Cucumber Elderflower Gimlet
This refreshing cucumber elderflower gimlet recipe is made with Hendrick's gin, St-Germain liqueur, fresh cucumber and lime!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on May 22, 2025
It’s been unseasonably warm here in Kansas City. As much as I want to dust off my boots, I’ve decided to embrace the warmer weather and milk it for all it’s worth. It’s sunny and 70 degrees today! How could I complain?
I’m sharing this refreshing cocktail hoping that you’ll savor this warm weather with me. Let’s sit on the patio and enjoy a cool cucumber drink. There’s still plenty of time for pumpkin spice everything.
What is a gimlet, you ask? It’s like a martini, but with lime juice instead of vermouth and a splash of sweetener.
This version has been my sipper of choice lately. It was inspired by an elderflower martini that I enjoyed with Tessa in Minneapolis. It’s made with cucumber-y Hendrick’s gin, St-Germain elderflower liqueur, fresh lime juice and cucumber.
Technically, you could call this gimlet an Eastside cocktail (thanks to the cucumber) or a French gimlet (thanks to the St-Germain) or more appropriately, an Eastside-French gimlet hybrid. Distinctions aside, it’s just delicious.
St-Germain is the only liqueur I’ve ever loved. It’s infused with elderflowers from the Alps, and it’s not nearly as sweet as other liqueurs. It doesn’t taste artificial in the slightest, because it’s not. It’s a little pricy (around $35) for the bottle, but it’s a beautiful addition to a bar cart. If you don’t want to take the plunge on a full bottle, you should be able to find it in mini bottles behind the counter.
If you love St-Germain like I do, try my watermelon white sangria, and the elderflower Champagne cocktail and strawberry rosé sangria in Love Real Food. Ali also recreated a cocktail that we loved at happy hour the other day, with grapefruit, gin and rosemary. Cheers!
Cucumber Elderflower Gimlet
This refreshing cucumber elderflower gimlet recipe is made with Hendrick’s gin, St. Germain liqueur, fresh cucumber and lime! Recipe as written below yields 1 cocktail. You can multiply the ingredients and make as many as 3 drinks at once in a large cocktail shaker.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ ounces Hendrick’s gin* (or vodka, if you don’t like gin)
- 1 ounce St-Germain liqueur
- 1 ounce lime juice
- One 2-inch piece of peeled cucumber, quartered lengthwise and cut crosswise into ¼-inch thick pieces (see photos), plus a thinly sliced cucumber round for garnish
Instructions
- Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour in the gin, St-Germain and lime juice. Add the cucumber pieces, securely fasten the lid, and shake like crazy for about 30 seconds.
- Strain the cocktail into a martini glass and garnish with a slice of cucumber. Enjoy!
Notes
*Gin notes: Hendrick’s is perfect for this cocktail since it has notes of cucumber and rose petal. I don’t recommend using a classic dry gin for this drink, unless you really love it.
Recommended equipment: (Affiliate links) I love this stainless steel jigger for measuring small amounts of liquids. This citrus juicer is my favorite.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Love your cocktail recipes, you’re the best!! And of course, Cookie too
Thank you so much, Karin!
If people keep posting recipes using St. Germain, I’m going to have to buy some. But I’m hoping that a gin that tastes distinctly like juniper berries would work here – that’s what we have, and since we don’t drink much hard liquor, I wouldn’t want to buy anything else. It seems like juniper would go pretty well with cucumber.
St. Germain is my liqueur of choice, that’s for sure! I’m not a big fan of juniper-y gin, but if you are, you might enjoy it here.
I used the very traditional Beefeater gin, lots of juniper. It was great
I tried this cocktail with vodka, New Amsterdam gin (lots of botanicals and just “a nod to juniper”), and Beefeater. Even though I’m usually not huge on gin, this particular gimlet tastes best, IMHO, with Beefeater.
You’ve done it again Kate & Cookie! :-) marvellous thank you x
Thank you, Hope!
I just discovered this year that I LOVE gimlets, so I’m all over this! I’ve been loving the warm weather, but agree that I’m just about ready for fall too!
Thank you, Abby pal! :)
Wait, question. Do you mean to use regular St. Germain, or the St. Elder? Because, the pictures and recipe imply regular St. Germain but the title implies the Elder version. (which, side note, if you haven’t had that, you will definitely enjoy it!) Regardless, I have both and will be making this drink very soon!
Sorry, I’m not familiar with St. Elder. I just googled it, and it seems like it’s another elderflower liqueur with similar flavor. Either one should work!
A bit ashamed to admit that I made four of these this afternoon, but I must say they were all delicious! Tweaked it just a bit to lessen the bitterness – 2 ounces Hendricks, 3/4 ounce lime juice, 1 ounce St. Germain. Thanks for the great recipe!
Superb using St Elder liqueur instead of St Germaine!
Made two of these on Sunday. So delicious. I usually drink Gin and Tonics and Hendricks is my favorite. Will definitely make this again. Nice way to use the cucumbers in the garden too!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this one, Jeanne! Thank you!
Cheers to the warm weather sticking around a little bit longer than expected!!
love, love, love me a gin gimlet ❤️
I had a bottle of St. Germain sitting in the cabinet waiting for it’s calling. This is my new favorite cocktail!!!
