I grow culinary lavender at home, so floral cocktail recipes show up in my house at least once a month, in between all of the herb cocktails and fruity drinks.

What I find interesting about this one is that the lavender doesn’t even show up in the simple syrup. It lives in the garnish, and in how all the botanicals layer together.

The gin brings the juniper backbone. The Crème de Violette adds that soft purple hue and a whisper of violet. St-Germain rounds everything out with elderflower sweetness that plays well with almost everything.

What Is Crème de Violette?

Crème de Violette is a liqueur made from violet flowers. It’s what gives the Aviation cocktail its pale purple color.

The flavor is floral and slightly sweet — almost candy-like if you overdo it, which is why the half ounce in this recipe matters. It adds color and depth without taking over.

You’ll find it at most well-stocked liquor stores. Once you have a bottle, you’ll reach for it more than you’d expect.

Which Gin to Use

You don’t want to use a heavily juniper-forward gins. Something floral or citrus-forward works much better alongside the Crème de Violette and elderflower. I’ve had good results with Hendrick’s and Empress 1908, but I like to play with micro distillery gins the most. If you find a floral one, grab it and play.

If you want to lean into the floral angle and get that pretty purply color, try the Empress gin.

Add a Cucumber Mint Twist

Muddle three or four thin cucumber slices and a couple of mint leaves in the bottom of your shaker before adding anything else.

Cucumber is one of the best things you can add to a floral gin cocktail. It cools the flavors down and gives the drink a greener, more garden-like quality without completely masking the other flavors.

Use a cocktail muddler to press the cucumber and mint. You want to bruise them, not pulverize the cucumbers. Shake and double-strain through a fine-mesh strainer to catch the small bits.

The Garnish

Try a lemon twist or a small sprig of fresh or dried lavender if you have it on hand. Just make sure your dried lavender is culinary grade. Something like this will work since it still has the stem.

For the lemon twist, use a channeling knife or a citrus peeler to cut a long strip from the peel. Express the oils over the glass before dropping it in. Basically, you twist the peel over the glass and then drop it in or lean it on the side.

If you grow your own lavender, make sure it’s a culinary variety — not all lavender is safe to put in a drink. I have several plants, but can only use some of them. When in doubt, check our guide to using lavender in cocktails before you start snipping.

Dried culinary lavender works just as well if fresh isn’t available. Find more ideas on our cocktail garnish page.

Make a Mocktail Version

Use elderflower tonic, violet syrup, fresh lemon juice, and soda water.

If you can’t find violet syrup (although you can buy it online here), a honey lavender simple syrup gets you close. Add a drop of natural food coloring for a violet color without liqueur. You can also use butterfly pea tea to get the Empress gin effect without the alcohol (that’s what they use in the gin to get that blue color that turns purple and pink with citrus).

The Earl Grey and Lavender Spritz also has a non-alcoholic version with a very similar flavor profile.

Bar Tools

You need a shaker, a fine-mesh strainer, and a coupe glass to make this cocktail recipe.

• Boston shaker
• Hawthorne Strainer
• Fine-mesh strainer
• Citrus Peeler

For the coupe glass, I like these. If you want something more versatile, Nick and Nora glasses work great for a lot of cocktail recipes, but personally, I like to have both around so I can switch it up.

Building out your home bar? My full bartender kit recommendation is a good starting point, and everything else you need is in my Amazon shop.

More Crème de Violette Cocktail Recipes

• Aviation Cocktail

Floral Gin Cocktails to Try Next

• Lavender Bee’s Knees – gin, lemon, honey lavender syrup
• Earl Grey Lavender Bee’s Knees – floral with bergamot tea
• Earl Grey and Lavender Spritz – bubbly and light
• Blueberry Lavender Sour – with blueberry and egg white

Lavender Fields Forever

Glass: Coupe Yield: 1 cocktail

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz gin (floral or citrus-forward)
• 0.5 oz Crème de Violette
• 0.5 oz St-Germain (elderflower liqueur)
• 0.75 oz fresh lemon juice
• Garnish: lavender sprig or lemon twist

Instructions

1. Combine gin, Crème de Violette, St-Germain, and fresh lemon juice in a cocktail shaker.
2. Add ice and shake until well chilled, about 15 seconds.
3. Double-strain into a chilled coupe glass.
4. Garnish with a lavender sprig or lemon twist.

Cucumber Mint Twist: Muddle 3-4 thin cucumber slices and 2 mint leaves in the shaker before adding the other ingredients. Double-strain to remove solids.

Mocktail: Combine elderflower tonic, violet syrup (or honey lavender simple syrup), fresh lemon juice, and soda water. Garnish the same way.