Aviation (cocktail)
| IBA Official Cocktail | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Cocktail | 
| Primary alcohol by volume | |
| Served | Straight up; without ice | 
| Standard garnish | |
| Standard drinkware |   | 
| IBA specified ingredients* | 
  | 
| Preparation | Add all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry. | 
| Some recipes include crème de violette or Creme Yvette. | |
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 purple color.[2] 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.[3] Many later bartenders have followed Craddock's lead, leaving out the difficult-to-find violet liqueur.[4]
Creme Yvette, a violet liqueur made with additional spices, can be substituted in versions that call for crème de violette.[5]
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 or Creme Yvette, without maraschino.[6]
 - The Moonlight cocktail is made with gin, lime juice, Cointreau, and crème de violette.[7]
 
References
- ↑ Hess, Robert. "Aviation". Drinkboy.com. Archived from the original on 21 January 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
 - ↑ Ensslin, Hugo (2009) [1917]. Recipes for Mixed Drinks. Mud Puddle Books Inc. ISBN 978-1-60311-190-4.
 - ↑ Harry Craddock, The Savoy Cocktail Book, Constable & Co., London, 1930; p. 25
 - ↑ Gary Regan, The Joy of Mixology, Clarkson Potter/Publishers, New York, 2003; p. 209
 - ↑ "Spirits: We Want Creme Yvette!". The Washington Post. 7 October 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
 - ↑ "Blue Moon Cocktail". The Washington Post. 2 April 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
 - ↑ Regan, Gary (28 September 2007). "The Cocktailian: Creme de violette lifts Aviation to the moon". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
 
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