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You won’t be able to stop drinking this refreshing elderflower cocktail! It’s perfectly balanced with vodka, St Germain, and lemon.

Elderflower cocktail
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Here’s a drink you won’t be able to stop sipping. Try this elderflower cocktail! The flavor here is so refreshing, so perfectly balanced, that it’s almost impossible not to take another sip. The secret? St Germain, of course. This elderflower liqueur is majorly popular because of its irresistible sweet floral flavor. Combine it with vodka, lemon and tonic water, and it’s a beautiful blend of botanical, sweet tart, bright and bubbly. Here’s how to make this tasty drink!

What’s in this elderflower cocktail?

Got a bottle of St Germain? This elderflower cocktail is the perfect way to use it. It’s bright, bubbly and just the right amount of sweetness. In fact, this drink is dangerously sippable! But with the tonic water, it’s nicely watered down so you can sip on it for quite a while. Here’s what’s in this elderflower cocktail:

  • St Germain
  • Vodka
  • Tonic water
  • Lemon juice
  • Bitters
Elderflower cocktail

What is St Germain?

St Germain is the magic behind this elderflower cocktail, but what exactly is it? St Germain is a liqueur made with elderflowers, the small white flowers of an elderberry plant. The flavor is light, sweetly floral, and fragrant. It’s hard to describe until you taste it! It adds a unique smooth finish to the flavor of cocktails. Here are a few fun facts about this liqueur:

  • How do you say St Germain? First off, don’t say “Saint”. It’s actually pronounced “Sahn-jer-MAHN.” But however you want to say it to not sound too pretentious with your friends, go for it!
  • St Germain was invented in 2007! With the beautiful vintage-looking bottle, we originally thought it had hundreds of years of history. (Here’s the story behind inventing it.) It’s safe to say this newcomer to the cocktail scene has enjoyed massive popularity.
St Germain

How to make this elderflower cocktail

This elderflower cocktail is easier than most drinks: you can mix it up in minutes! Here’s what to do:

  • Use a mixing glass. Cocktails are either shaken, stirred, and mixed right in the serving glass. This St Germain cocktail is stirred, and you’ll need to use a cocktail mixing glass or any other large glass. Mix together the St Germain, vodka, lemon and bitters with a large handful of ice using a long bar spoon.
  • Strain and add tonic water. Strain out the drink into the serving glass. Add the tonic water.
  • Garnish. Garnish with ice, a lemon wheel and fresh mint.

Use clear ice for a classy touch

If you’re looking to step up your presentation for this St Germain cocktail…here’s a trick. Try clear ice! Clear ice is crystal clear, not cloudy like normal ice. You can make it at home and then cut it into organic shapes to fit right into your glass. Clear ice looks just like the presentation at a fancy bar. It’s easy to make: all you need is a small cooler and 24 hours. Go to How to Make Clear Ice.

Elderflower cocktail

More elderflower cocktails!

Love elderflower? Us too. St Germain is one of our favorite liqueurs to stock in our liquor cabinet. Here are a few more great drinks using this sweet floral elixir:

When to serve an elderflower cocktail

This elderflower cocktail is refreshing and crowd pleasing cocktail. It’s perfect for sipping as a:

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Elderflower Cocktail with Lemon

Elderflower cocktail
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5 from 2 reviews

You won’t be able to stop drinking this refreshing elderflower cocktail! It’s perfectly balanced with vodka, St Germain, and lemon.

  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 minutes
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 1 drink 1x
  • Category: Drink
  • Method: Stirred
  • Cuisine: Cocktails
  • Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) vodka
  • 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) St Germain
  • ½ ounce (1 tablespoon) fresh lemon juice
  • 2 dashes bitters
  • 4 ounces (½ cup) tonic water
  • Ice, for serving (try clear ice!)
  • For the garnish: lemon slice, mint sprig

Instructions

  1. In a mixing glass or other large glass, add the vodka, St Germain, fresh lemon juice, and bitters. Add a handful of ice and stir until cold.
  2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Add the tonic water and stir gently. Add ice and garnish with lemon and mint, if desired.

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More vodka cocktails

This elderflower cocktail also stars vodka! Here are more of the best vodka cocktails to try:

  • Vodka Tonic One of the easiest mixed drinks of all time! This two-ingredient cocktail is bubbly, citrusy, and refreshing.
  • Vodka Gimlet A variation on the classic gin gimlet with a smoother flavor! It’s got just three ingredients: vodka, lime and syrup.
  • Vodka Sour A classic sour cocktail: refreshingly sweet tart with a frothy egg white foam on top!
  • Classic Moscow Mule That classic starring lime, ginger beer and copper mugs. Try all the variations!

About the authors

Alex & Sonja

Hi! We’re Alex & Sonja Overhiser, authors of the acclaimed cookbooks A Couple Cooks and Pretty Simple Cooking—and a real life couple who cooks together. We founded the A Couple Cooks website in 2010 to share seasonal recipes and the joy of home cooking. Now, we’ve got over 3,000 well-tested recipes, including Mediterranean diet, vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, smoothies, cocktails, and more!

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10 Comments

  1. Cindy Tennimon says:

    what type of bitters?

    1. You can use any type! Angostura is what we typically use here.

  2. Tara Bartolomucci says:

    This drink is sublime! I think it could definitely be served to someone who doesn’t drink liquor often. Keeping this in my rotation- thank you!






  3. Lora says:

    Delicious! Made several of these and very light and refreshing!






  4. Mary says:

    Looks delish!

  5. Anonymous says:

    Where is the elderflower in this recipe?

    1. Anonymous says:

      St. Germain is elderflower

  6. eliz says:

    What is your favorite bitters for this drink?

    1. Alex Overhiser says:

      We like angostura or peychaud’s for this :)

      1. eliz says:

        Thank you. I’ve only tried angostora and love it in an old fashioned.
        Looking forward to making some cocktails with st germain.