Purple Heaven

It was a sad weekend here in the FWL as all the lizards draped in purple, mourning the loss of Prince, assauged our tears in a viewing of the movie Purple Rain. It was a fabulous reminder of what Prince actually stood for beyond the music; the right for everyone to eat, drink, make love, and listen to music without anyone stopping you because they don’t want you to. Censorship is the death of emotion; the authority’s way of making your life vanilla in order to ‘protect’ you from yourself. We like to drink cocktails. Prince didn’t. Prince liked to be ambiguous gender-wise. We don’t. The point is that it doesn’t matter. We loved Prince for not caring what people thought. It was the definition of freedom.

Sadly, it was Prince’s song Darling Nikki that Tipper Gore and her pseudo-Nazi troop of prohibitionists (Parents Music Resource Center) placed at #1 of their ‘Filthy 15’songs of the early ‘80s that began modern-day music censorship. Gore didn’t like that her daughter was listening to a song that included masturbation and promptly decided that it wasn’t good for anyone else’s children either. Gore targeted a Def Leppard and a Black Sabbath song in the Filthy 15 because they ‘glorified the use of alcohol.’ Gore demanded the Senate hold the ‘porn rock’ hearings and soon after the Parental Advisory Sticker was born. Stores quickly refused to sell the Purple Rain album (the album that included Darling Nikki). The result is that Gore communicated that music, alcohol, and sex are repulsive, dirty, and shameful...and at the same time intoxicatingly alluring. This is the worst of all worlds. Thankfully, Prince and his ilk fought it with every fiber of their being.

We know that Prince would never drink the cocktail that we have crafted in his memory, but we know he’d love the idea of it. It’s creative, beautiful, and a cousin of the Aviation, the drink named after the freedom of the blue skies it resembles. Our version, brings the Creme de Violette strong, filling the cocktail flush with the color that Prince loved so much, the color of rock royalty.

Purple Heavens (Holly’s Original Series)

2 ounces gin (we used Hendrick’s)

½ ounce freshly-squeezed lemon juice

½ ounce creme de violette

Dash of cranberry bitters (citrus bitters will sub)

Add all ingredients in an iced mixing glass, stir and strain into the most fabulous coupe you own (or not, be free!). Garnish with lemon peel if you wish. We would suggest that you drink the Purple Heavens to some song or movie that would piss off Tipper...and make Prince smile wherever he is.