Aviation

Aviation

Type	Cocktail
Primary alcohol by volume	Gin
Served	Straight up; without ice
Standard garnish	cherry
Standard drinkware	Cocktail glass
Commonly used ingredients	2 oz. gin 1/2 oz. lemon juice 1/2 oz. maraschino liqueur 1/4 oz. crème de violette
Preparation	Add all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.
Some recipes omit crème de violette.

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.

History

The Aviation was created by Hugo Ensslin, head bartender at the Hotel Wallick in New York, in the early twentieth century.^[1] 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 sky-blue color.^[2]

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.^[3] Many later bartenders have followed Craddock's lead, leaving out the difficult-to-find violet liqueur.^[4]

Related cocktails

• The Aviation can be considered a variation on the Gin sour, using maraschino as its sweetener.
• The Blue Moon cocktail is made with gin, lemon juice, and crème de violette, without maraschino.^[5]
• The Moonlight cocktail made with gin, lime juice, Cointreau, and crème de violette.^[6]

References

1. ^ Hess, Robert. "Aviation". Drinkboy.com. http://www.drinkboy.com/Cocktails/Recipe.aspx?itemid=10. Retrieved 5 March 2011. 
2. ^ Ensslin, Hugo (2009) [1917]. Recipes for Mixed Drinks. Mud Puddle Books Inc.. ISBN 978-1-60311-190-4. 
3. ^ Harry Craddock, The Savoy Cocktail Book, Constable & Co., London, 1930; p. 25
4. ^ Gary Regan, The Joy of Mixology, Clarkson Potter/Publishers, New York, 2003; p. 209
5. ^ "Blue Moon Cocktail". The Washington Post. April 2, 2008. http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2008/04/02/blue-moon-cocktail. Retrieved October 8, 2011. 
6. ^ Regan, Gary (28 Sep. 2007). "The Cocktailian: Creme de violette lifts Aviation to the moon". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/28/WIVTS4MNB.DTL. Retrieved 4 April 2011.