Halloween Aviation Cocktail – Sarah Sanderson Sisters Potion

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Last Updated on November 2, 2023 by Leah Hall

This Halloween Aviation cocktail is made a beautiful purple color with a butterfly pea flower gin, Empress 1908. We combined it with creme de violette and maraschino liqueur with lemon like an aviation, but the purple of the Empress gin made it so brilliant. Perfect as a Sanderson Sisters Potion!

 

When we think of Sarah Sanderson from the movie Hocus Pocus, we think: flirt! She charms and mesmerizes a lot of men in the movie. While Winifred’s potion is all about youth, this Sanderson Sisters potion would be of enchantment and entrapment, right?! Her siren song enraptures all who hear it!

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We feel this same way about this bewitching bouquet of floral flavors in this Halloween Aviation cocktail. Using inspiration from Winifred Sanderson’s Garden of Magic Hocus Pocus drink, we knew we had to make a floral but bright cocktail! This Sarah Sanderson cocktail is perfect for bewitching your Halloween Party guests!

 

Try our creepy Specimen Cocktails, too!

And before you go running around saying “Amuck! Amuck! Amuck!” like Sarah, we think  our Sanderson Sisters Potions are the perfect addition to everyone’s favorite Hocus Pocus party. Winifred’s Hocus Pocus drink and Mary Sanderson’s Hocus Pocus Cocktail will be brilliant, too!

 

If you are a fan of Hocus Pocus, you know that after almost 30 years (wait, what?), the Sanderson Sisters have come back in part 2. Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy and Bette Midler are together again in Hocus Pocus 2 on Disney+! It’s the perfect time to enjoy our Hocus Pocus cocktails while enjoying the movie.

The first time they came back it was about the story of Emily Binx and the little children of Salem being called by Sarah to the Old Sanderson house to basically be put in a potion bottle to “keep the witches young.” The Disney classic has done well, and there has been much disagreement about the second movie, but we loved it, and hope the Sanderson sisters come back for part 3.

 

The perfect pairing of cocktail and movie for sure! As well as for Halloween! So, enjoy this Hocus Pocus Potion on Halloween Night or all spooky season to celebrate the black flame candle without a dead man’s toe or dab of newt saliva!

Sanderson Sisters Potion

Channel your inner Sarah Sanderson and conjure up this Sanderson Sisters Potion! We took inspiration from the Aviation cocktail, which is a classic cocktail and is a fun color with the mixture of gin, lemon juice, Creme de Violette and Maraschino liqueur.

But, we wanted to take the cocktail up a notch and use the purple gin, Empress 1908. It is already a stunning cocktail, but the purple gin makes for a great purple colored Halloween cocktail!

 

This makes for a unique floral flavored purple cocktail that makes for a great Halloween potion with added black lava salt added to the outside of the glass too, for effect. This is completely optional, but we loved the black and purple together, and makes for a perfect addition of Halloween effect.

Aviation Cocktail

The Aviation is a classic gin cocktail that dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. It first appeared in Hugo Ensslin’s book “Recipes for Mixed Drinks” in 1916 while tending bar at New York City’s Hotel Wallick. After that time it seemingly stopped showing up on cocktail menus. It is because one of the drink’s primary ingredients, Creme de Violette liqueur, disappeared from the market during the 1960s.

This is the liqueur that makes the aviation cocktail so original, and since it stopped being produced, it was being made without the liqueur. Some recipes have reverted to the maraschino-only version because they believe that modern creme de violette is not flavored how it should be.

 

I would argue that a proper Aviation can’t be made without the violet-hued liqueur. It being made without the creme de violette was likely fueled by “The Savoy Cocktail Book,” in which Harry Craddock included a creme de violette-less Aviation. It’s tasty, but we think you need the purple liqueur.

