What does an Aviation taste like?
An Aviation tastes tart, floral and gin-forward: gin, lemon and maraschino with a little crème de violette, so it is bright and sour with a soft violet perfume.
Aviation
tart gin sour, faintly floral
An Aviation is gin, lemon juice, maraschino liqueur and crème de violette, a violet-flower liqueur that turns the drink a pale sky blue or lavender. It's a gin sour at heart: bright lemon and piney gin lead. The maraschino adds a faint nutty, cherry-pit sweetness and the violette adds a perfumed, floral note. Too much violette and it tastes like soap or candy, so good bars use only a little. It's tart, light-bodied and pretty, and it tastes more delicate than it is strong.
Where you’ll see it
On classic cocktail lists, served up in a coupe with a cherry. Some bars leave out the violette, which makes it clear and more citrusy.
Order it if you like gin and lemon and enjoy floral flavors.
Quick questions
- Why is an Aviation purple?
- Crème de violette, a liqueur made from violet flowers. It gives the drink its pale lavender or sky-blue color.
- Does an Aviation taste like soap?
- It can if the bar uses too much violette. Made well, the flower flavor is subtle and the drink tastes mostly of gin and lemon.