Aunty Betty’s gin-spert Greg Ewan revisits a classic gin to give us his take—and works up three boozy blends to boot.
We love gin, ginny gin gin. And it doesn’t hurt when Ryan Reynolds’ foxy face is repping it. With so many new gins infiltrating the market (stay tuned to our September issue!), we pondered what it is about a tried-and-true that makes it a mainstay go-to—and in what boozy libations does it best blend? So we called upon local gin guru Greg Ewan of gin-focused Aunty Betty’s Gin & Absinthe Bar to give us his take on the staple and work up some concoctions. “This was a fun one to dive into because Aviation American Gin has been on the scene for so long and there are new gins popping up every day that I had forgotten to revisit and properly judge it,” says the managing partner after his deep dive. “This was probably the first of Aviation I’ve poured for myself since opening Betty’s, and I was truly surprised how much I enjoyed it. I’m a sucker for anything with lavender, but am even more impressed when a product has lavender in balance in a way that won’t rile up the ‘tastes like soap’ crowd, and I was very impressed with the balanced application. Being an absinthe junkie, the clean star anise on the finish sealed the deal for me.” Here, Ewan’s Aviation-crafted cocktails. @spillonpurpose; @auntybettysbar
Boosty Collins
Bootsy Collins
When I took my first sip and got that star anise note, I immediately reached for my bottle of absinthe. One of my favorite classic drink modifications is split-basing the Tom Collins into (nearly) equal parts between gin and absinthe. It’s clean, vibrant and refreshing—and highlights the features of both spirits without them stepping on each other’s toes.
1 oz. Aviation American Gin
3/4 oz. Lucid absinthe
3/4 oz. Alley 26 raspberry syrup (too lazy to make my own, and if there’s anyone you can trust, it’s them)
1/2 oz. lemon juice
Shake and strain into a Collins glass; pack with ice; and top with Topo Chico (or sparkling water of your choice). Express a lemon twist over the drink and you’re in business.
Negroni
The real test of a gin is: How does it ’groni? The answer with Aviation is well. Very well. Being a bit quieter in terms of juniper, the classic 1:1:1 structure, while still delicious, didn’t quite stand out. But at a 1.5:.75:.75, we found ourselves with an absolute crusher.
3/4 oz. Punt e Mes (not quite an amaro, not quite a vermouth, but damn if it doesn’t make a good ’groni)
This drink is great up, stirred and strained over fresh ice, YOLO dumped into a bucket full of hotel ice—no wrong answers. For garnish, either twist if you just want the aromatics and rounding effect of the oil, or a wedge if you prefer the way the juice tames the Campari. I always like to leave a bit of room for people to feel comfortable having the drink the way they like it. I’ve got all the time in the world for standards—but none for strict rules.
4:1 Blanco Martini
The drink I probably drink more often than any other. In pop culture, martinis tend to be either bone-dry booze bombs or overbrined salt bombs. While I enjoy both, my true love will always be a martini with a Bianco/Blanco/Blanc (Italian/Spanish/French) vermouth at a ratio in the 2:1–4:1 range (gin:vermouth) with a harmonious bitter pairing. Aviation absolutely shined in the format, and I selected a bitters that would highlight the light lavender of the gin.
2 oz. Aviation American Gin
1/2 oz. Yzaguirre Blanco Reserva Vermouth
2 dashes Scrappy’s lavender bitters
Stir and strain into a chilled martini glass. Express and discard lemon twist.
Now holding court in your wine cabinet is just-released Court of North Carolina, the second installment in the uberpopular NC State University Hallowed Places Collection of primo vintage vinos. You may remember when we introduced you to its inaugural bottle, The Brickyard, last fall—a limited-edition red wine blend in partnership with state winery Shelton Vineyards. Now, the Pack is back (!), uncorking a new limited varietal with the vineyard—the purchase of which supports student scholarships (#WITH!).
“After the success of the first wine in the series, we’re excited to partner with Shelton again to feature the university’s iconic Court of North Carolina on this edition,” says Christopher Boyer, assistant vice chancellor of strategic brand management at NC State. “Our licensed wine series highlights treasured parts of our campus, provides our students with real-world, hands-on opportunities and celebrates the university’s commitment to helping our state’s growing viticulture and wine tourism industries thrive.”
And as with its Brickyard predecessor, this bottle of red is also adorned with a frameworthy label designed by NCSU College of Design student Carter Avayou, and available for purchase exclusively on the vineyard’s website (or treat yourself in the vineyard’s tasting room). And act fast—the last lot sold out in sub-40 days. But if you get screwed (get it?) out of a bottle this time (hey, sip happens), look for the collection to craft future blends in partnership with vineyards across the state. So, for now, just another (must-have) brick in the wall—er, brickyard—if you will. And another reason to pour one out for the Pack. $45, sheltonvineyards.com
Game on, fellas. … DEVIL-DOG Dungarees’ just-launched spring 2022 men’s lifestyle brand promises to fit you like a glove.
If the devil is in the details, never has that been truer than for DEVIL-DOG Dungarees, the uberfashionable, sustainable and socially aware vintage-inspired menswear brand distributed exclusively via the Zebulon-based Devil Dog Manufacturing Co. since 1951. Really, it’s the storied brand’s story that makes it feel-good fashion.
Durable denim devised by WWI vet Louis Rosenstock—hence the “Devil Dog” moniker (a nod to the Marines’ nickname)—the brand remains committed to the consumer, the environment (hey, signature bandanna pocketing with Repreve fibers comprised of recycled materials, and a Liquid Indigo dyeing process!) and the military. “‘Tough as Marine’ was the slogan in honor of all the Marines and soldiers who fought so bravely… to symbolize their toughness and ability, with comfort and value in mind,” says Louis’ grandson and Devil Dog Manufacturing Co. Inc. President Jeff Rosenstock.
