Wheels Up or Wheels Down – holiday cocktail combo

Aviation Week continues with Wheels Up! and Wheels Down.

The holiday travel cocktail repertoire needs a mix offering a quick and easy variation for the non-drinker or designated driver. We’re opting this year for a vodka-based citrus drink, Wheels Up, in which an adjustment of the citrus juices can replace the alcohol, Wheels Down, without dampening the spirits. Using fresh juice, it is light and sweetly tart, with a gentle aromatic finish.

Wheels Up wheels up beau too crop
1 1/2 ounce vodka
1 teaspoon simple syrup
1 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce lemon juice
2 ounces orange juice
3 Basil leaves

Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously until very cold and frothy. Strain into a full-sized cocktail glass, and garnish with a basil leaf. Don’t worry about straining out all the bits of basil, they become cocktail veracity.

Wheels Down
1 teaspoon simple syrup
1 1/2 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce lemon juice
3 ounces orange juice
3 Basil leaves

Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into a tall, ice-filled glass and decorate with an orange slice so you can tell the drinks apart. Younger people may want a bit of soda water added.

Tomorrow: Stuck in Atlanta overnight?

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