The Jet Pilot: A Retro Cocktail With A Lengthy Ingredient List
The early 1930s launched the era of Tiki bars in the United States, with the first widely known establishment of its kind — Don the Beachcomber — opening in Hollywood, California. Barely a year later, Oakland, California saw the opening of Trader Vic's, another Polynesian restaurant that may be best known as the origin of the mai tai. By a decade later, Tiki culture had taken the country by storm and remained popular until the 1960s. In addition to the mai tai, other drinks like the Saturn cocktail, the zombie, and the jet pilot were born.
The jet pilot entered the arena a little late in the Tiki game, in the 1950s. Created at the Luau in Beverly Hills, the cocktail brought together a whopping nine ingredients, including three types of rum — overproof Jamaican, overproof demerara, and a gold rum. Then, two citruses — grapefruit and lime juices — were poured in, as well as cinnamon syrup, Angostura bitters, and a little more alcohol in the form of falernum and a small splash of absinthe.
Despite its lengthy ingredient list, the drink is surprisingly easy to make — simply blend all of the ingredients together with crushed ice. But if there weren't enough ingredients already, it could also be garnished with a maraschino cherry. From the citrusy brightness of the lime and grapefruit, to the spiced nuttiness of falernum and warmth from the cinnamon, to the subtlety of the bitters and absinthe, the jet pilot embodied the flavors that Tiki enthusiasts were embracing at the time.
The origins of the jet pilot
Many consider the test pilot cocktail, crafted in 1941 by Donn Beach (of the nearly eponymous original Tiki bar), as the springboard for the later creation of the jet pilot. Both names paid homage to the takeoff of air travel innovation, and both also brought together a bevy of ingredients. However, the test pilot combined only two types of rum (dark Jamaican and light Puerto Rican) with lime juice, falernum, Cointreau, Angostura bitters, and Pernod. While the two are similar, the jet pilot switched things up a bit by adding a third rum as well as the grapefruit juice and cinnamon syrup, while leaving out the Cointreau. However, some say that the jet pilot is related to the zombie, another cocktail from the original Tiki era.
@greg_from_htd History of the Jet Pilot Cocktail Recipe: Build in Drink Mixer (or shaker) .5 oz. or 15 ml. Grapefruit Juice .5 oz. or 15 ml. Lime Juice .5 oz. or 15 ml. Cinnamon Syrup .5 oz. or 15 ml. Falernum Syrup 6 drops Absinthe 1 Dash Angostura Bitters 1 oz. or 30 ml. Jamaican Rum (Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black) .75 oz. or 22 ml. Gold Puerto Rican Rum (Ron Del Barrilito) .75 oz. or 22 ml. Overproof Rum (Lemon Hart 151) Add crushed ice and mix or shake Open pour into glass Garnish with Lime Wheel, Maraschino Cherry and Cinnamon Stick #JetPilot #TikiCocktail #CocktailRecipe #Mixology #HomeBartender #TikiDrinks #RumCocktails #CraftCocktails #SummerDrinks #HappyHour #HTD #Howtodrink #GregfromHTD
Conceived in 1934 by Donn Beach, the zombie would have been a challenge to recreate or riff on at the time, since even the staff at Don the Beachcomber didn't know the exact recipe thanks to a coded system Beach created. However, Tiki historian Jeff "Beachbum" Berry eventually decoded the original proportions after years of research. With three types of rum, Pernod, Angostura bitters, grenadine (a pomegranate-based syrup), lime, and a mix of cinnamon syrup with grapefruit juice, the zombie could definitely be a close cousin to the jet pilot. This leaves the jury out on whether it or the 1941 test pilot is the definitive drink on which the jet pilot was based.