My gin apple elderflower cocktail is the most perfect drink for an English garden cocktail party. It’s fruity, aromatic and above all delicious. Gin and apple juice work so incredibly well together
JUMP TO
Ingredients
How to Make
Top Tips
Substitutions and Variations
Making Ahead Options
FAQs
Other Recipes You Might Like
Recipe
Why you’ll love this gin apple elderflower cocktail recipe
Gin and elderflower are the perfect summer pair. This summer garden cocktail is light, refreshing and just the right mix of sweet and sharp. It’s my go-to when I need a cooling drink after gardening all afternoon.
I love how it looks in the glass, decorating with a sprig of rosemary and lime wheels just takes this simple English garden gin to a whole new level. Add ice and your guests will think you’re a recently trained mixologist.
A gin apple elderflower cocktail is a great way option for when you fancy a refreshing G&T but don’t fancy the classics or you realise you’re out of tonic! Swapping a classic tonic for ginger ale in this English garden cocktail is truly life-changing.
Top Questions
What gin goes with elderflower?
What fruit is best in gin?
Does gin and apple juice taste good?
What can you add to gin to make it taste better?
What juice goes well with gin?
Ingredients
For the full recipe and instructions scroll to the bottom of the page for the recipe card.
Gin
If you’ve ever been on my blog before, you know I love a good gin and tonic. I don’t have a favourite gin, but when I’m making recipes like this one with multiple flavours I like to go for a nice simple gin. Hendricks is a great option but you also don’t need to choose anything so fancy. Just choose your favourite for this summer garden cocktail.
Apple Juice
Sweet and delicious, light apple juice is the perfect summer afternoon drink. For this English garden gin I recommend clear apple juice, not cloudy as it doesn’t look as nice in the glass. But that is purely aesthetic, use what you have on hand.
Elderflower Cordial
One of my favourite flavours, elderflower cordial always reminds me of afternoon tea with my grandparents. It’s sweet and slightly fruity, it pairs with so many things and I love how versatile it is. You only need a dash in this gin apple elderflower cocktail.
Spiced Rum
I know you weren’t expecting to see a spiced rum in this sweet and summery cocktail but whilst a spiced rum is usually reserved for warming winter cocktails like my Christmas Rum Cocktail or Hot Rum Punch, it also pairs beautifully with the gin and elderflower in this English garden cocktail.
Decorations – Lime wheels and fresh rosemary
Of course, how your drink tastes is far more important than how it looks but I just love adding the final flourish to a glass before serving. In this case, slices of lime (lime wheels) and a spring of fresh rosemary go on each glass. It’s the perfect finishing touch.
How to make gin apple elderflower cocktail – step by step
Start by chilling your glass with your ice cubes, either reusable ones or classic ice cubes. You can even freeze lime wheels and use them to chill your drink!
Then measure and pour your gin, spiced rum.
Add a dash of elderflower cordial and 1 part apple juice. Top the rest of your glass up with the gorgeous ginger ale.
Give everything a quick stir and then you can go about decorating your glass.
A lime twist works well in this gin and apple cocktail, or lime wheels with a slit in them placed on the rim of your glass. Finally, add a spring of washed rosemary to finish your English garden cocktail.
Summer Garden Cocktail Top Tips
Please drink responsibly and check out Drink Aware for more information.
Decorating yourEnglish garden cocktail is a great way to impress your guests or just pretend you’re drinking this on a fancy beach somewhere sunny. I suggest slices of lime and a sprig of rosemary to bring this gin apple elderflower cocktail to life.
You can make this cocktail ahead of time but batching up all the ingredients and making it in a large punch bowl ready to serve your guests. If you are making this a long time ahead though I suggest waiting to add the ginger ale until you are ready to serve. So it keeps it’s fizz.
Substitutions and variations
English garden cocktail pitcher
Instead of making this wonderful English garden gin in a glass one by one, serve it as a pitcher. You simply need to scale up your ingredients to how many servings your pitcher will take and then follow the recipe as normal with these scaled-up ingredients. Don’t forget to add more ice too, this will keep your cocktail cold for longer.
Apple and elderflower non alcoholic cocktail
Swap out the gin and rum for your favourite non-alcoholic alternatives or remove them altogether. Elderflower, apple juice and ginger ale mix together beautifully to make a light summer drink that is alcohol-free.
Apple and elderflower martini
You’ve all made and perfected a classic martini, but have you added a dash of elderflower cordial and apple juice to your martini? Before you shake (or stir) add the elderflower and apple.
Thank me later.
Making ahead of time options for a gin apple elderflower cocktail
This English garden gin cocktail is perfect for making ahead of time before guests arrive or so you have it prepped after a busy afternoon of gardening.
Prep and pour all your ingredients into a glass or pitch, except your ginger ale. Give everything a stir and leave it in the fridge. When you are ready to enjoy your gin apple elderflower cocktail, take it out of the fridge, give it another stir and top with ginger ale.
FAQS – gin apple elderflower cocktail
What gin goes with elderflower?
Most gins go with elderflower as the two have light and versatile flavours. Personally, I think mixing Hendricks with elderflower cordial creates the best summer cocktail.
What fruit is best in gin?
You can mix a number of fruits with gin, the best fruit to have with gin isn’t even fruit! I think cucumber is the best thing to have with gin, it’s so light and refreshing it takes on the flavour of your gin so well and biting into a gin-soaked cucumber slice is heavenly.
Does gin and apple juice taste good?
Yes! Gin and apple juice is an unlikely but wonderful pair. The sweet apple juice and slight sharpness of gin make for a perfect summer drink.
What can you add to gin to make it taste better?
You can add lots of different cordials to gin to make it taste better, it’s also good to experiment with different mixers to find the one you like best. I suggest starting with sweet mixers like juice or colas and them adding cordials to them if you still want more flavour.
What juice goes well with gin?
Apple juice is the best juice to have with gin. The two flavours come together to create a sweet and sharp cocktail that almost rivals the classic gin and tonic.
Other Recipes you might like
Pin this recipe to enjoy later
Pin me for later or follow me @sewwhiteblog on Pinterest for my latest recipes and to discover my others.
Recipe
Gin Apple Elderflower Cocktail
Equipment
- Long spoon
Ingredients
- ice cubes
- 25 ml (1 oz) Gin
- 50 ml (1.75 fl oz) Apple Juice
- 12.5 ml (0.5 oz) Elderflower Cordial
- 25 ml (1 fl oz) Spiced Rum
- 100 ml (3 ½ fl oz) Ginger Ale (top up with the ginger ale)
Gin Apple Elderflower Cocktail Decorations (optional)
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 Lime (cut into wheels)
Instructions
- Add the ice to a tall glass.
- Pour in the 25ml gin, 50ml apple juice, 12.5ml elderflower cordial and 25ml of spiced rum.
- Use a long spoon to stir the ingredients together.
- Top up the glass with the ginger ale.
- Add your fresh lime slices and the fresh rosemary for decoration.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
What a fun looking cocktail! Perfect for a summer brunch.
Tasty and so refreshing! Plus, I have fresh Rosemary in my garden for a cute little garnish. This gin apple elderflower cocktail is not only fun to say but it’s my new favorite drink.
Such a wonderful, refreshing cocktail! You had me at fruity and aromatic. The flavors sound absolutely fantastic.
This is such an amazing drink!! I loved it!
This was super refreshing! I can’t stand tonic, so I loved that you used ginger ale – it was perfect!