Solid Liquids: The Missing Link Aviation
November 08, 2011
I haven't created cocktails yet with the dehydrated liqueurs I've been making for the Solid Liquids project, mostly because I figure y'all are don't lack imagination and will find good uses for them.
But here's a drink I've been hankering to create since the beginning.
The Aviation cocktail was originally made with gin, maraschino liqueur, lemon juice, and creme de violette liqueur, but at some point in one cocktail book copying from another, they left off that last ingredient.
For something like 60 years, the recipe was written incorrectly as the first three ingredients only, even through the beginning of the current classic cocktail revival. Then someone figured out they were missing the creme de violette that turned the drink sky blue and gave the cocktail its name.
I wrote about that here.
I decided a fun drink would be to create the drink that is the missing link between the wrong and correct recipes, leaving the drinker the option to have it either way. The cocktail has dehydrated creme de violette sugar around the rim, and what's in the glass is the other three ingredients.
Missing Link Aviation
By Camper English
2 oz. Gin
.75 oz. Maraschino Liqueur
.75 oz. Lemon Juice
Shake and strain all ingredients into a glass rimmed with Dehydrated Creme de Violette.
It tastes delicious.
Learn how to dehydrate liqueurs here.
The Solid Liquids Project index is at this link.
A lot of bartenders prefer it without the creme de violette which is why I think you don't see it included often on menus. Boudreau did a molecular riff on this with crm de violette caviar a few years back on Raising the Bar. Personally I tink a barspoon is nice for the cocktail.
Posted by: Jake | November 08, 2011 at 09:35 AM
I agree with putting a lot less than equal parts creme de violette to maraschino. It's just too perfumy that way.
I've found this drink to be a consumer favorite, and I know a few people who chose to order the drink or not based on the bar having creme de violette.
Posted by: Camper English | November 08, 2011 at 01:03 PM
Looks amazing! I love the idea of a "deconstructed" Aviation.
Posted by: Spirited Alchemy | November 08, 2011 at 04:12 PM