While doing a bit of light reading on the Aviation cocktail, I came across a drink created by Gary Regan that he dubbed the Moonlight Cocktail.
According to Gary, “I merely took the Aviation formula and tweaked it a little. I used Cointreau instead of maraschino, and lime instead of lemon juice. Why lime? I had no lemons.” Finding his reasoning sound, I went about crafting myself a cocktail.
I started with Plymouth Gin, which is a solid go-to gin when making a new drink, and Rothman and Winter’s Creme de Violette, a violet flower liqueur that became available to the U.S. market in 2007. The end result was a pretty tasty cocktail, with the vibrant orange flavor of Cointreau and the floral Creme de Violette complementing each other well. Both were kept in check by the half ounce of lime juice, which tempered the drink’s sweetness to a very manageable, pleasant level. Gary may be onto something here.
The Moonlight Cocktail Recipe
1 1/2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce Cointreau
1/2 ounce Creme de Violette
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
Shake with ice, and strain into a chilled Champagne flute.
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