Cocktail Series: Aviation

Are you looking for an aesthetically pleasing cocktail that you can add to your home-bartending repertoire? What about a drink that will be perfect for spring, but until spring arrives, you can sip on outside while bundled in multiple layers? Grab your luggage, your passport, and a neck pillow because we’re taking you on a flight with this cocktail. Please remain seated as we discuss the Aviation. The Aviation made its first appearance in Hugo Ensslin’s 1916 book, Recipes for Mixed Drinks. This recipe included one important ingredient that makes the Aviation stand out: Crème de Violette; however, in Harry Craddock’s 1930 cocktail book, he excluded the Crème de Violette. Whether Craddock left out this staple because he did not enjoy it himself or because it was hard to find, the lack of this ingredient did impact the look of this drink for many years. In the early 2000s, bartenders started including the secret ingredient once more, especially in 2007 when Crème de Violette became available in the United States. The purple-blue drink returned, resembling the sky at twilight and brought the Aviation cocktail full circle. So, what do you need to take flight with this cocktail? Stock your bar cart with gin , lemon juice, Maraschino Liqueur , and don’t forget the Crème de Violette . Important note: make sure to measure carefully and not pour too much of the Violette; while it makes the cocktail look like the sky, it can also make it taste a bit soapy or like potpourri. Have a nice flight!

CH Distillery

Chicago London Dry Gin

Philip Patston

9.0

Very restrained and classic tasting tasting London Dry Gin. Blends well in cocktails. A nice alternative to Beefeater.and other traditional London Dry gins. — 4 years ago

Neil, Sharon and 4 others liked this

Bombay Gin

Sapphire London Dry Gin

Trixie

9.1

Pretty blue bottle contains the ideal gin for a delightful summery G and T. 🍸

•40% ABV• September 10, 2020 — 4 years ago

Philip, Eric and 28 others liked this

Trixie

@MaJ CappS Definitely the best tonic! Fever Tree makes a great cocktail. Canada Dry is good in a pinch.

Willie Carter

Old reliable!

Serge S

🥃🥃

Scratch Distillery

Martini Style Gin

Sarah Milsow-Guenther

9.8

One of my absolute favorite gins. Such a smooth gin. Obviously great for a martini but I love using it to make an Aviation cocktail. — 6 years ago

Paul liked this

Giffard

Crème de Violette

Camille Puglia

9.3

This amazing liqueur (looks and tastes like violets) makes cocktails like my Aviation soar. — 7 years ago

with Jim

Bloody liked this

Libertad

Uruguay Dry Gin

Jamie Bishop

The remarkable notes of unique botanicals. The gin maker’s gin. Highly recommend. — 4 years ago

Freeland Spirits

Gin

Eric Urbani

9.2

A great gin, and women-owned and women-sourced! — 4 years ago

Eric, Eric and 16 others liked this

Hendrick's

Orbium Gin

Paul T HB

9.6

Nice 👍🏼
K&L notes as follows
am very surprised with this gin - the addition of quinine (not to mention the wormwood!) makes it a perfect gin for those, like me, that loves gin and tonic. You don't even have to add the tonic! Just some ice cubes and it will take you straight to paradise...

Orbium is Hendrick's reimagined. It's the same classic Hendrick's, but with the addition of quinine, wormwood, and blue lotus blossom. The results are a completely different gin that shows off many of the traditional gin cocktails in one beautiful pour. — 4 years ago

Jason, Bob and 18 others liked this

Severn Goodwin

Yes, good Gin is great, neat. 👍

House Spirits Distillery

Aviation Gin

Patrick Rodrigues

9.2

For a change in gin, this is really good. — 7 years ago

Domaine de Cantarelle

Gin de Provence

Shawn Thompson

9.6

A very aromatic gin from Provence and distilled from grapes growing in the winemaker’s vineyard where she typically produces a gorgeous Rosé. I love gin almost as much as I love wine and this might be one of my favourites. It has an incredibly floral nose with hints of lime and grapefruit, juniper is notably restrained in the flavour profile with exotic citrus and delicate spice taking center stage. We used this gin to create one of my favourite cocktails: the Aviation. It was superb. — 4 years ago

Diane, Sharon and 7 others liked this

Sharon B

Nice looking drink

Trixie

Ooh lovely! Cheers!

Far North Spirits

Solveig Gin

S.S. Mandani

9.1

Lavender, thyme, juniper summer creamsicle. Lovely with a bouquet of fragrant white lilies from the market.

I drank this straight and while it would do well in a cocktail or with club soda/tonic, I think this actually drinks straight pretty well and beats Roku, in my humble opinion, in that realm. Used to be my go-to. Uncle Val’s is still definitely my top-liner, though. Tough to beat. But hey the Minnesotans know what they’re doing on this one... — 4 years ago

Jayna, Dawn and 5 others liked this

Josh Morgenthau

Gin is my guilty pleasure (guilty only because the hangover is so bad). St. George and all these are great. For balance and complexity in a dry gin though, to my taste, Cotswolds always takes the cake. And it’s so generously priced!

S.S. Mandani

@Severn Goodwin love Monkey 47 as a top shelf sipping gin. I’m just always looking for good value in gin and mainly mixing cocktails with refreshing ingredients. Will have to pick up St. George’s! Thanks for the rec.

S.S. Mandani

@Josh Morgenthau i think I’ve drank so much gin over the years that I’m immune to the hangovers at this point haha. Not a good thing. Love Cotswalds. Love Brockman’s. Both for the value. The four bottles I always keep in stock are Uncle Val’s, Gunpowder, Hendricks (because come on it is a pretty good standard) and Empress for showy purple gin/sodas and pink gin/tonics. I should add Cotswalds to the list!