The Elderflower Aviation Gin Cocktail
If there’s ever a way to twist up the Aviation, it’s the Elderflower Aviation gin cocktail. It’s a great way to add some floral flavors to the tartness of the lemon juice of the original Aviation. Elderflower is sweet and floral, so try with your favorite floral gin. This drink can also be a bit tart if you choose to crank up the lemon. Your choice.
While the traditional Aviation drink takes advantage of Creme de Violette, elderflower liqueur takes its place here. You will lose the purple color but add that unique flowery fragrance and taste. This recipe is also quite easy to modify to make your drink sweeter, or sourer.
Serve with Luxardo Cherries in Coupe Glass
Elderflower Aviation Gin Cocktail
Ingredients
- 1.5 Oz. Gin
- .75 Oz. Lemon juice
- .5 Oz. Maraschino cherry liquor
- .5 Oz. Elderflower liquor
- Luxardo cherry For garnish!
Instructions
- Chill your coupe glass.
- In the meantime, combine your gin, lemon juice, maraschino liquor, and elderflower liquor into a shaker with ice.
- Mix it all up.
- Strain over your coupe after you have tossed your chilling ice.
- Garnish with a Luxardo cherry and lemon.
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Make it sweeter or tarter – how to change up the Elderflower Aviation.
If you want to pucker up and really enjoy the lemon, step up the amount of lemon juice to 1 oz. or more.
If you want more sweet, add more maraschino liqueur or elderflower. You could also add some simple syrup instead of the liquors, but you will be diluting some of the subtle flavors here. You may even want to try an elderflower syrup instead of the elderflower liqueur.
You can also use your garnishes to amp up the flavors of this gin cocktail. Lemon oil from the rind expressed over the coupe glass will also pump up the lemon flavor.
If you want to mix things up even more – you might like the Pavan Aviation. This is a great option, especially if you run out of elderflower!
The Luxardo cherry can be used as a garnish in two ways, also. Keep it out of the drink for some eye candy, or let it float to add some depth to the maraschino cherry flavor.
You can make your own Luxardo cherries, also, which is a great way to add some more spice to your cocktails.
Luxardo Maraschino Cherries
Ingredients
- 1 Lb. Cherries Use any variety, but the darker and richer varieties seem to fare better. Ditch the pits before making this recipe.
- .5 Cup Water
- .5 Cup Sugar
- Juice from 1 Lemon Go for fresh lemon
- 1 Stick Cinnamon
- 1 Pinch Nutmeg
- 1 Whole Vanilla bean Option to skip this, option to use a dash of extract.
- 1 Cup Luxardo Liquor
Instructions
- After gathering your ingredients, head to the stove.
- Scrape out the vanilla bean and combine the insides with the sugar in your unheated saucepan. Or, just dash some vanilla extract on the sugar.
- Add the water, lemon juice, nutmeg, and cinnamon stick to the sugar and bring it all up to a boil, then back down to a simmer.
- Let this simmer for about 5 minutes with a cover.
- Add the cherries and let them steep in the spicy syrup for about 3 minutes.
- Remove everything from the heat and pour in your cup of Luxardo.
- Everything cools off, and then you can pour your cherries in a jar. This recipe will yield about one mason jar's worth of drunken cherries.
