White Linen Cocktail with Elderflower Syrup

This is the perfect summer cocktail. With cucumber, fresh lemon juice, and elderflower, it’s as light and refreshing as it gets. With just five ingredients and no fussy steps, you’ll be sipping this White Linen cocktail in minutes.

If you like simple cocktails that are lightly botanical, floral, and low on sweetness, this is for you. While traditionally made with an elderflower liqueur such as St Germain, I put my own little twist on this cocktail by using a homemade elderflower syrup instead. This is optional, but it does infuse the drink with the flavor of fresh summer wildflowers!

Recipe highlights:

• Light & refreshing. This feels like the most refreshing cocktail of all time, perfect for a hot summer evening.
• Botanical & floral. With gin, cucumber, and elderflower, a White Linen has subtle floral and botanical notes that are truly delightful without being overpowering.
• Summery & simple. Summer flowers and summer veggies unite with only three other ingredients in this perfect medley.

Making the elderflower simple syrup

If you’d like to make a White Linen using elderflower simple syrup, make this first. The syrup will need about 20 minutes to infuse and some additional time to cool.

Use a 1:1 ratio of sugar and water to make the simple syrup, simmering this mixture for a few minutes, until the sugar is dissolved. Then stir your fresh elderflowers in, cover the pan, and allow the mixture to infuse for 20 minutes or so. Strain the flowers out and let the syrup cool completely before using it.

For more detailed information about making this syrup, see my recipe for homemade elderflower simple syrup.

How to make a White Linen cocktail

Making a White Linen is super easy, and you don’t need anything fancy to get the job done.

Equipment needed:

• A cocktail shaker or mason jar with lid
• A collins glass or tall drinking glass
• Shot glass/jigger/liquid measuring cup
• Optional: cocktail pick, for cucumber garnish

Ingredients needed:

• Gin
• Fresh lemon juice (lime works, too)
• Elderflower syrup or St Germain
• Cucumber
• Sparkling water
• Ice

To make the cocktail, fill a cocktail shaker or mason jar halfway with ice. Then pour in the gin, lemon juice, elderflower syrup, and cucumber slices. Shake the whole thing vigorously until it becomes cold to the touch, about 15-20 seconds.

Strain the mixture into a tall glass filled with ice and top if off with a couple ounces of sparkling water. Garnish your drink with a cucumber ribbon and/or thin slices of cucumber.

Variations and substitutions

Give it more cucumber flavor: If you want to boost the fresh cucumber flavor, muddle the cucumbers in the base of the cocktail shaker first before adding the remaining ingredients.

Elderflower syrup substitution: This cocktail is traditionally made using St Germain. Try using this instead of the elderflower simple syrup, or swap it with another elderflower liqueur. 

Lemon juice substitution: Fresh lime juice can also be used in this cocktail. I recommend using fresh squeezed citrus juice for this – the concentrated stuff just isn’t quite the same!

Type of gin: What type of gin should you use in a White Linen cocktail? The drink was originally made with a cucumber-forward gin, like Hendrick’s. However, you can use any gin you fancy. I used Aviation (shoutout to our local Portland brand!). Because the other flavors in this drink are subtle, you could really go with whatever you prefer here.

More fun botanical drinks:

• Fir Tip Lemon Drop Martini
• Magnolia Flower Moscow Mule
• Homemade Nocino