In the canon of classic cocktails, you’ll find plenty of well-known drinks, like the Negroni or the Old Fashioned. But you’ll also find some lesser-known drinks that are beloved by cocktail enthusiasts but not widely enjoyed by the general public. Included in this category is the Aviation cocktail, a drink known as much for its gorgeous sky blue or pale violet color as for its delicate floral flavor.
The Aviation cocktail recipe
What you’ll need to make the Aviation
- 1 1/2 ounces of London dry gin
- 1/2 ounce of fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 ounce of maraschino liqueur
- 3/4 ounce of Crème de violette
- Cocktail cherry
The Aviation recipe steps
- Add gin, fresh lemon juice, maraschino liqueur, and Crème de violette to an ice-filled shaker.
- Shake vigorously to combine all the ingredients.
- Strain the ingredients into a chilled cocktail glass.
- Add a cocktail cherry as a garnish.
What is the Aviation?
The last cocktail mentioned might not get the press of the Old Fashioned or even the Manhattan, Negroni, or classic no-frills daiquiri, but it’s no less memorable. This elegant, flavorful, complex cocktail is historically made with only four ingredients. They are gin, maraschino, liqueur, lemon juice, and crème de violette. Some contemporary recipes opt not to use the latter ingredient.
Can you make an Aviation without maraschino liqueur?
When it comes to making an Aviation, one ingredient that can be tricky to get hold of is the maraschino liqueur. It’s also a very strong flavor that’s not to everyone’s taste, as even though only a fairly small amount of it is used in the recipe, it can still have a powerful taste. So if you don’t have access to maraschino or you don’t like it, you can make a similar drink to the Aviation but skip this ingredient.
That drink is called a Blue Moon cocktail, and it uses 2 ounces of gin with a 1/2 ounce of creme de violette and 1/2 ounce of lemon juice. You make it in the same way by shaking the ingredients together with ice and then straining it into a coupe glass. This version is less sweet than an Aviation, but that makes the violet flavor more pronounced. If you really love floral flavors, then this version may be something you prefer.
For most people, though, the classic Aviation ingredients yield a more balanced drink.
When was the Aviation cocktail created?
Aviation got its name because of the purple and blue sky-like color of the crème de violette. It was created in the early 1900s when the U.S. was very excited about the newness of air travel. The first mention of the drink was in 1916 in the book Recipes for Mixed Drinks by Hugh Enslinn, a bartender at the Hotel Wallick in New York City.
Gin-based cocktails were very popular at the time, and the drink remained a favorite throughout Prohibition. But like many classic drinks, its popularity waned for a half-century or more. Part of the reason for its disappearance was the fact that crème de violette liqueur was discontinued in the ‘60s. Like many forgotten
Bottom line
If you’re a fan of gin-based cocktails and you’ve never tried an Aviation, now is the time to get on the Prohibition-era cocktail bandwagon. You don’t have to be dressed in a dapper suit or have a gal dressed as a flapper on your arm to enjoy this classic cocktail. You do, however, need a good London dry gin, fresh (not out of a lemon-shaped bottle) lemon juice, maraschino liqueur, and Crème de violette.
Besides the gin and lemon juice, these clearly aren’t everyday cocktail ingredients. But if you want a cocktail featuring notes of juniper and herbal gin, fresh citrus, cherry sweetness, and floral flavors, you’ll stock up on these necessary ingredients.