It’s fresh, tart, aromatic, refreshing, amazing……..Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Fantastic, Michell! It is great you enjoyed it! Thank you, for your review and feedback. Always appreciated!
We tried this last night and made it exactly as you listed up here. After a quick taste, we added about 1 tsp. simple syrup per glass. This is a lovely, refreshing cocktail.
I love cucumber, I love lime, I love St Germaine’s, and with gin, this an elegant and oh so refreshing cocktail! It is fabulous, thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome, Chenza!
I had this drink for the first time at an restaurant, absolutely love it.
So happy to have found this recipe, I am able to enjoy this drink at home with home grown cucumbers.
perfect cocktail, really easy, not to sweet not too tart. Will be making many more.
I am up here in Tahoe about to have a Zoom Cocktail Party with my two Besties who I wen to Ireland and Scotland with. The store was out of Elderflower Syrup so I bought the Hendricks GIn with Elderflower in
it. It is really refreshing – I added Burnt Sugar syrup. And it was delicious.
I was looking for a recipe to make with elderflower syrup and come across this one. It was incredible! I used a classic gin because that’s all I had, and it turned out to be a delicious cocktail! I also added jalapenos and it has become my husband’s new favorite drink! Thank you for the recipe!
I have made this several times as written, and it is my favorite cocktail! In this time of grocery shopping for two weeks, the craving for a gimlet struck, but I did not have a cucumber. I made it with a few thin chunks of rainbow carrot, which isn’t quite the same but worked in a pinch.
Hey Greta, your carrot idea sounds so fun! Cheers!
Hi!
I made this drink this drink, muddled more cucumbers for flavor, and it was a huge hit. Thank you so much for this recipe!
K
You’re welcome, Kevin! I’m glad you loved it.
Made this with Sky Vodka and fresh key limes from the garden. Soooo good!
I have been making this on repeat almost every weekend. Love the little oxo brand measuring jigger too. I always make it with vodka, as I am not a gin fan. I serve over ice in a copper Moscow mule type mug as they keep everything nice and cold. I garnish with a few fresh raspberries and mint leaves in lieu of the cucumber slice. Very refreshing.
Fantastic! Perfect for the first weekend of summer, so refreshing. Love discovering a new cocktail. We’ll be making this many more times!
Simple and easy to make, yet the complexity of the finish belies the economy of effort! Absolutely enjoyed it.
Love!
I add a little club soda & 1/4 tsp sugar…so nice & light for summer.I also use cucumber melon mixer instead of fresh cucumbers
Thanks !
Thank you for sharing! I’m happy this provided inspiration.
Ooooh, that is good! Just bought my st Germaine yesterday and googled a recipe! Yours came up- fabulous, ty! I’m a tanquerey devotee but just discovered Hendricks and love it. The cucumber is a terrific flavor profile here!
I definitively say ***** (5 stars)!
Made this with The Botanist Gin tonight. Super Yummy ! Will make again for sure. Thanks for the recipe !
I knew I had to make this cocktail because they only Jen I like it’s Hendrix! I’d already been making cucumber martinis and the elderflower added is absolutely fabulous. Can’t wait to make this for my goddess girlfriends estimation point
I’m glad you loved it! Thank you for sharing, Lora.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, I made it with vodka and it was wonderful!!!
We re not mulling the cucumbers here right?
Hi Kendall! Just add them to the shaker per the first step.
This was delicious! Big hendricks and tonic guy, but this was a refreshing change of pace. Will make again!
Great to hear! Thank you for you review, Denzo.
Wow, this is incredibly delicious, and so beautiful too! I wish I had thought to seed the cucumber before adding because all the floating seeds are visually weird but doesn’t detract from the flavor at all. What a wonderful cocktail, I can already tell this bottle of St Germain won’t last long
Wonderful! Thank you for sharing, Jessica.
Delicious. I didn’t have any Hendrick’s so I used what I had on hand – New Ansterdam and thought it came out perfectly. It tastes like summer and because it is not as sweet as a Cosmopolitan or similar drinks, I sip it more slowly.
Has anyone tried adding basil to this recipe? I had a similar drink with basil and it was delicious.
Let me know if you try it! Sounds interesting.
This is my favorite go-to cocktail. It’s simple yet so flavorful and still unique. Everyone I make it for is blown away and wants another one.
Thank you, Torrey!
Delicious and refreshing cocktail! Had never tried Hendrick’s gin (am a Bombay Sapphire girl myself), but I think Hendrick’s is the one for this cocktail. It is smooth and allows the cucumber notes to come through more clearly. Using Bombay yields a good cocktail, but it does have a peppery-bite finish.
I’m happy you enjoyed it, Lena! I appreciate your review.
We LOVE this gimlet! So elegant and refreshing for summer! A bit dangerously delicious because they are potent. That being said, we’re on our second bottle of Hendricks and St Germain, Ha. Cheers!! ps: we’re growing our own cucumbers next year to make this special cocktail. Thank you for sharing the recipe. :)
So delicious!!! I had a pomegranate version of this gimlet here in Nashville and I was looking for an at home option. Thank you!!!
This gimlet came out perfect! I ended up using vodka as I didn’t have the recommended type of gin. It’s light, refreshing and so good! I love elderflower liquor and cucumber combo. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Allyson! I appreciate your review.
Easy, delicious and refreshing
Great to hear, Heidi! I appreciate your review.