Blueberries Add a Pop of Fresh Flavor to This Aviation Riff

The Kind of Blueberry is a riff on the classic Aviation cocktail. This version, developed by bartender and author Jim Meehan, features gin infused with freeze-dried blueberries for a pop of berry flavor. 

The recipe for the Kind of Blueberry was featured in the 2024 book, The Bartender’s Pantry: A Beverage Handbook for the Universal Bar, by Meehan with Bart Sasso with Emma Janzen. In it, Meehan provides easy, thoughtful ways home cooks can improve their drinks through doable techniques. In this cocktail, for example, Meehan uses a gin infused with freeze-dried blueberries for a pop of fruity flavor without additional sweetness. 

While inspired by an Aviation, the Kind of Blueberry differs from the original recipe in a few ways. A classic Aviation is made with gin, lemon juice, maraschino liqueur, and crème de violette (a heavily perfumed liqueur flavored with violet petals). The crème de violette creates the Aviation’s iconic purple hue. Since Meehan does not call for crème de violette in this recipe, the blueberry-infused gin provides the drink’s signature color. 

Why the Kind of Blueberry works

This spirit-forward cocktail is all about balancing boldly flavored ingredients in harmony. The gin offers both botanical and fruity-berry notes, the lemon lends tang, the maraschino liqueur (a bittersweet Italian liqueur made from crushed whole cherries, pits and all) has subtle almondy notes, and the simple syrup adds richness. 

The drink’s preparation is simple: the ingredients combine in a cocktail shaker with ice and as it gets shaken vigorously, the various components combine and aerate to yield a cocktail with a silky texture. A garnish of three fresh blueberries skewered on a cocktail pick is a visual representation of what is inside the glass, and makes for a great snack, too.