From the Foodie series.

Mike Landers is a good friend to have and a great mixologist to know. He was part of the team responsible for Martha Bar, just 2 blocks from my studio, being nominated for a James Beard award the very first year Martha Bar opened. He has been posting lots of interesting cocktail posts on IG since he's been a "free agent" and working on his next path in drinks.  I fell in love with this unique vintage coup glass he found and it inspired the idea of painting a cocktail in it.  If one were to start a cocktail painting series, it's perhaps best to get one of the most difficult glasses out of the way first!

Mike agreed to bring some vintage glasses and this original cocktail creation, a riff on an Aviation, that pushes the color saturation. "Queen Bess" makes a delicious cocktail and a fascinating homage.

2 Empress Gin
.75 Dry Vermouth
Bsp Maraschino
Bsp Violette

*Bsp= bar spoon

Mike explained that this violet beauty is a take  on an Aviation cocktail, that is , if it were a Martini.  Dry vermouth subs for citrus, and leaving out simple syrup.  Mike explained that this drink's color is more saturated because he left out the citrus which dulls the violet in an Aviation, hence that "gunmetal gray" tint it has. Instead a bit of maraschino and Violette round it out and bolster the color.
History of the Drink found on Mike Lander's Instagram (follow him!):

Bessie Coleman was the first Native American and first Black female pilot. She got her license in France. In airshows, her nickname was Queen Bess or Brave Bessie. She hoped to start a flight school for African American pilots but died at the age of 34 in 1926.

This gin is from British Columbia and contains butterfly pea flower as one of its Botanicals. It makes liquids that range from blue-purple-pink depending on ph level. Aviations are often a murky grey color and this is a fun, if untraditional, work around."



Canada- Empress 1908 Gin is 100% authentic and all natural. It is made with 8 botanicals. This gin is infused with vibrantly tinted butterfly pea blossom, adding a singularly distinct expression- an impossibly lush and vivid indigo blue.

Origin: Philadelphia, PA

Price: $600