good old Beefeater. I don’t much like Aviation gin in this cocktail, despite its name, as it has a soft quality that leaves me unsatisfied. I like a sharp edge to my Aviation. Most traditional London Dry gins should work.