The Aviation

[eje]

he's talking about the garnish....not the ingredients!

now that I think about it...what you're drinking is actually a Blue Moon....(well, the original used Creme Yvette but Violette was often substituted...as with the Avation)

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Oh, duh, can't believe I didn't think of that. I knew it seemed familiar.

Interesting, though, that there are 3 Blue Moon cocktails in the Cocktaidb, and only one contains lemon.

Blue Moon is just Gin and Creme Yvette. The first "Blue Moon Variation" is Gin, Lemon Juice, Creme Yvette, and egg white. The other "Blue Moon Variation" is Gin, Creme Yvette, dry vermouth, and orange bitters.

The egg white and lemon Blue Moon is sounds pretty good to me...

[Nathan]

interesting..the Blue Moon recipe I'm familiar with is gin, Yvette or Violette and lemon juice...no egg white.

the third recipe is quite similar to a Jupiter Cocktail.

[eje]

I was scanning the Savoy Cocktail Book, and thinking about the Ensslin Aviation vs. The Savoy Cocktail Book Aviation, and one thing lept out at me.

With most of the Pre-Prohibition cocktails from Hugo Ensslin or Judge Jr. the recipes are written verbatim. For example:

Casino Cocktail

2 Dashes Maraschino

2 Dashes Orange Bitters

2 Dashes Lemon Juice

1 Glass Old Tom Gin

Stir well and add cherry.

-or-

Brandy Gump

1 Hooker of Brandy

The Juice of 1 Lemon

2 Dashes Grenadine

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

Whereas the Aviation has been Savoy-ized:

Aviation Cocktail

2/3 Dry Gin

1/3 Lemon Juice

2 Dashes Maraschino

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

Unfortunately, I don't have Ensslin to see if the original recipe was written in fractions. I suspect not (Splificator?).

I dunno what that means. Maybe that the Savoy version of the cocktail was active and being made to those proportions when the Savoy Cocktail Book was compiled, unlike some of the other older cocktails written verbatim?

There are plenty of cocktails with violet liqueur in the book, so it doesn't seem like availability would have been an issue. Also, unlike some of the other mistakes, they did not correct the recipe in the "New and Additional Cocktails section" of the second edition.

[thirtyoneknots]

I was scanning the Savoy Cocktail Book, and thinking about the Ensslin Aviation vs. The Savoy Cocktail Book Aviation, and one thing lept out at me.

...

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That is some very interesting detective work indeed. Can't wait to see where this leads.

[eje]

Curses! Mr. Wondrich informed me that I was incorrect!

Or to quote him, "Alas, sometimes sharp reasoning and keen observation founder on the rocks of fact."

The full Enslinn recipe is as follows:

AVIATION COCKTAIL

1/3 Lemon Juice

2/3 El Bart Gin

2 dashes Maraschino

2 dashes Creme de Violette

Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice, strain and serve.

[lefti_99]

does anyone know why the Luxardo Maraschino bottle is wrapped in straw? I suspect that it was originally intended to protect the bottle whilst travelling long distances, is that correct?

[Snowy is dead]

Just bumping this thread to see if there is a "preferred" recipe for an Aviation with creme de violette. What seems to work? I, unfortunately, have to use stock marachino. I'm not sure who carries luxardo in MA. The luxardo I do have isn't going anywhere near work...

I'm typically using beefeater or plymouth for gin, .5 to .75 lemon, .5 marachino. I'm thinking .5 violette? I'll report back on what the creme de violette brand is.

Sean

[Kent Wang]

does anyone know why the Luxardo Maraschino bottle is wrapped in straw? I suspect that it was originally intended to protect the bottle whilst travelling long distances, is that correct?

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There are also a few rums and a Ypioca (cachaca) that are wrapped in straw.

[notahumanissue]

Just bumping this thread to see if there is a "preferred" recipe for  an Aviation with creme de violette.  What seems to work?  I, unfortunately, have to use stock marachino.  I'm not sure who carries luxardo in MA.  The luxardo I do have isn't going anywhere near work...

I'm typically using beefeater or plymouth for gin, .5 to .75 lemon, .5 marachino.  I'm thinking .5 violette?  I'll report back on what the creme de violette brand is.

Sean

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The violette cuts into the maraschino ratio as the drink's sweetening agent. I've most often seen it as 0.25 violette and 0.25 maraschino for an Aviation No. 1.

[thirtyoneknots]

Just bumping this thread to see if there is a "preferred" recipe for  an Aviation with creme de violette.  What seems to work?  I, unfortunately, have to use stock marachino.  I'm not sure who carries luxardo in MA.  The luxardo I do have isn't going anywhere near work...

I'm typically using beefeater or plymouth for gin, .5 to .75 lemon, .5 marachino.  I'm thinking .5 violette?  I'll report back on what the creme de violette brand is.

Sean

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I like Wondrich's portions of 2 oz gin, .75 of lemon, and 1 tsp each of maraschino and violette. I much prefer the dry Aviation recipes for the suaveness and the effectiveness at restraining the power of the liqueurs used, both of which can take over if used carelessly.

-Andy

[eje]

It really does depend a lot on the Maraschino and Violette you are using.

The brands of both vary widely in their sweetness and intensity.

I always go with the classic 2-1 ratio of Gin to Lemon.

Using the Luxardo and Rothman & Winter, I find a teaspoon of each and a teaspoon of simple syrup is the most appealing to me and most guests.

With Stock or Maraska, you can probably get away with a bit more Maraschino and skip the simple. I don't think they are quite as intense as the Luxardo.

