Cocktail Recipes

Pan American Clipper

Prohibition | Sour | from Anders Erickson

Pan American Airways, “Pan Am” for short, was at one point the epitome of style for jet-setting travelers, so it’s no surprise that its eponymous cocktail is equally fabulous. A mixture of apple brandy, lime juice, grenadine, and absinthe, the bright-hued sour dates to 1939, when prolific cocktail writer and world traveler Charles H. Baker included the recipe in The Gentleman’s Companion. Baker had settled down in Coconut Grove, Florida, near Pan Am’s first international airport; in his seminal book, he wrote that the recipe came “from the notebook of one of our pilot friends who—when off duty—may seek one.”

Ingredients

Amount	Ingredient	Brand
1 1⁄2 oz / 38 ml 2 1⁄4 oz / 56 ml 3 oz / 75 ml 4 1⁄2 oz / 113 ml	Apple Brandy	Laird’s
3⁄4 oz / 19 ml 1 1⁄8 oz / 28 ml 1 1⁄2 oz / 38 ml 2 1⁄4 oz / 56 ml	Fresh Lemon Juice
1⁄2 oz / 13 ml 3⁄4 oz / 19 ml 1 oz / 25 ml 1 1⁄2 oz / 38 ml	Grenadine
1 rinse 1 1⁄2 rinse 2 rinse 3 rinse	Absinthe

Notes

• Method: Shaken
• Pour: Double Strain
• Glassware: Nick & Nora
• Garnish: Expressed lemon oil
• Special Prep: None