What should you drink on a private flight? We have some ideas…
Are you wondering which cocktails to enjoy on a private jet charter? Our drinks menu was designed to take away the guesswork.
Silver Air’s signature cabin craft cocktails highlight the best characteristics of elegant spirits, satisfying a range of tastes by perfectly balancing sweet, tart and sour flavors.
Vintage-inspired Fancy Free and Aviation No. 1 cocktails come courtesy of Eric Alperin, the founder of Alperin Enterprises, who we happened to meet on a flight. The owner of three bars and a craft clear ice company, Eric was traveling from Los Angeles to Austin while working on a cocktail culture book. We struck up a conversation and stayed in touch, and we reached out to him as we designed our drinks menu to perfect our selections and ensure easy cocktail recipes that could be made during flight while exceeding guests’ expectations. Julie Welton, our Manager of Cabin Services (and a bartender in a previous life), created the Pink Cloud for a company event, which turned out to be a huge hit. Another crowd-pleaser, Julie’s Pineapple Mimosa was fittingly created in the air en route to Hawaii. Our sparkling options include expertly mixed versions of the crisp and light St. Germain Sparkler and, on Boeing Business Jet, the sweet-tart Aperol Spritz.
The History of the Aviation No. 1 Cocktail
The legend of the Aviation begins at New York City’s Hotel Wallick a decade ahead of America’s Golden Age of Flight. Head bartender Hugo Ensslin is credited with inventing the Aviation, which was featured in his 1916 book Recipes for Mixed Drinks.
Despite its ordinary appearance among hundreds of others in the book, something about Aviation elevated this simple cocktail recipe from just another drink to a widely appreciated, time-honored classic. Maybe it’s the alchemy of great technique, the perfect ratio of just a few ingredients and a noble name that lifted Aviation No. 1 from obscurity.
Silver Air’s Aviation No. 1, featuring Hendrick’s Gin
Silver Air’s palate-pleasing take on this stylish vintage gin cocktail recipe pays homage to the original base spirit while adding subtle hints of maraschino, the tartness of lemon sour and just a trace of vanilla smoothness. Hendrick’s super-premium gin offers subtle botanical notes of juniper, cucumber and Bulgarian rose, giving our modern Aviation No. 1 recipe a fresh contemporary angle. Crème de violette lends a rich purple hue, but it must be used with a deft hand to achieve a perfect balance: adding too little can make the cocktail bland, while adding too much can taste like a grandmother’s flowers.
We have found that even those who don’t usually drink gin enjoy Aviation No. 1. Eric’s small tweaks on the original have resulted in a slightly sweeter and much smoother cocktail that appeals to a broad audience. And of course, its name and winsome appearance make Aviation No. 1 a perfect complement to luxury air travel.
Cheers.
