10 Exquisite Elderflower Cocktails to Enjoy Now

When elderflower liqueur burst onto the bar scene in 2007, courtesy of St-Germain (pronounced Sahn-jer-MAHN), this new kind of liqueur with a delicate floral and fruity flavor quickly gained a following. Originally featured in light spring and summer drinks, mixologists and drinkers alike have since discovered the botanical goes well with a variety of liquors and spirits and herbs and spices. This versatility has earned elderflower liqueur a permanent berth on cocktail menus year-round. Here are 11 cocktails to try.

1. Harvest Sour, St-Germain

Recipe courtesy of NAM Brand Ambassador Earlecia Richelle

“Earthy, rich, and filled with aromatic fall flavors, the Harvest Sour showcases elderflower liqueur’s versatility when paired with different ingredients,” says Richelle. “This delightfully luscious recipe is not only aesthetically gorgeous for celebrations and flexing your mixology skills, but also warms the body with fig jam, fennel, and cognac.” She recommends using St-Germain because of its balanced sweetness of tropical fruit, stone fruit, and honeysuckle as an ingredient to combine with other syrups and sweeteners without making your cocktail overly sweet or syrupy. Vegans can use aquafaba as an egg white substitute.

½ oz St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur

1 oz Cognac

1 tbsp fig preserve

¾ oz lemon juice

half an egg white

Add preserve to cocktail shaker and stir in the lemon juice and cognac. Add the rest of your ingredients. Shake with no ice, then add ice and shake again. Double strain into a chilled glass, garnish with fennel, pollen, and fresh fig, and serve.

2. Elderfashioned, Heimat NY

Recipe courtesy of Ute Londrigan, founder of Heimat NY, a ground to glass liqueur brand based on her German family’s 100-plus-year-old liqueur recipe. Read more about Heimat.

Londrigan calls this recipe “a modern twist on the classic old-fashioned cocktail.”

2 oz Whiskey

0.75 oz Heimat New York Elderflower

2 dashes Bitter

Stir all ingredients with ice, strain into ice-filled glass and garnish with orange zest twist.

3. Elderflower Gin and Tonic, Doya, Miami, FL

Recipe courtesy of Doya’s Beverage Director, Anthony Media

“The Nordes is a refreshing gin and tonic with a floral complexity provided by the combination of the herbaceous gin and the elderflower tonic water,” says Media. “One of the most interesting properties of the elderflower is its rich floral aroma, which reminds us of a fresh peach, a juicy pear, and other elements that present endless ways to enjoy it.”

2 oz Nordes Gin
4 Slices strawberry
1 Spring of dill
1 Lemon wheel
Juniper berries
5 oz London Essence orange & elderflower tonic

Combine ingredients in glass with ice and stir. Top with tonic and enjoy.

4. Josh Tipsy Spritz, Josh Cellars

Recipe courtesy of Joseph Carr, founder of Josh Cellars.

“From the first days of winter to the final days of the New Year, spread some holiday cheer with this simple spritz recipe,” says Carr. “Josh Prosecco has flavors of green apple, pear, and citrus, which are brought out by the floral notes of St-Germain.”

3 oz Josh Cellars Prosecco

1 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur

Lemon twist garnish

Pour prosecco into glass. Top with St-Germain. Garnish with lemon twist. Enjoy!

5. Sophia, Bar Zazu, Las Vegas, NV

Recipe courtesy of Miklos Katona, Director of Beverage at Bar Zazu and Brezza at Resorts World Las Vegas

“We feature unique digital art on Bar Zazu's walls, showcasing the 'Doñas of Zazu,' says Katona. “One of them is Sophia. She is gorgeous, yet very approachable and intriguing, just like our most popular cocktail that carries her name."

Sophia cocktail — Sophia photo credit Sabin Orr

1 1/2 oz Ketel One Vodka
1/2 oz Italicus
3/4 oz fresh lime juice
3/4 oz hibiscus syrup
1 cucumber slice (muddled)
pinch sea salt

1 oz. cava
St-Germain (glass mist)

Combine first six ingredients. Top with cava and using an atomizer, mist the glass with St-Germain.

6. Mr. Pimms, The Ribbon, New York, NY

Recipe courtesy of Yann Le Morzellec, head bartender

Lemorcellec crafted this variation of a Pimms Cup three years ago. “People love it,” he says. This light cocktail “started off as a summer drink and it's now year-round. It’s become one of The Ribbon classics.”

