{"id":2451672,"date":"2019-11-28T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-29T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=316777"},"modified":"2019-11-28T18:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-29T01:00:00","slug":"libations-the-aviation-gives-gin-a-new-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/libations-the-aviation-gives-gin-a-new-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"Libations: The \u2018Aviation\u2019 gives gin a new perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
The Aviation at Clark’s Oyster Bar in downtown Aspen<\/strong>
Carolyn Sackariason<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

I\u2019m not much of a gin drinker because I can\u2019t get past the pine needle smell and taste of it.<\/p>\n

While I was in Clark\u2019s Oyster Bar<\/a> during a recent happy hour, I was convinced by bar manager John Gumkowski to try the new cocktail on the menu called the Aviation.<\/p>\n

I took one look at it on the menu and said, \u201cNo way, it\u2019s got gin in it! Can\u2019t you make me a bourbon drink?\u201d<\/p>\n

But I always write about bourbon when it comes to time to pen a Libations column so I figured I should get out of my comfort zone and try something new.<\/p>\n

And I have to say, if there was any drink to have gin win me over, it\u2019s the Aviation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t taste like gin because there is a little lemon juice, Luxardo maraschino cherry liqueur, Creme de Violet and herbal botanist gin, which is very floral,\u201d Gumkowski said.<\/p>\n

Those ingredients give the drink a purple hue, and when served up in a martini glass, there\u2019s an appeal to it that catches the eye of other bar patrons, according to Gumkowski.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve sold 150 of them in a week,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While my friends joked that they thought it tasted like dish soap and had the color of dirty ski socks in water, I thought it was great.<\/p>\n

But what\u2019s even better is knowing that Gumkowski uses top-shelf booze in the well behind the bar.<\/p>\n

So the shot and beer special for $8 comes with Basil Hayden\u2019s bourbon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got a good deal on it so I am passing it onto the customers,\u201d he said. \u201cWe carry a lot of name-brand booze and these guys from Texas set me up, they don\u2019t really care \u2014 just make everybody happy and make good cocktails.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another not-to-miss is Clark\u2019s happy hours, where from 3 to 6 p.m. you can get whatever martini you want for $8 \u2014 call your vodka or gin.<\/p>\n

And on Mondays during football season, $5 draft beer specials start at kickoff.<\/p>\n

On Tuesdays, all wines by the bottle are 50% off.<\/p>\n

Even fancy places (if they know what they are doing) cater to the locals.<\/p>\n

csackariason@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Aviation at Clark’s Oyster Bar in downtown AspenCarolyn Sackariason I\u2019m not much of a gin drinker because I can\u2019t get past the pine needle smell and taste of it. While I was in Clark\u2019s Oyster Bar during a recent happy hour, I was convinced by bar manager John Gumkowski to try the new cocktail […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2451672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-19 04:22:58","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2451672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451672\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2451672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2451672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2451672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}