The Aviation is a story about a missing ingredient. Hugo Ensslin printed the recipe in his 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks: gin, lemon, maraschino liqueur, and crème de violette — that last one giving the drink a pale sky-blue tint that supposedly suggested the dawn sky and gave the cocktail its name. Then crème de violette went out of production in the United States. Harry Craddock dropped it from the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book version. For most of the 20th century, the Aviation was made without violette — gin, lemon, maraschino, served pale yellow, looking nothing like its name. Bartenders who'd never tasted the original assumed the name was just romantic.
Crème de violette returned to the US market in 2007 when Rothman & Winter began importing it. Within five years the Aviation was being made the original way again, sky-blue colour restored, and a generation of cocktail drinkers tasted what the drink had always meant to be. The maraschino-violette balance is precise — too much violette and you're drinking perfume; too little and the drink is just a Maraschino Sour with a sad name. Modern bartenders work this ratio carefully because the cost of getting it wrong is high.
Below: the Ensslin spec restored (with notes on the violette ratio that decides everything), the wider gin-sour family the Aviation belongs to, and 30 cities where the violette is on the back bar and the original colour is back in the glass.
Aviation, the canonical build
Spirit base: Gin · Family: Sour
- 45ml gin
- 22ml fresh lemon juice
- 10ml maraschino liqueur
- 8ml crème de violette
- Shake hard with ice. Double-strain into a chilled coupe. Brandied cherry.
The Aviation in 30 cities
A working editorial map. Each entry names a real bar from our database — the room our editors would send you to first for a Aviation in that city.
New York
NYC bartending has been the world's reference point since the 1990s craft revival. Order yours at Amor y Amargo New York and Angel's Share.
All cocktail bars in New York →London
London cocktail culture rebuilt itself in the 2000s and now sets the global pace. Order yours at 100 Club and A Bar with Shapes for a Name.
All cocktail bars in London →Paris
Paris cocktail bartending caught up to its food scene in the 2010s — and now leads it in places. Order yours at Bonhomie Paris and BapBap Brewery.
All cocktail bars in Paris →Tokyo
Tokyo bartending is the world's most disciplined; technique trumps theatre everywhere. Order yours at Baird Beer Harajuku Taproom and Bar Asterisk.
All cocktail bars in Tokyo →Los Angeles
LA's cocktail scene runs on Hollywood polish and Pacific-Rim ingredient access. Order yours at Bar Bandini and Bar Jackalope.
All cocktail bars in Los Angeles →Hong Kong
Hong Kong cocktail culture mixes British colonial whisky bars and modern craft. Order yours at Angel's Share Hong Kong and Aqua Hong Kong.
All cocktail bars in Hong Kong →Singapore
Singapore is Asia's cocktail capital — tropical fruit programmes lead the world. Order yours at 28 HongKong Street Singapore and Analogue Initiative Singapore.
All cocktail bars in Singapore →Melbourne
Melbourne laneway cocktail bars built Australia's craft scene from scratch. Order yours at Above Board Melbourne and Attic.
All cocktail bars in Melbourne →Sydney
Sydney's cocktail rooms balance polish with Australia's irreverent indie energy. Order yours at Archie Rose Bar and Batch Brewing Co..
All cocktail bars in Sydney →Mexico City
Mexico City's cocktail era is the most exciting story in bartending right now. Order yours at Baltra Bar and Baltra Bar.
All cocktail bars in Mexico City →Barcelona
Barcelona vermouth + cocktail culture sits between Spanish tradition and modern craft. Order yours at Balius Bar and Balius Barcelona.
All cocktail bars in Barcelona →Madrid
Madrid's after-midnight cocktail scene is the most underrated in Europe. Order yours at 1862 by Night Madrid and 1862 Dry Bar Madrid.
All cocktail bars in Madrid →Berlin
Berlin runs late and dry — cocktail rooms here favour spirit-forward minimalism. Order yours at A-Trane and Amano Bar Berlin.
All cocktail bars in Berlin →Amsterdam
Amsterdam's genever heritage fuels one of Europe's most distinctive cocktail scenes. Order yours at A Bar and Arendsnest.
All cocktail bars in Amsterdam →Copenhagen
Copenhagen cocktail bartending followed its food scene into world-leading territory. Order yours at 1105 and Aamanns Deli Bar.
All cocktail bars in Copenhagen →Lisbon
Lisbon cocktail culture has matured fast — Portuguese spirits + craft technique. Order yours at A Cevicheria Lisbon and Baccus Marques.
All cocktail bars in Lisbon →Rome
Rome treats cocktails as aperitivo first, craft second — and gets both right. Order yours at Ai Tre Scalini and Alexanderplatz Jazz Club.
All cocktail bars in Rome →Milan
Milan's aperitivo culture invented half the modern cocktail vocabulary. Order yours at 1930 Milan and 1930 Speakeasy.
All cocktail bars in Milan →Dublin
Dublin's cocktail scene now competes with London — Irish whiskey programmes lead. Order yours at 9 Below at The Stephen's Green Hibernian Club and Anseo Dublin.
All cocktail bars in Dublin →Edinburgh
Edinburgh whisky bars run the world's deepest single-malt programmes. Order yours at Badabing Edinburgh and Bar 50.
All cocktail bars in Edinburgh →Miami
Miami's cocktail scene runs on rum, hospitality, and hotel-bar ambition. Order yours at 1-800-Lucky and 1 Rooftop Miami.
All cocktail bars in Miami →Chicago
Chicago cocktail bartending birthed the Paper Plane and shaped the 2010s craft era. Order yours at Andy's Jazz Club and The Aviary.
All cocktail bars in Chicago →San Francisco
San Francisco's cocktail scene defined Pacific-Rim ingredient-led bartending. Order yours at 15 Romolo and ABV.
All cocktail bars in San Francisco →Vancouver
Vancouver cocktail rooms blend Pacific Northwest produce with serious technique. Order yours at The Keefer Bar and Botanist.
All cocktail bars in Vancouver →Toronto
Toronto's cocktail scene punches above its size — Canadian rye programmes lead. Order yours at Allen's and Archive 909.
All cocktail bars in Toronto →Montreal
Montreal cocktail bartending mixes French polish with Canadian indie energy. Order yours at Atwater Cocktail Club Montréal and Bar Darling.
All cocktail bars in Montreal →Dubai
Dubai's cocktail scene runs on hotel-bar ambition and zero-compromise budgets. Order yours at 100 Anvers and 1701 Sheesha Lounge.
All cocktail bars in Dubai →Bangkok
Bangkok cocktail bartending leads Asia's tropical-ingredient revolution. Order yours at Akkee and Asia Today Bangkok.
All cocktail bars in Bangkok →Seoul
Seoul cocktail rooms blend Korean spirits + Japanese precision into something new. Order yours at Alice Cheongdam and Bar Cham.
All cocktail bars in Seoul →Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires runs Latin America's most disciplined cocktail programmes. Order yours at 878 Bar and Cerveceria Antares.
All cocktail bars in Buenos Aires →Sister cocktails
The Friday Pour
One new bar worth your weekend, one cocktail-deep-dive monthly, and the openings we're watching across 200+ cities. Friday morning, no filler.