purple haze!
The Twin Cities finally have Creme de Violette liqueur and it's wonderful. Just wonderful: sweet but not cloying, perfumey without being chemical. I have finally had a taste of the Aviation cocktail. Oh my gosh. You know that guy (or gal) who tells you you gotta try a negroni? That guy is pretty cool and isn't going to steer you wrong, not exactly. The negroni is a very cool cocktail (gin, sweet vermouth, campari), don't get me wrong. But the guy who tells you you gotta try the aviation? That guy (or gal) is someone you should be prepared to follow into battle. That person is a complete badass. I'm not saying I'm that person per se (I am recommending the aviation cocktail) because someone else recommended it to me first. Wow does that drink pack in the sophistication. So tight and bracing, so ghostly sky-high blue. Just lovely.
Aviation
2 oz. gin
1/2 oz. lemon juice
2 tsp. maraschino liqueur
1 tsp. creme de violette
shake with ice and strain
garnish with a single cherry
preferably one that's been soaked in brandy (I didn't have one, so I used a lemon peel or nothing at all) but don't garnish with one of those candied maraschino cherry things.
I strongly recommend you don't substitute anything for the recommended liqueurs. don't use cherry something or other. don't use parfait d'amour. If you want the elevating experience of the Aviation, make it as shown above. Between the color and the airy I think the Aviation is one of the most aptly named drinks ever because of the high flying balancing act and of "working without a net" since it has only the lemon juice
Now, fully enjoying my creme de violette one teaspoon at a time, I got to try some other delightful drinks.
Blue Moon
2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce Crème de Violette
1/4 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice, strained
Shake or stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass;
garnish with a twist of lemon.
The Blue Moon allows you to more aggressively feature the violet flavor and deep color. Very good, not as complex as the Aviation and sweeter by dint of the larger amount of creme de violette.
The Attention
2 oz. gin
1/4 oz. dry vermouth
1/4 oz. pastis (or absinthe)
1/4 oz. creme de violette
2 dashes orange bitters
Stir with ice and serve in cocktail glass. This is a really really fine cocktail. Since I served it stirred, it comes out clearer than the Aviation--I think the clouds are pretty important to that one though. The Attention comes out a beautiful clean cold gray that leans blue. It's gray in a way that is not unappetizing. It has a more refined structure, probably owing to the vermouth which has more bottom than naked lemon juice does.
After drinking an Attention, I came up with a variant that the bold ones among you might like (man it took me three tries to type that sentence, after drinking all these cocktails) in which I sub lellet and akvavit for the vermouth and pastis
2 oz. gin
1/4 oz. Lillet blanc
1/4 oz. akvavit
1/4 oz. creme de violette
2 dashes orange bitters
stir with ice
This has a little more aggressive flavor from the akvavit, which works at a more oblique angle than the Herbsaint (my pastis of choice- I should say I'm using bombay gin, rothman and winters creme de violette, the aforementioned herbsaint, and luxardo maraschino*). I think using Lillet is really fun and I recommend it instead of vermouth sometime when you're loking for for a change-up in any cocktail. I don't know what I would call it. It's a little blunter than the Attention so... Maybe I'll kcall it the Interruption cocktail? The INterjection!
Here's other interesting variations -instead of the Attention some people call it The Atty, so here's a link to a version of the Atty from adob
*btw, did you know it'spornounced "mare-ah-Skee-no" ? or "mar-a-skee-no" anyway the interesting thing for me was the K sound.