Aviation Cocktail Recipe

Before you start

The Aviation is a gin sour sweetened with maraschino liqueur and tinted with crème de violette. Done well it is crisp and floral, a pale lavender-gray rather than the bright blue some photos suggest. For decades crème de violette was hard to find, so many recipes left it out; with it, the drink has its intended color and perfume.

Balance is the whole job. Maraschino is funky and dry-sweet, violette is intensely floral, and both can easily overwhelm gin. Small measures do the work: a quarter ounce of violette at most, often less. Start with the spec below, taste, and if it reminds you of hand soap, use less violette next time rather than adding more lemon. A juniper-forward London dry gin holds up better than soft floral gins, which make the drink cloying.

Ingredients

• 60 ml (2 oz) London dry gin
• 15 ml (½ oz) maraschino liqueur
• 5 to 7 ml (1 to 1½ tsp) crème de violette — start low; brands vary in intensity
• 22 ml (¾ oz) fresh lemon juice — strained
• 1 cup (about 150 g) ice cubes — for shaking
• 1 brandied or maraschino cherry — for garnish, optional

Method

1. Chill a coupe or Nick & Nora glass with ice water or in the freezer.
2. Measure gin, maraschino, crème de violette and lemon into the shaker. Use a measuring spoon for the violette; eyeballing this ingredient is how the drink turns perfumed.
3. Fill the shaker two-thirds with ice and shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds, until the tin is frosted.
4. Discard the ice water from the glass and double-strain the drink into it. The color should be a soft, cloudy lilac-gray.
5. Drop a cherry into the glass if you like. Skip a citrus twist; its oils compete with the violet aroma.

Tips for success

• If you are new to violette, make the drink once with 5 ml and once with 7 ml. Most people prefer the lower amount.
• Maraschino liqueur is clear and not the same as the red syrup from a jar of cherries. Use the liqueur only.
• A slightly drier, higher-proof gin keeps the sweet and floral elements in check.

Substitutions

Crème de violette

Leave it out for the pre-violette style: a pale, tart gin and maraschino sour that is sharper and less floral. Do not replace it with blue curaçao, which adds orange flavor and an artificial color.

Maraschino liqueur

There is no close match. A cherry brandy (kirsch) gives cherry dryness without the sweetness; add 5 ml simple syrup to compensate.

London dry gin

A citrus-forward modern gin works well. Avoid heavily floral gins, which pile more perfume on the violette.

Variations

Aviation fizz

Shake the drink as written, strain into a chilled small highball, and top with 45 ml cold soda water.

Troubleshooting

It tastes like soap or perfume

Too much violette. Cut back to 5 ml or even 3 ml, and check that your lemon is fresh enough to carry the drink.

It is too sweet

Maraschino brands differ in sugar. Reduce it to 10 ml and taste; the drink should finish dry.

The color is gray, not blue

That is expected. Violette in a cloudy lemon sour gives a muted lilac. A bright blue drink indicates a different, artificially colored liqueur.

Storage

Serve immediately. Opened maraschino and crème de violette are shelf-stable at room temperature; keep them tightly capped away from heat and light.

Safety notes

Roughly 1.7 U.S. standard drinks per cocktail from the gin and two liqueurs (one standard drink equals about 14 g of alcohol). Serve to adults of legal drinking age only, and plan a sober way home.