Aviation
The Aviation is a classic gin cocktail that dates back to the early 1900s. Among the earliest written records is in Huge Enslinn’s 1916 book Recipes for Mixed Drinks, which he wrote when he was tending the bar at New York’s Hotel Wallick. This was one of the last cocktail recipe books to be published before the American Prohibition started. Here was his recipe:
Aviation Cocktail
⅓ Lemon juice
⅔ El Bart Gin
2 dashes Maraschino
2 dashes crème de violette
Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice, strain and serve.
In the following decades, the cocktail was mostly forgotten, since in the 1960s, one of the drink’s main ingredients, crème de violette liqueur, disappeared from the market. It was as late as 2007, during the craft cocktail renaissance, that Haus Alpenz of Minneapolis started importing Rothman & Winter’s crème de violette from Austria. The drink quickly reappeared in bar menus across the United States.
Still, during the absence of the crème de violette liqueur, many enthusiasts continued making the cocktail, simply eliminating the violet ingredient. In his 1930 book The Savoy Cocktail Book, author Harry Craddock includes a recipe for an Aviation without the crème de violette liqueur. It’s still a well rounded drink, but purists will argue that a true Aviation requires the purple ingredient.
The violet liqueur is made from the petals of the delicate violet flowers. The petals are picked apart, then submerged in a brandy or other neutral spirit, and left in an airtight container for several days, so they can get really infused with the spirit. This steeping method is a common way of making many liqueurs and even ingredients like vanilla extract. Once this mixture is strained, it is sweetened and what one is left with is a floral, aromatic liqueur with a lovely, bright violet colour.
The drink brings together gin, maraschino liqueur and fresh lemon juice, along with the crème de violette liqueur, leading to a unique and floral drink. The gin offers a strong and steady base, the maraschino liqueur brings its signature bittersweet cherry notes and the lemon adds a zesty acidity. The crème de violette liqueur must be used carefully since it has a strong, flower-like note, and can easily overpower the drink.
Ingredients
Method
-Add the gin, maraschino liqueur, creme de violette and lemon juice to a shaker with ice.
-Shake well until chilled.
-Strain the concoction into a cocktail glass.
-Garnish with a brandied cherry.
