Time For Cocktails: The Aviation



100 Years of Naval Aviation-San Diego (2/9/11)*

OK, this one is a real favorite of ours.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz maraschino liqueur
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/4 oz Crème de Violette or Crème Yvette liqueur

Double the amounts if you're making for two, or if you're thirsty.

Mix ingredients in a shaker with plenty of ice. Shake and strain, pouring into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a bright red maraschino cherry.

Notes:

Crème Yvette and Crème de Violette are both intensely flavored violet liqueurs. They are easy to overdo in this drink so go lightly with them. They're both pretty pricey too but a bottle lasts a long long time.

Althouse commenter Palladian gave a nice discourse about both Crème Yvette and Crème de Violette the other night over here. The liqueur gives this cocktail that gorgeous cerulean color, like somewhere in the middle of the sky in my photo above.
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*That photo of a flying V of V's of 25 jet aircraft was taken from the flight deck of the USS Midway during the Centennial celebration of 100 years of Naval Aviation in San Diego.