Liqueurs

Crème de Violette

Crème de violette is a sweetened liqueur scented with violet flowers, usually 16 to 25% ABV; Rothman & Winter is 20% by its US importer’s account. It is used by the bar spoon for colour and scent, and its most familiar job is tinting the Aviation a pale sky blue. Too much makes a drink taste of soap.

Quick Facts

ABV20% ABVBottlings run about 16 to 25%; Rothman & Winter is 20% by its US importer.

Legal categoryLiqueur

OriginFrance and Austria; Rothman & Winter is made in Upper Austria

Flavour Strengthlight medium

SeasonYear-round

Our keeping timeYears unopened. Once opened, one to two years at room temperature, sealed and out of the light.

Storage

Standing, capped tight, away from light, which fades the colour.

Allergens

None of the 14 listed allergens. Recipes vary by brand: check the bottle.

The ingredient

About Crème de Violette

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

Violet blossomSoft floralLight berry sweetness

Tasting Notes

Violet flowers, sweet and perfumed, with a soft berry note; soapy if overused.

Violet flowers in a sweetened brandy

Crème de violette is a liqueur flavoured with violet flowers. Rothman & Winter's is made in Upper Austria from Queen Charlotte and March violets on a brandy base and bottled at 20%, by its US importer’s account. Others run from about 16 to 25%.

Its job is colour and scent rather than flavour in the usual sense. A little reads as flowers; a little more reads as soap, and the line between them is short. Because each drink takes only a bar spoon, one bottle covers a great many of them.

The Aviation is a gin sour that it turns blue

Our Aviation follows the IBA: 45ml of gin, 15ml of maraschino, 15ml of lemon juice and a bar spoon of violette, all shaken hard and double strained. Each of the four does a separate job.

What each part of the Aviation does

London dry gin

Measure: 45ml
Share of the drink: About 56%
Its job: Strength and juniper

Maraschino liqueur

Measure: 15ml
Share of the drink: About 19%
Its job: The sugar, with cherry stone and almond

Fresh lemon juice

Measure: 15ml
Share of the drink: About 19%
Its job: The acid

Crème de violette

Measure: About 5ml
Share of the drink: About 6%
Its job: The colour and the floral scent

Ingredient	Measure	Share of the drink	Its job
London dry gin	45ml	About 56%	Strength and juniper
Maraschino liqueur	15ml	About 19%	The sugar, with cherry stone and almond
Fresh lemon juice	15ml	About 19%	The acid
Crème de violette	About 5ml	About 6%	The colour and the floral scent

The drink lost it for decades and got it back

Hugo Ensslin printed the Aviation in 1916 with violette in it. Harry Craddock’s version left it out, and the modern revival first followed his formula, making the drink with gin, lemon and maraschino alone. Haus Alpenz now imports Rothman & Winter's violette, and with it the original recipe is easy to make again.

Using it

Using Crème de Violette

Usage

A bar spoon, about 5ml, in our Aviation, shaken with 45ml of gin, 15ml of maraschino and 15ml of lemon. That is under a sixteenth of the drink, and it supplies the colour and most of the scent. Pour more and the flowers turn to soap.

Pro Tip

Add the violette with the other ingredients, not as a float: shaken in, it colours the whole Aviation evenly. Double strain into a chilled coupe and drop a cherry into the centre, where it sits under the pale blue.

Top Tips

Measure with a bar spoon, not by eye: the step from floral to soapy is short.
Shake it in with everything else rather than floating it, so the colour is even.
Chill the coupe first: the Aviation has no ice in the glass, and the pale blue looks cleanest cold and clear.
Haus Alpenz, its US importer, gives an open bottle a year or two at room temperature; keep the cap tight.

Possible Substitutions

Lavender liqueur (herbal-floral, more assertive)

Production Method

Violet flowers macerated or infused in spirit, often a brandy base, then sweetened.

History & Context

The Oxford Companion says the original Aviation first appears in Hugo Ensslin's 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks, with crème de violette, one of at least four formulae of that name then circulating. It adds that Harry Craddock’s version omitted the violette and was the one revived first, and that the 2003 rediscovery of Ensslin’s book and the return of crème de violette to the American market in 2007 brought the original back. Haus Alpenz, the US importer, now sells Rothman & Winter's violette.

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

What is crème de violette?

A sweet liqueur scented with violet flowers, bottled anywhere from 16 to 25% ABV. Rothman & Winter's, made in Upper Austria from Alpine violets on a brandy base, is 20% by its US importer’s account. It is purple in the bottle and smells of the flower. Bartenders use it in bar-spoon measures for colour and scent.

Why does the Aviation need crème de violette?

For its colour and its scent. The Oxford Companion says its distinctive colour and strong scent make it play a crucial, often defining role even in small amounts, and that Hugo Ensslin’s 1916 Aviation had it. Without it the drink still balances, but it is pale yellow that tastes of cherry stone and lemon, without the flower.

How much crème de violette goes in an Aviation?

A single bar spoon, roughly 5ml, the measure the International Bartenders Association gives and our recipe uses, against 45ml of gin. More makes the drink darker and more floral, and before long it tastes of soap.

What can I use instead of crème de violette?

Another violet liqueur, at the same bar-spoon measure. Without one, make the Aviation with gin, maraschino and lemon alone, as many bars did for decades: pale yellow rather than blue, but balanced. Blue curaçao is not a stand-in; it brings orange and sugar instead of flowers.

How long does crème de violette last once opened?

About one to two years at room temperature, according to Haus Alpenz, the importer of Rothman & Winter. Light fades both the colour and the scent, so a dark cupboard suits it. At a bar spoon a drink, a bottle lasts a long time.

Is crème de violette sweet?

Yes. It is a liqueur, and Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 sets a liqueur at no less than 100g of sugar to the litre. At a bar spoon it adds little sugar to an Aviation; the maraschino supplies most of that. Poured by the 15ml, it would sweeten as much as it scents.

Sources.

Checked between 16 October and 19 October 2026.

Haus Alpenz, “Rothman & Winter Crème de Violette” (US importer’s page (Queen Charlotte and March violets; brandy base; Oberösterreich; 20.0%; keeps 1 to 2 years at room temperature)).
The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (David Wondrich), “The Aviation Cocktail” (secondary source: Ensslin’s 1916 original with crème de violette; Craddock’s version omitted it; the 2003 rediscovery of Ensslin’s book).
IBA, “Aviation”.
legislation.gov.uk, “Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, Annex II (retained)”.
The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (Dinah Sanders), “crème de violette” (secondary source: Haus Alpenz reintroduced it to the United States in 2007 with the Austrian Rothman and Winter brand).

Make something

Made with Crème de Violette

Featured In These Cocktails

Aviation

Often Used With

Updated 19 October 2026

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