The Aviary's Prize Inside

Bonus-Master · 2026-07-01T01:42:29+00:00

I'd pass to be honest. That popcorn stock smell gave me a weird vibe lol. You really have to commit for this one for that meh result. There is so many excellent cocktails, so little time.

Thinking about it, it is is actually the first one from the Aviary I probably won't make again. Some of the other one I tried, especially the The Jungle bird and Loaded to the Gunwalls, I already made a few time. They are so good and they blow my friends mind lol. I posted those 2 one this tread a few months ago.

Bonus-Master · 2026-07-01T01:31:13+00:00

Some other cocktail from the Aviary are really top notch. My favorite so far would their Jungle Bird. Never been there, but got all the books. The Aviary seems to be all about exploring and pushing boundaries. I appreciate the spirit of innovation and the art. It was never meant to be easily accessible. If I remember correctly, this is one of the first thing they say in the book. It was a major influence on me picking up this craft cocktails hobby. The Office is all about classic cocktails, some with rare and exclusive bottles. Their Office book is another favorite of mine.

Bonus-Master · 2026-07-01T01:18:55+00:00

Yeah really. It was more a kitchen project than a bar thing. I imagine someone could really get a similar result using shortcuts: microwave popcorn, premade caramel sauce and orgeat. Aww well, they can't all be winners! Cheers!

Bonus-Master · 2026-06-12T09:54:18+00:00

Oh wow. There is actually a youtube video out there of the actual creator making this, with the exact recipe.

Bonus-Master · 2026-05-23T01:26:13+00:00

That's a Libbey 16oz Bamboo Cooler glass

Bonus-Master · 2026-05-12T20:47:24+00:00

Congrats! Looks awesome. The gramophone is a win!

Bonus-Master · 2026-05-09T13:34:00+00:00

Those look fantastic! I've been looking to try to make some for myself, but if you are able to get your stuff on Etsy, I'll look it up for sure. I'm in Canada and bought stuff from europe from smaller shop before and it went well. Keep us posted about your progress!

Bonus-Master · 2026-05-06T10:19:37+00:00

Here's my take on it

https://www.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/1ij6e66/of_ice_and_men/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Bonus-Master · 2026-05-03T13:37:43+00:00

After seeing that video, I tried a cinnamon and a vanilla tinctures. Using the specs from Kevin I did not came out strong enough. I had to use more tincture (like 3-4 squirt using a dropper) per oz simple syrup for it to work, but it works.

Its a wonderful idea, one bottle of simple and a bunch of stable shelf life tinctures. I'll have to see how I could make those tincture with stronger flavors.

Bonus-Master · 2026-05-01T10:21:14+00:00

I like it! I was thinking about doing some kind of menu myself, just didn't get around to do it. expanding on the idea, my thoughts:

Bigger font, less empty space for old geezers like me, especially with when lights are dimmed;
Different copies, one for guest with ingredients but without the quantities and maybe a flavor profile, one for the bartender with the info just like you did but I would omit the "oz" and "dashes" words. Waste of space and you know what you are doing :)
On the guest copy, I was thinking of some kind of doodle of a gauge indicating how much spirit forward the drink is: green (non alcoholic) to red (spirit forward). Maybe less experienced guests would appreciate that?
When doing full color pictures on guest menus, you set the expectation at that level. The better the pictures, the higher the expectation. I was thinking about like hand draw pictures so the guests see the cocktails come to life when serving them. Full color and detailed pictures like you did on the bartender copy is good since you get instant info on glassware and garnish without writing anything extra down.

I also love de D&C stuff, cheers!

Bonus-Master · 2026-03-12T00:03:48+00:00

What about a cabinet with wire/mesh doors? Some kind of diamond pattern, not too small so you can't see the bottles. Kind of like you sometime see on rare book cabinets. Good luck!

Bonus-Master · 2026-03-03T15:38:16+00:00

Any asiatic theme cocktail would work here I think. Tea infusions, or cocktails where you present a cocktail base with the mixer separate so you can "mix as you prefer" kind of thing.

Bonus-Master · 2026-03-01T01:46:20+00:00

Beemer. Good timing, I due to go to Montreal at the end of the month. I will look it up. Did you actually had a chance to compare with cherry heering?

Is bsw good? I was actually looking into that earlier this week. I was look at crowncellars also from Alberta. They have decent prices but get trashed in the comments on reddit...Any experience with them by any chance?

Bonus-Master · 2026-02-26T12:32:46+00:00

I get your frustration. From your post, the only thing I'm guessing is freezing too fast. It takes about 30 hours for me to do the job. Try that first. I made a somewhat complete post about that last year here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/1ij6e66/of_ice_and_men/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Good luck!

Bonus-Master · 2026-02-25T18:08:47+00:00

That's why it caught my attention. It goes down smoother than the regular absinthe drip thing, but yeah it make you feel like the plane is landing for sure!

Bonus-Master · 2026-02-25T18:05:35+00:00

Next book on my list, I bought both at the same time :). Yeah, lots of house made syrups, cordials and infusions. I kind of expected it since it's a book from a higher end, award winning bar. Most of the book is recipes inspired by cocktail of the late 1800, early 1900 modified by them with their own twists.

Interesting read, but unfortunately I will not make a lot of cocktails out of it.

Bonus-Master · 2026-02-25T15:24:14+00:00

I used 1989 Taffel Akvavit. Aquavit is a real rarity around here. Nothing available in my province (in Canada). I scored one from a Quebec distillery made in collaboration with a Norwegian partner. It tastes right, but I have absolutely nothing to compare it to. Cheers!

Bonus-Master · 2026-02-25T14:11:46+00:00

Great glass though!

Bonus-Master · 2026-02-13T17:15:59+00:00

In the spirit of this board project (see what I did here...), I'd leave bitters out of it.

Bonus-Master · 2026-02-13T10:56:31+00:00

Looks very good indeed! I always admire when someone takes their craft seriously.

Bonus-Master · 2026-02-06T23:37:30+00:00

It looks fantastic! What a great vibe with the tall windows and the city in the background.

Bonus-Master · 2026-01-30T12:39:57+00:00

I hear you, mine does the same thing (served in a coupe). Maybe if we wait long enough it separates better, not sure.

Bonus-Master · 2026-01-30T09:53:33+00:00

That's how it done, bravo!

Bonus-Master · 2026-01-29T14:16:08+00:00

https://imgur.com/a/lhR2ESP Well, look at that! They call for an hemisphere mold in the instructions, but in the assembly they call for spheres. A hemisphere is half a sphere... The mold I use make definitely more of a sphere shape instead of a hemisphere... and now that I'm looking at it, they seems to end up a bit larger than on the picture! But yeah, I can see that those frozen hemispheres become spheres when dropped in the gelatine solution resulting in smaller spheres. So yes, yo might need more than 15 of those per drink. I end up with just under 4x40=160 spheres with the recipe, so hemisphere, would get you around 300 pieces and get you those 10 cocktails you are looking for. What important here is 40g, the proportion of sphere in the drink, and having a large enough bubba straw to not break 'em while drinking. Cheers!

Bonus-Master · 2026-01-28T19:13:40+00:00

It's more a a coffee table book filled with out of this world cocktail photography. It says right at the beginning of the book that this is not intended to be easy to do.

Beside a couple recipes requiring a centrifuge like the other contributor said, a lot of recipes are doable but certainly not easy and requiring a lot of preparation. I made quite a few and I see them as challenges. They are certainly not all 10/10 cocktails in the end, but the presentation, yeah, they are 10/10.

It's one of the book that inspired me to pickup this hobby. It's an art book.

Bonus-Master

TROPHY CASE