In a world where I was a better prepared person, I would have just kept entries rolling the last month, while I was getting ready to and subsequently hop-scotching across the United States seeing old friends, visiting some favorite old bars, and finding a few new ones. It was a lot of beer on the first leg, but we did a little home drinking in Massachusetts and I was able to spread the gospel of the Carthusian Trip.
I could do a whole entry about the rums we sampled at Rum Club, and I had a truly divine drink at Scotch Lodge called an Islay Daiquiri. I had a couple lovely drinks at Hale Pele, including this showy one that was aptly named Signal Fire. Portland, you treated me well.
I revisited old Minneapolis haunts like Psycho Suzi’s, and for good measure, I even made it back to the Red Dragon to take on a Wondrous Punch (they went down easier in my 20s that’s for sure). I had a lovely Minnesota edition of a Plantation 9 year at what may now be my favorite bar in Minneapolis, Meteor (how many bars can you discuss Moon Glyph in while Cleaners from Venus plays? How many?!?)
However I’m home now, and it’s refreshing to take a peek at the collection and see what is there, and remember all the wonderful places I can go without leaving my kitchen. Lots of places I went had good rum collections, but outside of Rum Club, so do I. So let’s flex a little on a classic.
I dedicate this one to all the pilots who got me safely from point a to point b this trip. Here’s how I do a Jet Pilot.
Once again, this drink is about the sublime combination of cinnamon and grapefruit. It’s not an OG tiki drink in the sense that it didn’t come from Don the Beachcomber or Trader Vic, but it does make use of that great Don’s mix combo. You can thank the Luau in Beverly Hills, CA for this one. All art is just imitation, so here’s the best I can do for a business long gone that lives on with this iconic drink
a few drops of absinthe (6 or so…it’s not a science)
a couple dashes of bitters
.5 oz grapefruit
.5 oz lime
.5 oz cinnamon syrup
.5 oz falernum
1 oz Gosling’s Bermuda Black Seal
.75 oz Denizen’s Merchant Reserve
.75 oz Lemon Hart 151
Take it all in your trusty mixing tin. Give it a nice long shake. I suppose if you have a flash blender this would be a great time to use it, but I do not. Hell, you could probably even mix it with a cup of crushed ice and just pour ungated, but that’s not usually how I roll. Anyway, strain that into a double rocks glass and top with fresh crushed ice. No garnish necessary, but a cinnamon stick is a nice touch in my opinion.
There you go, that’s how I do Jet Pilots here, and that’s how I’ll do it for you too.
Gonna try to get this cadence rolling again. Back next week with an original if I can track down a bottle of Canadian whiskey I’m happy with.
This is Trader Jane’s, a periodic newsletter about drinks (mostly tiki) and other fun writing. Follow me on Substack for something every week or two (if we are being honest), and follow me on Twitter and Instagram for more timely updates on my beverages (and for lots of other things of course!)
And, as with any good drink, feel free to share (responsibly, of course)