Clean Vodka Aviation
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 26% ABV ∙
The Clean Vodka Aviation is a shaken sour built on vodka instead of gin, rounded out with maraschino liqueur, crème de Violette, and lemon juice. Delicate and floral, with tart lemon cutting through a pale violet sweetness and a faint anise whisper trailing on the finish.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Vodka 50 mlMaraschino liqueur 15 mlCrème de Violette liqueur 5 mlLemon juice 15 mlAbsinthe 1 dash
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Express a lemon twist over the cocktail and use as garnish
Tips
- Shake hard with fresh ice for a full 10-12 seconds to properly dilute and chill the vodka base, then double-strain into a chilled coupe to remove ice shards.
- Add the absinthe as a single dash swirled into the shaker before shaking, not as a rinse, to keep its presence subtle behind the maraschino and violette.
- Express the lemon twist's oils over the drink's surface before dropping it in, since this vodka-based build has no botanical garnish to reinforce aroma.
History
The Clean Vodka Aviation is a variation of the Aviation, the gin sour credited to Hugo Ensslin, head bartender at New York's Hotel Wallick, whose 1916 book Recipes for Mixed Drinks contains its first published formula of gin, lemon juice, maraschino liqueur, and crème de violette. The crème de violette gave the drink its pale blue-lavender color, the detail behind its name, though Harry Craddock's 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book dropped that ingredient and many later bartenders followed his lead until the liqueur became commercially available again in the 2000s and the original four-ingredient version was revived. This vodka-based take swaps out the original's gin for vodka, replacing its juniper backbone with a neutral, cleaner spirit base while keeping the maraschino and crème de violette that define the Aviation's flavor and color.
