One of my favorite parts of crafting new cocktails is the process, and how inspiration can be found seemingly anywhere. The original cocktail I had been planning for Valentine’s Day was based on Elvis’ Song, Burning Love, but while attempting to refine it, my wife had a brilliant idea that pushed the original cocktail into the background [don’t worry, it’ll likely show up for 2024]. What if we took the song L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole, and instead repurposed the letters to be drink ingredients?
We scoured our bar thinking of what ingredients would work, and make something palatable. After some deliberation, and with the idea that cocktails should taste good, we expanded the idea to be ingredients or brands. While this helps, some letters are still harder than others, we ended up with the following items:
- Lemon Juice
- Orgeat
- Violette [Creme de]
- Empress Gin
L-O-V-E
L-O-V-E is bright, floral, balanced, and perfumed. The floral notes never get overwhelming, with the herbal notes of the gin providing a solid canvas for the violette to stretch it’s legs. The Orgeat adds just the right amount of sweetness and a subtle nutty note, while the lemon tightens up any rough edges, and allows everything in the drink to show itself with elegance. It’s a delicate drink that has a more bark from it’s nose than actual bite. The fact that it’s a visual knockout just makes you want to drink it.
Drink Notes & Recommendations
This drink is one of those subtle exercises in balance which means you’re going to want to be careful about substitutions. Empress for example, is going to be critical to maintain the color and provide some of the earthy notes. Small Hand Foods is specifically called out here, because it isn’t cherry candy sweet like fake orgeat. If you swap either of these two ingredients, this drink can end up somewhere else entirely.
Finally, the floral garnish is really any floral garnish you have on hand. We have these tiny dried roses we’ve used in other drinks that can be found at our local Asian market for tea. If you don’t have these, consider edible orchids that can be found in your local grocery store, or hibiscus flowers.
- Lemon Juice – As always, use fresh squeezed for the best results.
- Small Hand Foods Orgeat – We’ve specifically called out the very natural Small Hand Foods Orgeat here because of the subtle nutty influence and controlled sweetness it adds. You can use something like Monin or Ferrara here, but be aware that they’re going to change the flavor with a cherry lean, and that you’ll want to reduce volume to ¼ to control for this.
- Creme de Violette – If you make an occasional Aviation, you’re probably assuming that this bottle will last forever. If you want to get through it a bit faster, this is a great option. We used Giffard Creme de Violette here, but use whatever you have on hand.
- Empress Gin – We used it because it starts with E, has a purple color, and is a little earthier than many gins. We recommend you use it for color, but you can substitute a different gin. Be aware, this may cause a substantial increase in gin notes, and a change in color. If you do this, consider a modern gin first, like Bluecoat or Aviation.