How to Make an Aviation: A Cartoon About Booze -The Toast

How to Make an Aviation: A Cartoon About Booze

ByJohn Leavitt

on December 5, 2013 in Cartoons & Comics

John Leavitt is a cartoonist, writer, director, and illustrator, His cartoons and illustrations have appeared in: The New Yorker, The Chronicle Review, The New York Press, The Common Review, The Journal Of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Narrative Magazine and elsewhere. He has worked with Molly Crabapple to produce posters for The Electronic Frontier Foundation and others.

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+3 Vote up Vote down

icebergmama 113p · 594 weeks ago

<3 is crème de violette what I think it is ie a violet-flavored liqueur?

5 replies · active 594 weeks ago

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anninyn 124p · 594 weeks ago

I am intriqued. I've had Creme de Menthe and Creme de Cacao but even the weird offlicense doesn't sell Creme de Violette.

(I like parma violets and violet sweets so I assume I'd like a violet liqueur)

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bustedsneakers · 594 weeks ago

A friend uses it for "Tears In The Rain." It is indeed a violet-flavoured liqueur. He has the finest bar in Pittsburgh in his living room and swears by the stuff.

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madgehowlet 95p · 594 weeks ago

Who is this person and why am I not friends with him.

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msjinxie 106p · 594 weeks ago

It IS and it's delightful.

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johnwthompson 90p · 594 weeks ago

Yes. I believe the first cocktail I ever had was an aviation, at Little Branch in Manhattan. I got so drunk that night

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anninyn 124p · 594 weeks ago

Is this going to be a regular series? Cause I like the combination of art, cocktail recipes and history.

2 replies · active 594 weeks ago

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super_novice 101p · 594 weeks ago

Seriously. Gin and history are my two favourite things.

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elsamac 121p · 594 weeks ago

Yesssssss. I love the tale and the art, and I'm much more likely to try the cocktail now that I've seen it represented like this: the color and clarity, the shape of the glass. So much more evocative than a photograph!

[disclosure: I know John Leavitt a bit, and I like him much more than a bit.]

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stuffisthings 110p · 594 weeks ago

Floral and bitter? I'll take that.

Death to sweet cocktails and hoppy beers.

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elsamac 121p · 594 weeks ago

John, you've allllmost persuaded me to buy a bottle of créme de violette. (Smart money is on me buying a bottle for someone else, which gives me both credit for a fun present and proximity to créme de violette. Pretty canny, huh?)

2 replies · active 594 weeks ago

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thewhelk 139p · 594 weeks ago

I am giving you permission to buy that bottle of Creme De Violette

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elsamac 121p · 594 weeks ago

Nooooooooo, don't force/allow me! We have bottles upon bottles of specialty liquors! Somehow all our friends got it into their heads that we love odd liquors and liqueurs, so people keep showing up with cilantro vodka and coconut rum that just sit in our liquor cabinet, glaring at me.

(But not my friend M's gift of The King's Ginger. That was such a winner that I urged it on guests until it was alllllmost drunk-up, then hid the last inch or so under the sink for myself. Shhhhh, don't tell anyone.)

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FionaChatwin 96p · 594 weeks ago

I want more of these! Old-timey cocktails are one of my interests and I have a collection of unusual liqueurs to that end.

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MalloryOrtberg 121p · 594 weeks ago

"Steel fist in a velvet glove" is also a common expression to describe femme lesbians! THE MORE YOU KNOW

1 reply · active 594 weeks ago

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Abanthis 108p · 594 weeks ago

Hehe, fist.

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Fear Biter · 594 weeks ago

Ahhhh I really enjoyed this a lot! The Aviation is one of my all time favorite cocktails! Instead of any old creme de violette I recommend asking for/using Creme Yvette if you can get it. It is a slightly different formulation and it tastes lovely. In fact, I thought Creme Yvette was called for in the original Aviation recipe. John, do you know anything about Creme Yvette? I've tried to research it and the Aviation and the Blue Moon a little bit (read: desultory googling when tipsy), but there is a lot of conflicting info out there

I love a good Manhattan, but the cocktail hipsters in San Francisco have almost ruined that for me. It is fun to have some other classic and classy drink orders for impressing the professors of mixology and steampunk afficionados who have take over all my locals

2 replies · active 594 weeks ago

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thewhelk 139p · 594 weeks ago

Looks like Creme Yvette wasn't available until 2010 - and I've never seen it on the shelf (if they have anything it's Creme De Violette) but man it sounds great.

This calls for more research and practical experimentation.

You know, for science.

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Fear Biter · 594 weeks ago

Yes! I propose a drink-off and volunteer to be a taste tester! Seriously though, if you are ever in SF and want to do this, I know several bars that make KILLER aviations, though definitely with Creme De Violette.

You are right that Creme Yvette only became recently commercially available again, but it is a revival of a very old spirit. I believe the people responsible for St Germain, and the subsquent elderflower resurgence, got ahold of the proprietary recipe for Creme Yvette a few years back. Sadly, it hasn't really caught fire in the same way as St Germain. I've only ever seen it in BevMo, and it is pretty spendy.

Sorry to bang on about this. All evidence to the contrary, I'm not shilling for Creme Yvette. I just love talking about this stuff. I'm the only one I know who has ever heard of the Aviation so I'm pathetically excited.

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anecdata 94p · 594 weeks ago

I love, love Aviations! And I didn't even have to buy the creme de violette myself: some awesome friends brought it to a cocktail once a couple of years ago, and I'm still working on the same bottle. Obviously I don't make Aviations enough.

Real talk, though, you need those incredible Luxardo cherries. They're amazing.

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octopusgallery 72p · 594 weeks ago

Fun fact: Some people react to the flavor chemicals of violets the same way other people do to cilantro. For them, creme de violette tastes like soap. I am sadly one of those people. :((((( Interesting, Creme Yvette does not have the same effect. Perhaps there's less violet in it or there's enough other things in there to make soap taste good.

2 replies · active 594 weeks ago

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FionaChatwin 96p · 594 weeks ago

I didn't know this but I'm fascinated. My boyfriend has the cilantro thing so I need to try him with creme de violette!

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octopusgallery 72p · 594 weeks ago

I don't think it's the same taste gene as I don't have a problem with cilantro. But I fully endorse experiments in the name of drinking science.

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lyetteann 112p · 594 weeks ago

Wait, the U.S. didn't have creme de violette until 2007? Could bars buy it? Because I very distinctly remember getting genteelly bombed on aviations at least as far back as 2002.

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NicoleCliffe 145p · 594 weeks ago

Fun fact: gin and chocolate milk? Not a cocktail.

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thewhelk 139p · 594 weeks ago

I made the drink step by step via twitter photo posts and collected it here
http://storify.com/LeavittAlone/how-to-make-an-av...

BOOM

Plus, the actual coat I drew in the comic.

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lilyjoin · 588 weeks ago

I love the tale and the art, and I'm much more likely to try the cocktail now that I've seen it represented like this: the color and clarity, the shape of the glass.

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