Floral Cocktails
Explore 67 Floral cocktail recipes.
Floral cocktails take their cue from the flower, not the field. Elderflower, rose, violet, hibiscus and orange blossom all show up here, usually delivered through a liqueur or cordial rather than a fresh ingredient. The Elderflower Collins is the most readable expression of the family: gin, elderflower cordial, lemon and soda, the elderflower carrying a floral top note that sits cleanly over the gin's botanicals.
The White Negroni does similar work with Suze and Lillet Blanc, taking the structure of a Negroni into a paler, more perfumed register. The Old Friend trades cucumber and elderflower against gin and grapefruit for a long-and-bright drink, and the Enzoni stretches the Negroni shape with grapes. What you'll notice across the list is how readily floral notes go off-balance — a single dash too much elderflower turns the whole drink soapy, and the same is even truer of rose and violet.
The drinks here hit when the floral component sits as a top note above other flavours rather than as the headline. Most are stirred or shaken short, most lean dry rather than sweet, most use gin or a wine-based aperitif as the spine. They reward fresh lemon, restraint with the syrup, and a slow approach with the cordial — a measure is more than you'd think.
Top Floral cocktails
Aviation
Gin, Creme de violette, Maraschino cherry liqueur, Lemon juice
Lavender French 75
Gin, Champagne / prosecco, Lavender syrup, Lemon juice
Oliver Twist
Dry gin, Elderflower liqueur, Lager, Lemon juice, Chilli peppers, Honey
Violet Martini
Vanilla vodka, Violet syrup
Earl Grey Martini
Dry gin, Sugar / simple syrup, Lemon juice, Tea, Egg
Velo
Dry gin, Elderflower liqueur, Lime juice, Passion fruit syrup, Peychaud's Aromatic Bitters
Honey Old Fashioned
Bourbon, Aromatic bitters, Honey
Old Friend
Dry gin, Aperol, Elderflower liqueur, Pink grapefruit juice