Citrus, floral gin with a slightly sour finish.
The recipe above has been my preferred recipe for some years. However, in early 2020, I decided that...
I just made a riff on the Aviation from Sother Teague's book, "I'm Just Here for the Drinks": 1 Oz gin, 1 Oz Becherovka, 0.5 Oz lemon, 0.25 Oz Maraschino, 2 dashes ginger bitters.
I really enjoyed this drink. The gin is still present, particularly on the swallow. The clove and cinnamon notes of the Becherovka show up in the mid-palate, the Maraschino does nor dominate at all. I might consider adding 0.25 Oz of simple syrup to better suit my palate, as I think the Becherovka is a bit less sweet than Violette, but overall it is a very good variation.
While I like bone dry cocktails I do find the addition of a teaspoon of rich simple syrup a better crowd pleaser. Call it sacrilegious, but most people do prefer it just a tad bit sweeter. Also using the Bitter truth violet liqueur gives it a stunning aquamarine hue, just as long as the lemon juice isn’t too yellowish.
Tried the suggested water dilution with dry ice, which did open up the flavours, but lost intensity of the violette in particular. Although it’s not the freshest bottle so could bed influencing. I’d go 5ml max myself.
A while since I have visited this recipe, and so many visitors in between: devotees at the altar. Something quite special with the combination of sour sweet, herbal and citrusy. Regarding the soul. I ran out of lemon peel so used light sprays of lime and lemon as garnish.
I like the base spirit to standout in my cocktails. So I increased the gin to 2 parts, and decreased the maraschino and creme de violet liquors to 1/4 parts each (equal parts). I also stirred instead of shaking in order to preserve the violet color that is lost in shaking. Stirring also seems to produce a richer flavor. I also dropped a Maraschino cherry on the bottom of my glass. It made for a nice after cocktail treat 😋.
A favourite of mine but (oh the sacrelige) I used to make it with parma violets gin (either Imaginaria or Miss Mollies, can't remember now) in the creme de violette measure, plus a teaspoon of the liquid from a jar of maraschino cherries as well as the maraschino liqueur.
In my haste to imbibe I used Haymans Old Tom gin rather than a London dry. I think it made for a smoother version. Also agree that a bit of chilled water helps bring out the cocktail.
I used what I could get my hands on: Antica Distilleria Quaglia Violetta Liqueur as Creme de Violette is no where to be found. I added some syrup from Amarena Fabbri. David Selle's comment of adding the violette to the glass first and shaking the rest resulted in a delightful cocktail.
I tried it with both lime and lemon juice and prefer the lime (same with the 20th Century).
I really enjoyed this drink. The gin is still present, particularly on the swallow. The clove and cinnamon notes of the Becherovka show up in the mid-palate, the Maraschino does nor dominate at all. I might consider adding 0.25 Oz of simple syrup to better suit my palate, as I think the Becherovka is a bit less sweet than Violette, but overall it is a very good variation.