Standard garnish Cherry | Served Straight up; without ice | |
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Ingredients Crème de violette or Creme Yvette, 1/2 oz Maraschino liqueur, 1 1/2 oz Gin, 1/2 oz Lemon juice Preparation Add all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry. Similar Crème de violette, French 75, Maraschino, Gimlet, Negroni | ||
The Aviation is a classic cocktail made with gin, maraschino liqueur, crème de violette, and lemon juice. Some recipes omit the crème de violette. It is served straight up, in a cocktail glass.
Contents
History
The Aviation was created by Hugo Ensslin, head bartender at the Hotel Wallick in New York, in the early twentieth century. The first published recipe for the drink appeared in Ensslin's 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks. Ensslin's recipe called for 1½ oz. El Bart gin, ¾ oz. lemon juice, 2 dashes maraschino liqueur, and 2 dashes crème de violette, a violet liqueur which gives the cocktail a pale purple color. Omitting the cherry liquor changes the drink into a blue moon which is a grey color.
Harry Craddock's influential Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) omitted the crème de violette, calling for a mixture of two-thirds dry gin, one-third lemon juice, and two dashes of maraschino. Many later bartenders have followed Craddock's lead, leaving out the difficult-to-find violet liqueur.
Creme Yvette, a violet liqueur made with additional spices, can be substituted in versions that call for crème de violette.
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