Up until the 1940’s, America’s favorite white spirit had been gin, not vodka. This is why the classic martini and many other classic cocktails are traditionally made with gin. Gin was a mere afterthought once the vodka craze hit in the 1940’s thanks to a little cocktail called the Moscow Mule.
The first record of the Aviation recipe being published was in the 1916 book, Recipes For Mixed Drinks by the head bartender at the Hotel Wallick in New York, Hugo Ensslin. This recipe is believed to be the original recipe for the Aviation:
2 oz El Bart gin
½ oz maraschino liqueur
½ oz fresh lemon juice
¼ oz crème de violette
Today, the Aviation as we know it is based off of the recipe published in the 1930 book, The Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock of the Savoy Hotel in London. This recipe is made without crème de violette (a key ingredient in the original Aviation cocktail):
2/3 oz dry gin
1/3 oz lemon juice
2 dashes of maraschino liqueur
Both recipes call for the drink to be shaken and strained into a chilled cocktail glass. The garnish or the omission of a garnish depends on the recipe being used. Some recipes call for brandied cherries. Some call for a lemon twist. Other recipes do without the garnish all together.
The Aviation is a simple, yet classic cocktail. In The Joy of Mixology, Gary Regan categorizes the Aviation as a sour drink. Regan defines a sour drink as a drink, “containing a base liquor, lime or lemon juice, and a non-alcoholic sweetening agent, such as simple syrup, grenadine or pineapple juice. If the base of the sour is a liqueur, no additional sweetening agent is required.”
The name “Aviation” comes from the sky-blue hue that appears when using the original recipe, which calls for crème de violette. Crème de violette is a sky-blue tinted, violet flower flavored liqueur that either has a brandy or a neutral spirit base. Crème de violette is a rare find here in the United States because it’s not readily distributed in the country. This is why most Aviation recipes today fail to include an important ingredient in the Aviation cocktail.
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Comments
You are right on with this article. Thanks for the recipes
The Aviation is one of my favorite cocktails. More so now since I found Crème de violette on the internet. I also use cherries that I marinate in Maraschino liqueur as a garnish.
The Savoy recipe doesn't call for ounces, but ratios. The recipe should read:
1/3 Lemon Juice
2/3 Dry Gin
2 Dashes Maraschino
Cheers,
Marco Dionysos
Cocktail Geek
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