[slkinsey]

I like my Aviation at 2 ounces of Tanqueray to a half-ounce each of lemon juice and Luxardo maraschino. If I'm using R&W violette, I'll dial back the Luxardo to 2 teaspoons and drizzle in around a quarter ounce of violette after the drink is poured.

[Snowy is dead]

The Violette is indeed Rothman and Winter.

If I can't get Luxardo, is there another good option besides the stock version? I'm not particularly fond of it, it seems too medicinal for me.

edit: I just saw Maraska mentioned above. must have missed it. Is it Italian?

Edited November 13, 2007 by Snowy is dead (log)

[eje]

I usually only see the Luxardo in stores so haven't really tried other brands to give an opinion.

I believe the only three producers of Maraschino are Luxardo, Maraska, and Stock.

I've heard you can get the Maraska in some San Francisco liquor stores. I might have to give it a try next, as my bottle of Luxardo is getting low, and I really should have an opinion on this.

edit - Maraska is from Croatia:

Maraska Liqueurs

Edited November 13, 2007 by eje (log)

[slkinsey]

Maraska is a great product, and some people prefer it over Luxardo (I am not one). It's overall sweeter and less "funky."

[Splificator]

Maraska is a great product, and some people prefer it over Luxardo (I am not one).  It's overall sweeter and less "funky."

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I find Maraska to be much closer to a sweetened kirschwasser than to the gloriously weird concatenation of funk that is the Luxardo. Not band by any means, though. But it definitely tastes like cherries.

[slkinsey]

Which do you think best reflects the product used in classic cocktails?

[Splificator]

Which do you think best reflects the product used in classic cocktails?

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AFAIK, Luxardo was always the standard (the brand goes back 150+ years). More research needed, though.

[Splificator]

Ok, so some quick spadework yields the following:

LITTELL'S LIVING AGE. No. 262-- 26 MAY, 1849.

MANUFACTURE OF MARASCHINO.

The principal manufactory in Zara [the capital of Dalmatia] is that of maraschino, the liquor made from the marasca or black cherry, which is grown mostly in the neighborhood of Almissa, between Spalato and Macarsca. Bordeaux is not more famous for its wines than Zara for its liquors; and in the manufacture of them they surpass all other places.... The fruit is picked and skinned in June and July. Drioli and some of the houses pretend to have secrets for mixing the proportions, which are transmitted to the women of the family from generation to generation; but, in truth, it is like the secret of the protean Jean Maria Farina of Cologne, the true secret being the possession of adequate capital and a current sale. The best maraschino is that of Drioli, Luxardo, and Kreglianovich. The maraschino of the first of these is reckoned by the native Dalmatians as the best of all; but it is dear. Luxardo makes good maraschino, and has a large sale; the maraschino of Kreglianovich is very good in quality and moderate in price, but not strong enough for the English and Russian taste; for while the Sicilians prefer weak and sweet maraschino, a more powerful liquor is requisite for the English, Dutch, and Russian. There are altogether about a dozen distilleries in the town; and several of the proprietors have made handsome fortunes. --From The Highlands and Islands of the Adriatic.

Drioli (the oldest maker, Francesco Drioli having got into the business in 1759) and indeed all the maraschino distilleries were bombed to smithereens in World War II. After the war, Drioli and Luxardo relocated to the Veneto. Drioli shut its doors in the early 1970s. Luxardo soldiers on.

[notahumanissue]

And from my understanding, Maraska was a postwar, communist era start up in what used to be Zara, bottled and labeled under the name Luxardo (which had moved its distillary to what solidified as northern Italy). Through a cross-Iron Curtain legal battle, the name was eventually changed to Maraska.

I'd like to believe there's some cloak and dagger romance floating around in the story. Somewhere.

[gregbnyc]

Does anybody still make the Aviation with applejack? The oldest recipe I could find (1914) lists the recipe as:

3/4 jigger applejack

1/2 jigger lime juice

1 dash absinthe

1 barspoonful of grenadine syrup

I see this recipe in books into the 1930's (sometimes listed at the Aviator).

Is this a different drink?

[slkinsey]

What recipe is it that you have from 1914? The earliest recipe of which Dave Wondrich is aware (which means, for all intents and purposes, of which all of us are aware) is from Hugio Ensslin's Recipes for Mixing Drinks in 1916. I've never seen an Aviation recipe calling for applejack and absinthe.

Edited November 19, 2007 by slkinsey (log)

[Splificator]

What recipe is it that you have from 1914?  The earliest recipe of which Dave Wondrich is aware (which means, for all intents and purposes, of which all of us are aware) is from Hugio Ensslin's Recipes for Mixing Drinks in 1916.  I've never seen an Aviation recipe calling for applejack and absinthe.

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That would be from Jacques Straub's Drinks; it's clearly a different tipple. Aviation was new at the time, and it should come as no surprise that it spawned more than one cocktail with which to toast it (this may go some distance towards explaining the high attrition rate among early aviators).

[kvltrede]

My Aviation is 2 oz beefeater or Tanq, 3/4 oz lemon, 1/2 oz luxardo, 1/4 oz simple (1 to 1).  I like to thow a few dashes of orange bitters to make a Casino.

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Toby, unless I'm asking for a professional secret, how are you making Aviations at the Violet Hour now that you have the R & W Creme de Violette? I had my first true blue Aviation at your place a couple weeks ago and was amazed at how the Violette made one of my favorite cocktails even better. Unfortunately, we weren't seated at the bar so I didn't get a witness its construction or hit up the barkeep for the details.

Thanks!

Kurt

[Nathan]

anything more than a generous dash of violette makes the drink too sweet.

based on Toby's recipe above, maybe he's just replacing the .25 simple with .25 violette?