Might as Well...

During this pandemic, I have been social distancing. My friends will tell you I have been social distancing my whole life and to stop pretending it's a new thing. My few chosen friends understand I am just not interested in human interaction, and they love me anyway, which is why I love them. This pandemic has benefitted me that way. I am not particularly fond of people, especially people who might have COVID not 1 though 18. I just have to say that the pressure of making plans and then cancelling them is now off; I don't even have to pretend to make them. I just say "Hey, there's a pandemic on - I won't be coming to your COVID gathering, you asymptomatic carrier, you." I don't actually say that; that'd be shitty. I just don't make plans. It's a huge weight off.  I am completely off the subject; I'll try again.
Because I am neurotic and paranoid, the natural social distancing aspect of my personality has come alive. I rarely ever go out of my house. I do, however, sojourn to the liquor store when necessary, or I have someone else go for me. PotAto Potahto. Either way, my supply line has not been interrupted. I love Nicole at my local liquor store, and she knows I hate people, so it's a win-win to go there. She doesn't even mind that I wear my mask and act like she has the plague, which she might. Who's to know. 
This past outing to the grocery and liquor store netted me another bottle of Aviation Gin. As D has said in the past, I adore gin. Not all gins. Just the ones I perceive as not horrific. Took me awhile to find some of them, but find them I did. Aviation is one of the select few. My drink of choice is a G & T, so the gin has to be good because that's what's important. Side note: One time I watched an episode of some show about addiction and the woman was an alcohol addict and her drink of choice was this incredibly awful, rock-gut, juniper-soaked, nasal-passage burning, throat-dissolving gin; and she drank 1.5 liters of it every day. EVERY DAY. I always wondered how she powered that past her gag reflex. Just ew. She recovered by the way. Just FYI. 
I grab my new Aviation Gin, and it has a tag around the neck of the bottle with a picture of one of my favorite Canadians, Ryan Reynolds, on my American Gin. MimosA. MimOsa.
​On the back of the tag are two suggested recipes for this gin. Neither are a G & T. WT literal F. Seriously? Anyway, I figure I have nothing to do for the next six months, so what the hell. I'll try them. Here's my experience.

The first drink listed is a Negroni. I loathe Negronis. LOATHE. I have never had one I like regardless of where it was made - from that fancy craft cocktail bar in Vancouver to the fancy craft cocktail bar here in Wyoming. Yes. We have cocktail bars. We aren't that backwards. Anyway, I'm going to try this one and take a fancy picture. We will see if Aviation makes it any better.

Negroni Upgrade
1 oz. Aviation American Gin
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. Sweet Vermouth
Stir into a glass over ice. Garnish with an orange peel.
Okay, I didn't have an orange. So there was no garnish, which I don't usually do anyway. 

This did nothing to improve my opinion of Negronis. I wasted 1 ounce of the beauty that is Aviation Gin. Grrr. I hate the bitterness of Campari. If anyone can suggest a drink made with it that won't gag me, I am happy to try it. Otherwise, no thank you.

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 The second drink on the tag was a martini. Okay. I can do that. I'm not a big martini drinker, but I do like martinis at least. This recipe was astonishingly simple. 

Aviation Martini
3 oz. Aviation American Gin
1/2 oz. Dry Vermouth
Orange twist
THERE WERE NO DIRECTIONS GIVEN! What do I do?!? Dump the booze in a shaker with some ice and give that puppy 20 seconds of your life. Strain into a chilled coupe. Put the orange in there, I assume. If you garnish. Or even have an orange. I didn't. I used olives because I am a creature of habit. Plus, with the virus hanging about, we had to choose what we knew I would eat. Olives over oranges. Sorry.

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This was an interesting experiment for me. I don't regret doing it, but I do regret that 1 ounce of Aviation I lost in the Negroni. That was awful: both the Negroni and using the gin for it. Ugh. I did like the martini, of course. Ice cold Aviation Gin paired with a bit of dry vermouth and an olive to garnish. Perfect. 
Take care of yourselves. Social distance. In your social distance, try something new: a hobby, a puzzle, Feng Shui arrangement of your furniture, or a new drink. I have found new strengths through this whole situation that have nothing to do with alcohol and everything to do with inner strength. Trying these new things was worth it. It grows me, even if just a little. We could all use a little growth and a little grace. Salut!