31/05/2026
✈️ The Story of the Aviation: A Liquid Tribute to the Golden Age of Flight
Long before modern airlines made flying a mundane chore, aviation was a romantic, daring, and glamorous adventure. In the early 19th century, looking up at the sky meant looking at the future. It was during this era of wonder that The Aviation cocktail was born.
🏛️ The Origin: New York, 1916
The Aviation was created by a German-born bartender named Hugo Ensslin at the Hotel Wallick in New York City. He published the recipe in his 1916 book, Recipes for Mixed Drinks.
Ensslin wanted to create a drink that captured the color of the sky. His secret weapon? Crème de Violette—a floral, violet-colored liqueur. When mixed with gin, maraschino liqueur, and fresh lemon juice, the drink took on a distinct, misty sky-blue/purple hue. It looked like the sky just before dawn, viewed from the cockpit of a biplane.
❌ The “Lost” Ingredient (The Dark Ages)
For decades, the Aviation lost its wings. In 1930, Harry Craddock published the famous Savoy Cocktail Book—the ultimate mixology bible of the time. For reasons unknown, Craddock completely omitted Crème de Violette from the recipe.
Without the violet liqueur, the Aviation became just a tart, clear gin drink (essentially a Gin Sour with maraschino). To make matters worse, Crème de Violette stopped being imported to the United States and vanished from global shelves around the 1960s. The true Aviation was effectively extinct.
🔄 The Revival
The cocktail remained a “ghost recipe” known only to vintage cocktail geeks until 2007, when spirits importer Minneapolis-based Haus Alpenz finally brought back authentic Crème de Violette to the market.
Bartenders rushed to recreate Ensslin’s original 1916 recipe, and the Aviation officially reclaimed its crown as a classic cocktail staple.