Ingredients Needed for the Sanderson Sisters Potion

If you are wanting to make this fun purple Hocus Pocus life potion cocktail, you can enjoy it on a glorious morning! 🙂

• Gin – We used Empress 1908 gin, which is a fun purple. But, if you don’t have access to it, feel free to use a London Dry Gin. This will make the cocktail not as purple, but more the classic cocktail route.
• Creme de Violette – this violet liqueur is a dark purple color and tastes and smells of violets. More info about this ingredient below.
• Maraschino Liqueur – this liqueur has the flavor of sour cherries. This plays well with the violets and lemon!
• Lemon Juice – as always, fresh squeezed lemon juice is the better way to make this cocktail.

Creme de Violette

Creme de Violette can be an elusive liqueur. This liqueur, Creme de Violette was brought back with a 2007 release by Rothman & Winter (imported by Haus Alpenz). Versions are made using actual violets and have a lightly floral and sweet taste. Today, a few other companies (The Bitter Truth and Giffard) produce it, too, but it can be harder to find than other ingredients.

In 2007, Minneapolis importer Haus Alpenz the crème de violette from Austria. The newfound availability led to the Aviation reappearing on bar menus across the United States, as bartenders rediscovered this classic cocktail recipe.

But, too much creme de violette, and your cocktail will taste like potpourri. Use sparingly. Regardless of which brand you choose, let’s hope that at least one of these brands stick around!

 

How to make the Sanderson Sisters Potion

This is a simple cocktail to make. Bring you and your Halloween party guests into the land of enchantment with this cocktail. Just combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice.

Shake and strain into the glass. This isn’t a huge cocktail, so a small coupe glass or a Nick and Nora glass works really well.

 

Empress 1908 Gin

Empress 1908 is a lovely blue gin that changes to purple with the addition of citrus or other ingredients. It lends to the bright purple color of this Halloween cocktail, and makes for a fun, naturally colored drink!

Empress is blue because of butterfly pea flowers and if you don’t have access to Empress 1908 gin, then feel free to infuse some London Dry Gin with some butterfly pea flowers and make your own!

Tips and Tricks

• Gin – London Dry Gin is the choice for a classic Aviation, but we used Empress 1908. The Empress lends itself to the lovely purple hue in this Sanderson Sisters Potion! You can always infuse your own gin, or there are other purple gins available on the market.
• Edible Glitter – If you want another spellbinding touch added to this drink we recommend some silver or white lustre dust. This is the perfect way to add a little shine and fun to your Hocus Pocus party, or Halloween Party. The lustre dust is is shaken up with the drink to create the magical effect! Just add it in when you are shaking the drink in the cocktail shaker.
• Dry Ice – If you want a spooky effect add in some pea sized pieces of dry ice! (Make sure to never injest the dry ice, and make sure it’s dissolved before drinking your cocktail). Enact that Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble or Burning Rain of death!
• Garnish – we used a bit of black lava salt on the side of the Nick and Nora glass and made it adhere with some coconut cream. If you are just putting it on the glass rim, then you can dip the rim into some lemon juice and then dip it in the salt. But, the side didn’t want to stick, so we had to get creative. Other ideas can be a lemon peel or edible violet flower.
• Glassware – like we have above, we used a Nick and Nora glass. But a small coupe glass works well, too.

 

Cheers and Happy Halloween!

 

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Like this recipe? Try these below, too!

What Lies Beneath Cocktail

 

Polyjuice Potion Cocktail/Mocktail

 

Looking for other Halloween Recipes? Check these out!

• Green Sherbet Margarita Float
• Zombie Blood Bags Cocktail
• Harry Potter Unicorn Blood
• Vampire Negroni
• Monster Brownies
• Eye Candy Cider Cocktail
• Professor’s Poisoned Apple
• Grindelwald’s Goblet Cocktail
• Halloween Charcuterie
• Key Lime Colada
• Halloween Blood Bags Cocktail
• Bourbon Butterbeer
• Nightmare on Whisky Street Cocktail
• Halloween Pumpkin Cocktail

 

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