Blue Diamond Martini

My departure--the Blue Diamond Martini:

• 3.0 oz Gin (I used Gilbey's)
• 0.5 oz Crème de Violette
• 0.5 oz Triple Sec
• Twist of Lemon (otherwise the drink is cloyingly sweet)

Shake over ice then strain into glass.

If you need a garnish, try a candied orange slice to imitate a setting sun on the horizon.

The Blue Diamond Martini is the martini I created and am drinking tonight. It takes inspiration from Hugo Ensslin's Aviation Cocktail from the early 1900s. I learned about the Aviation Cocktail after taking a tour of a Solent Flying Boat at the Oakland Aviation Museum. Supposedly Aviation Cocktails were popular aboard Pan Am flights like on the China Clipper in the 1930s.

Photo from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark thanks to Ultimate Indy Locations

Photo of actual Solent Flying Boat at Oakland Aviation Museum from Ultimate Indy Locations

The color of the Blue Diamond is more subtly muted than the aviation cocktail. . . it really looks like a pale, blue diamond instead of the sky. And I prefer the lemon and Triple Sec flavor profile over what you get with the Maraschino liqueur used in the Aviation Cocktail.

Bottom's up!