Elder Aviator

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (99 ratings)
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    Elder Aviator

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Elder Aviator image

Serve in a Martini glass

Ingredients:
2 oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
2⁄3 oz Elderflower liqueur
1⁄4 oz Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
1⁄2 oz Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
1⁄3 oz Chilled water omit if using wet ice
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Martini glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 7/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 7/10
More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

A floral riff on the classic Aviation.

View readers' comments

History:

Created in 2006 by yours truly in London, England.

More cocktails by Simon Difford

Nutrition:

One serving of Elder Aviator contains 201 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.6 standard drinks
  • 20.34% alc./vol. (20.34° proof)
  • 22.9 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Greg Martin’s Avatar Greg Martin
3rd January at 23:17
Excellent cocktail! Well balanced. Added 2.5ml of elderflower syrup to everything. Delicious!
1
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Chris Brislawn’s Avatar Chris Brislawn
1st August 2024 at 03:26
I thought the gin should play a supporting role behind the lemon and elderflower so I used the refined Citadelle gin rather than a more aromatic one. I had lots of lemon zest so I expressed and dropped 2 big zest strips into each drink. Wonderful marriage of flavors. A fine tribute to de Saint-Exupery.
1
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Tuber Magnatum’s Avatar Tuber Magnatum
26th January 2024 at 23:10
Excellent! I was concerned the Elderflower would over power, and as others have noted, the drink is perfectly balanced.
1
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Susan K’s Avatar Susan K
24th December 2023 at 00:35
Absolutely lovely and excellent balance. Used a local distillery's gin that is sassafras-forward, but look forward to trying this with other gins too.
1
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Michael Cronin’s Avatar Michael Cronin
31st July 2022 at 21:37
Made with Beefeater as my local State Liquor stores have been out of Plymouth the last two times I’ve been in. This was excellent! I don’t use my St Germain frequently so I was doubly happy.
1
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Florian Ruf’s Avatar Florian Ruf
4th April 2022 at 17:41
I am not convinced by this cocktail (sorry Simon). For my palate it is a little bland, but sorrily I have really no idea how to adjust it to my taste.
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Alasdair MacDonald’s Avatar Alasdair MacDonald
10th September 2021 at 17:29
Much like Letti before me I made this with Elderflower cordial,1/2 a shot (if you can find the purple leafed Elder the flowers make a pink cordial) and substituted the Maraschino for 1/2 a shot of Cointreau to try and balance the sweetness. 1/2 a shot of Lemon juice then brings the whole thing together and the pink cordial imparts just a hue of colour. Beautiful.
2
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letti pearce’s Avatar letti pearce
30th August 2021 at 16:51
Made this with some homemade elderflower liquor, very nice balance, liked the addition of the elderflower
1
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John Hinojos’ Avatar John Hinojos
10th August 2021 at 00:04
Really liked this. You have the savory from the gin, but the floral after taste. Very refreshing.
3
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simon kitchen’s Avatar simon kitchen
29th June 2020 at 16:23
This is a great twist on an Aviation, we enjoyed this.
2
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