Name: Biggles' Aviation
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Gin; 15 ml Ginger liqueur; 15 ml Lemon juice; 10 ml Sugar syrup (2:1); 1.25 ml Crème de violette

Biggles' Aviation
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Glass:

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₂ fl oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin
¹⁄₂ fl oz	Ginger liqueur
¹⁄₂ fl oz	Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₃ fl oz	Sugar syrup 'rich' (2 sugar to 1 water, 65.0°Brix)
¹⁄₂₄ fl oz	Rothman & Winter Crème de Violette Liqueur

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
Prepare garnish of fresh ginger and lime slices.

How to make:

SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish:

Garnish with fresh ginger and lime slices.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

A ginger-influenced Aviation named after the fictional book Biggles in Borneo about WWII flying heroes Ginger, Algy, and Biggles. Originally inspired by the ginger used in Canton Ginger Liqueur being sourced from Borneo.

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History:

A riff on the classic Aviation created in 2008 by yours truly at the Cabinet Room, London, England

More cocktails by Simon Difford

Nutrition:

One serving of Biggles' Aviation contains 184 calories

Alcohol content:

1.2 standard drinks
18.83% alc./vol. (37.66° proof)
17.4 grams of pure alcohol

More Sours (citrus) cocktails
More Spicy (e.g. Spicy Fifty) cocktails

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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Showing 10 of 17 comments for Biggles' Aviation.
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James Kittock

28th February at 03:32

Made a variant using Plymouth Navy Strength, honey syrup instead of rich simple, and a couple spritzes of absinthe on top instead of crème de violette. So not really an Aviation riff anymore but decidedly tasty!

Calvin Grant

6th February at 03:01

My favorite ginger liqueur cocktail, along with Biggles' Sidecar and Hunter's Verdict. Can't get the King's Ginger. Domaine de Canton works well.

Caspian Berggren

24th December 2025 at 00:04

The ginger and violet works really darn well. Absolutely one of the best Aviation riffs out there in my mind.

Calvin Grant

24th December 2025 at 04:01

Cheers to that! Happy Holidays!

Michael Moynihan

1st June 2025 at 12:50

Is the amount called for Crème de Violette above correct? How does one measure 0.04 oz? I read the Measurements section and did not find any guidance. Thanks in advance.

Christine Babb

26th June 2025 at 21:07

It’s 1/4 teaspoon.

Florian Ruf

11th April 2025 at 16:38

Amazing cocktail, I made it with "The King's Ginger" from my beloved store Berry Bros. & Rudd. The tiny splash of violette really goes a long way ...

John CARR

22nd March 2025 at 11:55

Homemade ginger syrup w a splash of commercial ginger beer for the more brewed ginger flavour. Very pleasant indeed! Very recognisably an aviation with added south East Asian kick! As usual with local lemons had to tone it down for my palate. The touch of violette was spot on for balance. Can definitely see myself making this again.

Corrine Strang

26th February 2025 at 13:08

If I don't have the correct jigger, approximately how many dashes would equal 1.25ml?

Simon Difford

26th February 2025 at 13:36

Hi Corrine. Please click "Read about cocktail measures and measuring" under the recipe above for more info. Sounds like you need an Easy Jigger!

Sharon Dudding

14th January 2025 at 22:58

I had empress gin on hand, it was a beautiful with floral notes. Perfect for a cold winters day to reminisce about summer. Wondering if anyone has added some sparkling wine? Thinking it may elevate to a more party forward cocktail. Kind of like a French 75.

Justin Aniello

5th January 2025 at 01:05

Lovely mix of flavors, nice and floral despite how little creme de violette. Actually happened to have some homemade violet simple syrup on hand so used that as well. Was good at the full lemon juice but ultimately kicked it down in half to be more my preference.

Angela Knox

18th June 2023 at 00:47

I found that despite the tiny amount of Violette, it overpowered the ginger - added an extra 5ml ginger; but then again, I love ginger

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