The Water Lily is a beautiful, floral gin cocktail that was created by Richard Boccato at NYC bar Little Branch back in 2007. It's an easy cocktail to make at home and a great reason to dust off that bottle of violet liqueur (aka creme de violette)!
My fun tropical variation on this gin and violet cocktail adds coconut for a surprisingly harmonious blend of herbal, tropical and floral flavors.
What is Crème de Violette?
Creme de Violette is a sweet liqueur made with violet flowers. Violets give the liqueur its stunning deep purple-blue color and an intense floral flavor. Truth be told, it can be quite overwhelming. So it's not a huge surprise that it's a fairly uncommon cocktail ingredient. I like to pair it with flavors that balance the perfume-y nature rather than emphasize it. A favorite is my Violet Peach Gin Sour.
The Aviation Cocktail
The most famous cocktail made with violet liqueur is the Aviation, a mix of gin, lemon juice, maraschino liqueur and (a small amount of) crème de violette. The classic Aviation helped to bring violet liqueur back from obscurity in the 2000s, and luckily, today it can be found at most liquor stores. I've used and enjoyed the offerings from brands like The Bitter Truth Company and Rothman & Winter.
The original Water Lily cocktail recipe
A traditional Water Lily is a lovely, floral, equal parts blend of gin, triple sec (namely Cointreau), violet liqueur and lemon juice. It's shaken, served in a cocktail glass, and garnished with an expressed orange peel.
It's said that the Water Lily was inspired by the classic Corpse Reviver Number Two cocktail, which is an equal parts mix of gin, Lillet blanc, Cointreau, and lemon juice, with an absinthe rinse.
For my tropical twist on the classic, I've replaced the triple sec (orange liqueur) with cream of coconut. Coconut pairs really well with both gin and violet, and the acidity of the lemon juice keeps it from leaning too sweet. Coconut's mellow, nutty, somewhat earthy flavor really tones down the very strong floral top notes of the violet liqueur.
Other flavors that pair well and help tone down the intensity of violet are peach, pineapple, mint, and cherry. You might also like my Cherry Violet Coconut Gin Cooler or my Pineapple Violet Daiquiri.
Cream of coconut vs. coconut cream
Unlike coconut cream, which is unsweetened, cream of coconut is a thick, creamy coconut syrup. It's often sold in a can in the mixers aisle, or alongside Goya brand foods. Goya makes a nice one, but the most famous canned brand is probably Coco Lopez. Another very popular option that comes in a squeeze bottle is Coco Reàl. Coco Reàl is my favorite store bought brand because of the convenience of the squeeze bottle and it keeps in the fridge for ages!
Cream of coconut is a mix of coconut milk and sugar, and it often has thickeners or stabilizers, too. However, you can easily make your own. Here's a simple recipe.
Coconut cream, on the other hand, is the thick, fatty cream that remain after blending coconut meat with water and removing the liquid. The liquid from this process is coconut milk.
Tropical Water Lily recipe
Now that I've shared the backstory on the original recipe and the why behind my variation, here's the ingredients list:
- ¾ oz gin
- ¾ oz violet liqueur
- ¾ oz lemon juice
- ½ oz cream of coconut
- Lemon twist, for garnish
Instead of keeping the recipe in equal parts, I've scaled back the cream of coconut to ½ oz. Cream of coconut is thick and quite sweet, so a little goes a long way.
Combine all ingredients (except the lemon peel) in a cocktail shaker and fill it three quarters with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain in to a cocktail glass and garnish with an expressed lemon peel. You can get extra fancy and garnish with an edible flower, if you like. Pictured here is a small orchid from Gourmet Sweet Botanicals.
You can use a variety of gins here and have a great result. Some fun ones to try are Empress 1908 for it's lovely purple color, Grey Whale Gin for it's bright citrusy notes, or go with a classic London dry like Tanquerary. As always, use freshly squeezed lemon juice!
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You may also enjoy these other tropical cocktails:
Tropical Water Lily (Gin, Violet, and Coconut) Cocktail Recipe
Ingredients
- ¾ oz gin
- ¾ oz violet liqueur
- ¾ oz lemon juice
- ½ oz cream of coconut
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and fill it three quarters with ice.
- Shake until chilled, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
- Garnish with an expressed lemon twist.