The Jet Pilot cocktail knows just where to take you, as you journey into a relaxing evening with every sip.
It’s the 1950s, somewhere in the high desert of California, a souped-up hot rod is racing down an empty road, heading towards Edwards Air Force Base. “Rocket In My Pocket” by Jimmie Lloyd is blasting over the radio, and behind the wheel is a smirking and grinning stick jockey, Gordo Cooper. He turns to his wife with all the confidence in the world, and then some, asking her the most rhetorical of questions:
“Who’s the best pilot you ever saw? You’re looking at him.”
This scene is right out of one of my favorite movies, 1983’s The Right Stuff, an epic and sometimes irreverent look at America’s Mercury Seven astronauts, based on Tom Wolfe’s book of the same name. What does this have to do with tonight’s cocktail?
The Jet Pilot is a variation on the Test Pilot Tiki cocktail, and both were heavily inspired by the jet age of the late 1940s and 1950s, when test pilots and “stick and rudder” men like Chuck Yeager were making headlines by doing dangerous and monumental things like breaking the sound barrier. While the original Test Pilot was an invention of Don the Beachcomber’s in the 1940s, the Jet Pilot was born in the late 1950s at The Luau, a popular Tiki bar owned by Hollywood actor Steve Crane.
The next time you find yourself at your favorite Tiki establishment, ask the barkeep to send a few Jet Pilots flying your way.
What Is The Best Rum To Use In A Jet Pilot Cocktail?
This is a drink with a lot going on in it. And you’ll need three different kinds of rum to make your Jet Pilot soar. Check the shelf at your home bar and see if you have a Jamaican, Puerto Rican and Demerara rum available to you. What is a Demerara rum, you ask? It is a dark and spicy spirit distilled from sugar cane that is harvested along Guyana’s Demerara River. When shopping for your rums, go to your local liquor store and ask the folks behind the counter what they’d recommend. For all of what we’ll need, I use a Smith & Cross overproof Navy rum for the Jamaican, Bacardi for the Puerto Rican—despite its origins as a Cuban brand, it is now based in Puerto Rico—and El Dorado for the Demerara.
Ingredients
- 1 ounce aged Jamaican rum
- 3/4 ounce aged Puerto Rican rum
- 3/4 ounce overproof Demerara rum
- 1/2 ounce Falernum
- 1/4 ounce cinnamon syrup
- 1/2 ounce fresh grapefruit juice
- 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
- 1 dash Angostura bitters
- 1 dash absinthe
- 1/2 cup crushed ice
- Mint sprig or maraschino cherry for garnish
Instructions
- In a blender, add aged Jamaican rum, aged Puerto Rican rum, overproof Demerara rum, Falernum, cinnamon syrup, fresh grapefruit juice, fresh lime juice, Angostura bitters, and absinthe.
- Top with crushed ice and blend for a few seconds until the ice is broken into small pieces but the drink is not completely smooth.
- Pour into a chilled glass. Garnish with a mint sprig or a maraschino cherry.
Nutrition
What glassware and garnish are used?
Chill a rocks glass for around 15 to 30 minutes, then pour your finished Jet Pilot in. Garnish with a sprig of mint and a maraschino cherry.
What is a Test Pilot cocktail?
A fellow Tiki creation and similar to the Jet Pilot, the Test Pilot drink is a little mellower and less robust, as it doesn’t include the grapefruit juice or cinnamon syrup.
Other Tiki Drinks Worth Trying
We’ve got a nice collection of Tiki cocktail recipes and stories here at Twist & Toast, and it continues to grow. Here in Southern California, Tiki culture is still thriving, and a number of famous bars serve up some wonderfully strong and tropically-tinged tipples. But if you can’t get to one of these places, or somewhere near you, there’s always your home bar. And some reliable and easy-to-make recipes you can find right here.
- Mai Tai – This classic cocktail is considered Tiki royalty.
- Rum Runner – A popular Tiki concoction from the 1970s.
- Zombie – A Don the Beachcomber creation, and a strong one at that.
- Three Dots & A Dash – Another victorious Don the Beachcomber invention.
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