Aviation Cocktail

Violets are synonymous with spring, and this cocktail gets its pale blue colour from a violet liqueur, in French called crème de violette. Think cherries and violets, and you are on the right track. Add lemon juice and you've got an aromatic and a pleasingly floral, perfumed drink that is not too sweet and lets the gin perform its wonders.

The Aviation cocktail was conceived in New York during the first decade of the twentieth century by a bartender at the Hotel Wallick called Hugo Ensslin.

Crème de violette was created when the Decadent Movement was its peak in the final decades of the 19th century. That's why its colour signals fin-de-siècle decadence.

3.5 cl gin

1 cl Luxardo cherry liqueur

0.5 cl crème de violette

1 cl lemon juice

Shake the ingredients with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Buying a bottle of crème de violette may take you quite some time. You can get the same colouring from Crème Yvette or Parfait Amour, but the flavours are different.

Red Moon over Manhattan

Before starting on the lighther drinks of spring, let's try a drink that has red wine as its main protagonist with bourbon in a minor role. The result is a relaxed, low-alcohol libation that works well any time of day. Surprisingly, the red wine highlights the pleasing, aromatic make-up of bourbon.

As the name indicates, this is a take on the classic Manhattan cocktail which blends bourbon (or rye) whiskey with sweet vermouth and angostura bitters.

6 cl red wine

1.5 cl bourbon whiskey

1.5 cl simple syrup

Shake the ingredients with ice and strain into a glass of your choice. If you find the drink too sweet, go easy on the simple syrup. 

The Green Fairy

With spring round the corner it's time to dust off the bottles that were put away last autumn. What better way to evoke memories of spring than a pastis, the absinthe-like spirit from France taken with plain water as an afternoon apéritif.

The late Dick Bradsell, renowned London bartender, turned the casual long drink into a classy cocktail by using real absinthe and adding lemon juice and Angostura. The additions subdue the strong flavour of anise and create a perfect blend of aromatic notes.


3 cl absinthe


3 cl water


4.5 cl fresh lemon juice


2 teaspoon sugar


Dash Angostura Bitters

Shake the ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

The name of the cocktail is a translation of la Fée Verte, a nickname for absinthe.

Pastis, like Pernod or Ricard, was created in 1932 as a substitute for absinthe which had acquired a reputation for causing madness because of its wormwood component. So pastis doesn't contain wormwood and sugar is added, making it a liqueur. Absinthe has no sugar added in the processing and the bottled strength is usually 60%+.

Champs-Élysées Cocktail

This sophisticated and herbaceous cocktail ought to be a standard prescription for lightening up a winter afternoon or evening. Its combination of cognac, yellow Chartreuse, lemon juice and bitters works wonders. It will revitalize your senses and set them on the task of catching all the aromatic notes that especially Chartreuse is full of. So allow yourself a mental stroll down Champs-Élysées.

3 cl cognac

1.5 cl yellow Chartreuse

1.5 cl lemon juice

0.5 cl simple syrup

1 dash bitters

Shake the ingredients with ice. Strain into a cocktail or coupe glass. Add a lemon twist.

A note of warning: If you are not acquainted with Chartreuse, be prepared for its unexpected and unusual taste produced by its numerous herbs. Give it a chance, the taste grows on you.

Champagne Pick-Me-Up

If you need a little help to restore your good spirits this far into the winter season, a pick-me-up with sparkling wine could be the answer to your prayers. Its combination of sparkling wine, cognac and dry vermouth is certainly not mainstream, but that doesn't make it less enjoyable.

2 cl cognac

2 cl dry vermouth

0.5 cl simple syrup

Dry champagne or sparkling wine

Shake cognac, vermouth and simple syrup with ice, and strain into a flute glass. Top with dry champagne or other sparkling wine.

There are quite a few recipes that bear the same name; this is the best.

Whisky Buck

Buck is a mixed drink that involves ginger ale or ginger beer and citrus fruit combined with a base spirit. In the whisky buck the smoky flavour of whisky blends well with lemon and ginger making a simple, tasty long drink that packs a punch if you use ginger beer. With ginger ale it reveals its more pleasing side.

4 cl whisky

2 cl lemon juice

Ginger ale

Pour the whisky and lemon juice into a tall glass filled with ice, top with ginger ale. Stir gently.

Any whisky type will do just fine. Ginger ale is generally sweeter and less spicy than ginger beer.

William and Tonic

Poire William, the French pear brandy, is a marvellous eau-de-vie in its pure form - an exceptionally strong aroma of pears is its distinguishing trait. Mix it with tonic and it is pure delight. If the tonic is an elderflower tonic, it gets even better.

3 cl Poire William

12 cl elderflower tonic water

To a glass of your choice add ice and the ingredients. Stir gently. Could it be more simple?