1.5 oz Cucumber infused Hendricks gin

1 oz Pimms

.75 oz lemon juice

.5 oz mint infused simple syrup

.5 oz St-Germain

splash of club soda, 7 Up or Sierra Mist (your preference)

Combine ingredients, shake with orange wedge, top with a splash of soda and garnish with a sprig of mint and a slice of cucumber.

7. Grand Central Spritz, The Campbell, New York, NY

Recipe courtesy of Moses Laboy, Gerber Group Corporate Beverage Director

“This cocktail is a year-round crowd favorite and easy to make for the at-home mixologist,” says Laboy. Serve it in an elegant Bordeaux style wine glass as at The Campbell.

.75 oz Grey Goose Vodka

.75 oz St-Germaine

. 5 oz fresh lime juice

equal parts club soda and prosecco

Add first three ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Add ice, shake till cold. Strain over fresh ice into wine glass. Top with sparkling elements and fold with a spoon to combine ingredients. Garnish with a lemon twist.

8. Ittari Mulmul

Recipe courtesy of Nandita Godbole’s Masaleydaar: Classic Indian Spice Blends, to be published in 2023.

Godbole says, “This fragrant cocktail with elderflower liqueur is made even more redolent with the heady aroma of rose, saffron and cardamom, enveloping the senses, evoking the comfort of soft and fragrant muslin, cool Mughal water gardens, and leisurely walks underneath rose-laden arbors.”

1 tbsp milk

1 large pinch saffron, 3-4 strands
2-3 green cardamom pods, whole

1 tbsp heavy cream
1 tsp rose water

1 oz. Elderflower Liqueur

1 oz Raspberry Liqueur

3 oz Ginger beer, chilled

Garnish: Unsalted Pistachio slivers, pinch of saffron

Warm the milk in a bowl until steaming hot. Add the saffron and cardamom pods, cover, and allow the flavors to infuse into the milk. When cool, add it to the heavy cream. Add the rosewater and whisk into soft peaks. Keep chilled until ready to use. This cream can be made in advance.

In a shaker, combine the liqueurs over ice until well chilled. Pour into a Collins Glass. Immediately top with chilled ginger beer. Dress with the saffron and cardamom whipped cream. Garnish with pistachio slivers. Serve immediately.

9. High Atlas, Aziza, San Francisco, CA

Recipe courtesy of general manager Jessica Eisenberg

“We created the High Atlas, our version of a spicy margarita when we reopened Aziza in 2019, says Eisenberg. “This cocktail, a guest favorite, is named for the mountain range in central Morocco, known as the same name or The Grand Atlas. Even when we have taken it off the list, it gets called for!”

2 oz reposado

2 oz pineapple juice

.75 oz lime juice

.05 oz liquid alchemist passion fruit syrup

.25 oz Alma tepec chili liqueur

6 dashes Scrappy's firewater

.25 oz St-Germain

Combine all ingredients, shake and serve over pebble ice in a hurricane glass with dried candy pineapple and chili pepper.

10. The Hugo, Hotel Hugo, Bar Hugo Rooftop, New York, NY

Recipe courtesy of Kevin Montano, Beverage Director of Bar Hugo Rooftop, New York, NY

The hotel’s signature drink is super refreshing and popular, says Montano. “Thirst quenching never felt this good. This is what refreshing tastes like.”

4-5 mint sprigs

1 oz St-Germain

.5 oz lime juice

3 oz dry Prosecco

Muddle the mint in a glass. Add muddled mint into a clean wine glass with lime. Combine elderflower syrup, prosecco, and soda water and mix. Top with ice and garnish with a lime slice and serve.

11. Hana, Rainbird at El Capitan Hotel, Merced, CA

Recipe courtesy of Rainbird general manager, Rita Hornack.

An Asian-inspired cocktail created for a Chef Collaboration dinner, it recently showed up again on the menu for a wine pairing dinner. Says Hornack, “My lead bartender came up with the drink. She’s been reading a book on Japanese cocktails.”

2 oz. of sake

¾ oz. of St. Germain Elderflower liqueur

½ oz. El Jimador Blanco Tequila

½ oz. lemon juice

Shiso leaves

Micro shiso leaves, garnish

Muddle shiso and add sake, elderflower, tequila and lemon juice. Shake with ice and strain into a coupe. Garnish with micro shiso.

11 Exquisite Elderflower Cocktails to Enjoy Now