Crème de Violette, also known as liqueur de violette, is a generic term for a usually French liqueur with natural and/or artificial violet flower flavoring and coloring with either a brandy base, a neutral spirit base, or a combination of the two. It can be used as a substitute for the no longer available Creme Yvette. [1]
One well-regarded brand is Benoit Serres Liqueur de Violette. However, it is reportedly very difficult to obtain even in France.[2] Benoit Liqueur de Violette is made with a neutral spirit base with a smaller portion of Armagnac added to it.[3]
After crème de violette had been all but unavailable in the United States for decades, in mid-2007 Haus Alpenz began importing Rothman & Winter Crème de Violette from Austria.[4]
The rarity of Crème de Violette appeared as a plot element in an episode of The Avengers entitled "Two's A Crowd".citation needed
^ San Francisco Chronicle (online edition) Friday, September 28, 2007. The Cocktailian: Creme de violette lifts Aviation to the moon, by Gary Regan. [1] (Accessed 8/17/2008)
References
Clarke, Paul (2007). "Imbibe Magazine: Gone but not Forgotten". Imbibe Magazine. ISSN 1557-7082.
