Aviation

Hugo Ensslin, Hotel Wallick, New York City, first published in Ensslin's 'Recipes for Mixed Drinks' (1916). The drink's name references the nascent aviation era — the Wright Brothers had achieved flight only 13 years prior. The crème de violette's purplish-blue colour evokes the sky at twilight. Harry Craddock included the recipe in 'The Savoy Cocktail Book' (1930) without the crème de violette — the version that circulated through Prohibition and beyond.

The Aviation is the cocktail that turned purple — gin, maraschino liqueur, crème de violette, and fresh lemon juice in a shaken sour that achieves its distinctive lavender colour from the violet liqueur, a colour no other classic cocktail matches. Created by Hugo Ensslin at the Hotel Wallick in New York before Prohibition (first published in 1916), the drink was orphaned for decades when crème de violette became unavailable in the United States, and the version without it (gin, maraschino, lemon) circulated until Rothman and Winter's re-introduced crème de violette to the American market around 2007, restoring the drink to its original form and colour.

FOOD PAIRING: The Aviation's floral-citrus-almond profile pairs with delicate, floral, and spring preparations. Provenance 1000 pairings: honey lavender panna cotta (the violet-honey harmony), rose macaron (floral on floral), lemon tart with violet cream, spring pea soup with mint, and fresh strawberries with crème fraîche.