Long known for its great-fitting durable denim, the brand has since expanded its delicate footprint deeper into the pocket of the market and the community. This spring, the famed bottoms brand turned its attention waist up with the launch of its men’s lifestyle collection, complete with tees, knit tops, denim jackets and shirts, polos, hoodies and crewnecks, leather accessories and more.
But it didn’t turn its attention away from the fabric of its roots. Each pair of jeans maintains the dog tag to signify the ongoing partnership with the Wounded Warrior Project—“and to drive awareness to this amazing charity and encourage people to donate to it,” says Jeff. Closer to home, Devil Dog recently partnered with the Carolina Mudcats for all 66 home games this season to sponsor a DEVIL-DOG Dungarees Hero of the Game.
And, sliding into home, the brand will soon roll out at Dillard’s, the first of which is Raleigh’s Triangle Town Center location in June. So, like the Marines, second to none, indeed…
We may not head to the polls to cast our votes until Tuesday, Nov. 8, for the statewide general election and municipal election, but the race is heating up in Raleigh. While the filing period doesn’t open until July (July 1–15), here is who has thrown their hat in the ring so far in races for mayor and city council. And before you flippantly flip the page, we implore you to get to know the field. Dig the local development? Hate it? Guess what—it’s the very people on these pages who will be making those decisions for us over the next several years. And in our last municipal election in 2019, an abysmal 13% showed up to vote. Read that again: 13% of our residents are responsible for how our city has been managed and developed over the last three years. Wouldn’t you like to have a say? If you’re registered, please vote. And if you’re not, there’s still time. You have until 25 days prior to Election Day to register. In the meantime, start knowing the field and what’s at stake. We’ll see you at the polls, Raleigh.
Here’s the way the Raleigh race is shaping up as of press time.
Animalweapon’s newest album drop of laptop pop is a sonic boom worth tuning into.
Imagine Phantogram, Nine Inch Nails, BT, and Baths had a sonic baby. That’s how Animalweapon describes his sound—the “if you had to slap a genre on it, we’ve landed on electronic dream-pop for now” brainchild of local Patrick Cortes. After tallying some acoustic gigs and time with a band—and inspired by Toonami and Adult Swim (“if you’re a ’90s kid, you’ll know how those two things are directly related,” he says)—he started playing around with electronic stuff in Logic by himself—and “there’s your Animalweapon origin story.” Now, on the heels of his new album drop, Set of Constraints, Cortes chats artistic interpretation, anxiety, Raleigh and more.
How does Set of Constraints show your range? My good friend and collaborator Marlon Blackmon of Foxture told me recently I’m ‘in the pocket’ when I do more atmospheric stuff, and I think I leaned into that in completely different ways across this album.
You make a point of leaving your songs open to interpretation? Yes—so that people can connect it to whatever they’re feeling. Ideally, I hope it resonates with anyone who is working on themselves. …
Writing somewhat vaguely also gives you space? It has afforded me the opportunity to address personal stuff while still maintaining privacy—and allowing whoever listens to the project their own meaning, or to just vibe. … Unless you’re a good songwriter, spelling things out can sound lazy, cliche or even cringey. Rule No. 1 with lyrics is: ‘Don’t write like an angsty 16-year-old.’
Constraints also deals with some heady lyrical themes of mental health and anxiety. [My last album,] Tyrannosaurus—without me realizing it—was me being a hot mess and leaning into it in ways that don’t feel healthy looking back. Finishing that album was really heavy—not just because of how much work I put into getting it ‘right,’ but because doing that meant a lot of late nights ripping the same Band-Aid off over and over again. This album is about starting to move away from that, both thematically and sonically.
Riffing on that, how does the album dive into new sonic territories? This one has much more sampled ‘found sound’ I recorded myself. Some of it is percussion and background noise, like on ‘Summer’s Over (Coda),’ but there’s other stuff in there that I turned into major melodic parts of a song.
Like what?The chimey sound on the title track was sampled from a big ceramic plant pot during a ‘creative session’ with Alina Patel (who did all my promo shots, by the way).
Your lyric “Everything, everything, exactly the same” really sums up the vibe of your album and mindset? It’s the last line of the title track, which in a way is kind of the last line of the album, since ‘Summer’s Over (Coda)’ is kind of the ‘end credits.’ I can’t put my finger on why, but that song feels hopeful, and the idea of me being different, but still me, wraps everything up in a bow.
Photo by Alina Patel
Fun Facts
A favorite lyric: ‘When I’m at the pearly gates/this will be on my videotape’ (Radiohead, ‘Videotape,’ In Rainbows). It’s just an impossibly perfect line.
Fave podcast: Hands down, Bodega Boys. Desus & Mero have been making me laugh since 2016. … The last few months I’ve been listening backward… and it’s done absolute wonders for my mental health.
Book you’re reading: Anthony Bourdain’s book, A Cook’s Tour. That man was one of a kind.
Something no one knows about you? My ‘happy place’ is the bridge of a giant starship, all to myself, in the middle of deep space.
Fave band: Anyone who knows me knows it’s Nine Inch Nails, and, that feels like it should be obvious to anyone who’s heard enough of my music too. … I got to meet and actually hug Trent Reznor at a show—and I recently saw them two nights in a row in New Orleans. It was the best they’ve ever sounded.
Fave song: The last six years it’s been ‘Matches’ by Bas and The Hics. I’ll never forget the first time I heard it—I wound up listening to it on repeat all night.
First concert: My dad took me to The Beach Boys when I was 5. At that time I didn’t know who Brian Wilson was or that he wasn’t still in the band—and I wouldn’t have cared anyway because it was a great show.
