Aviation
45 ml Gin, 15 ml Maraschino liqueur, 15 ml Lemon juice, 7.5 ml Crème de violette, 1 Maraschino cherry
Photo: White Lady - Beefeater gin, Cointreau, fresh lemon juice (12403540403) by City Foodsters · CC BY 2.0 · All credits
Ingredients
Measures below are multiplied for 12 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.
- 480 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 480 ml line. Gin
- 240 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 240 ml line. Triple sec
- 240 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 240 ml line. Lemon juice
- 12 egg whites Egg white - Leave it out for a sharper, clearer drink (optional)
- 12 twists Lemon twist (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Shake everything with ice and strain into a chilled coupe.
Method
Batch (12 drinks)Batch (12 drinks) - about 960 ml of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.
Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.
- If you are using the egg white, shake the gin, triple sec, lemon juice and white together without ice first, for 20 seconds.
- Add ice and shake hard for another 15 seconds.
- Double strain into a chilled coupe.
- Twist a strip of lemon peel over the surface and drop it in.
Serve it
Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.
White Lady
Harry MacElhone of Harry's New York Bar in Paris put this together in the 1920s, and it has been quietly excellent ever since without ever quite becoming famous. It is the same family as the Sidecar - spirit, orange liqueur, lemon - with gin in place of the brandy, and the family resemblance is obvious the moment you taste them side by side.
Getting it right
The proportions here are drier than the older books suggest, and that is deliberate: triple sec is sweet and gin is not, so too much orange liqueur turns this into a soft drink with a kick. Without the egg white it is a clearer, sharper cocktail; with it, it becomes something closer to a lemon meringue. Both are correct, and the choice is yours.
Tasting notes
Clean and bright, with orange oil on the nose and a long dry finish. The texture without the egg white is thin but precise; with it, the drink feels expensive.
More Gin cocktails
Bee's Knees
50 ml Gin, 20 ml Lemon juice, 20 ml Honey syrup, 1 Lemon twist
Bramble
50 ml Gin, 25 ml Lemon juice, 12.5 ml Simple syrup, 15 ml Crème de mûre, 2 berries Blackberry