Crème de Violette
Crème de violette emerged from the Provençal and Alpine French liqueur tradition in the 19th century, when violet flowers — cultivated extensively around Toulouse and in the Dauphiné region — were processed into a vivid purple cordial prized for both its color and its distinctive floral perfume. The liqueur was a fixture of pre-Prohibition American bar guides, appearing in the original Aviation recipe in Hugo Ensslin's 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks, but nearly disappeared entirely from the US market for most of the 20th century. Rothman & Winter's Austrian Crème de Violette reintroduced the category to American bartenders around 2007, triggering a revival that brought Tempus Fugit and Giffard expressions to market.
Flavor Profile
Crème de violette delivers an intensely floral, perfumed character dominated by violet blossom — a flavor that reads as simultaneously sweet and powdery, with faint earthy and green-herb undercurrents beneath the flowers. The sweetness is typically high, providing a candied quality that balances the aromatic intensity, while the finish shows a subtle botanical dryness from the flower-petal extraction. The color ranges from deep purple to pale lavender depending on concentration and production method, and it performs equally in terms of visual drama.