Elderflower & Raspberry
An Elderflower and Raspberry is 35ml of gin or vodka and 30ml of Chambord over ice in a copa glass, lengthened with 150ml of Fever-Tree Elderflower Tonic Water. One raspberry is muddled in the glass first, two more go in whole, and a lemon wedge is squeezed over. The recipe is Fever-Tree’s own serve. About 1.9 UK units. It is drier than it sounds. Chambord, a black raspberry liqueur at 16.5% ABV, is sweet, and the quinine in the tonic holds it in check. The elderflower sits between the two, floral and honeyed, joining sharp fruit to a bitter finish. Gin or vodka changes the drink. Gin adds juniper and makes it an aperitif; vodka steps back and leaves the fruit in front. The spirit is a short pour by design, because the mixer is most of the drink.
Glassware: Copa Glass
Garnish: Lemon wedge and Raspberries
Ingredients
150ml
Fever-Tree’s elderflower tonic, cold from the fridge and opened just before use. The quinine keeps the drink from tasting like dessert; elderflower cordial and soda give the flavours without the bitterness.
35ml
Gin or vodka at 40% ABV. Gin makes it an aperitif, with juniper for the fruit to lean on; vodka makes it softer and fruitier.
30ml
A French black raspberry liqueur at 16.5% ABV, sweeter than its dark colour suggests. Treat 30ml as the ceiling, not a starting point.
3
Three: one muddled for colour and flavour, two whole. Use firm berries; soft ones break up and cloud the glass.
Fill the glass
Cubed, filling the glass. The liqueur carries real sugar, and a warm, diluted drink turns syrupy rather than weak.
Instructions
Muddle one raspberry in the bottom of a copa glass.
Fill the glass with cubed ice.
Add the gin or vodka and the Chambord.
Top with the elderflower tonic, poured down the inside of the glass.
Squeeze in a lemon wedge and drop in the two remaining raspberries.
Source: the producer's own published serve (Fever-Tree). Last checked 22 August 2026.
Expert Tip
Muddle one raspberry in the glass and keep the other two whole. The crushed one colours and flavours the drink; whole ones keep it clear rather than pulpy. Treat 30ml of Chambord as the ceiling. Past it, the tonic can no longer balance the sugar and the drink turns sticky. Squeeze the lemon wedge in. Elderflower and raspberry both bring sweetness and little acid, and without the lemon the middle of the drink goes soft.
Behind the Elderflower & Raspberry
Flavour Profile
Where Elderflower Comes From
Elderflower is an old hedgerow ingredient in Britain and northern Europe, gathered in early summer and made into cordials and country wines long before it reached a bar. The flowers last only a few weeks, which is why most of it is drunk as cordial.
Elderflower liqueurs brought it into cocktail bars within the last twenty years or so, and elderflower tonic followed. This drink uses the tonic, which brings the flower and the bitterness in one bottle.
Why Tonic Rather Than Cordial
The obvious build is elderflower cordial, raspberry liqueur and soda. It is sweeter than most people want, with nothing to hold it together.
Quinine changes that. It is bitter and drying, and it arrives at the end of each mouthful, so the drink finishes clean rather than sweet and stays easy to drink at a long measure.
Elderflower in the Middle
Raspberry is sharp and bright. Quinine is bitter and dry. On their own they sit at opposite ends of the drink.
Elderflower, floral, honeyed and faintly like muscat grapes, fills the gap between them. That is why a different floral note, rose for example, does not make the same drink.
How Strong It Is
Where the alcohol in an Elderflower and Raspberry comes from
Gin or vodka
- Measure
- 35ml
- ABV
- 40%
- UK units
- 1.4
Chambord
- Measure
- 30ml
- ABV
- 16.5%
- UK units
- 0.5
Elderflower tonic
- Measure
- 150ml
- ABV
- None
- UK units
- 0
Total
- Measure
- About 215ml with the tonic
- ABV
- About 9%
- UK units
- 1.9
| Ingredient | Measure | ABV | UK units |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gin or vodka | 35ml | 40% | 1.4 |
| Chambord | 30ml | 16.5% | 0.5 |
| Elderflower tonic | 150ml | None | 0 |
| Total | About 215ml with the tonic | About 9% | 1.9 |
Most of the glass is tonic, which is why it drinks lighter than two spirits suggest.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in an Elderflower and Raspberry?
What is Chambord?
Gin or vodka?
Can I use a different raspberry liqueur?
Why such a short measure of spirit?
How strong is an Elderflower and Raspberry?
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Gin & Tonic
A Gin and Tonic is 50ml of gin and 100ml of chilled Indian tonic water, one to two, in a copa or highball filled to the top with ice, with a lime wedge squeezed over and dropped in and a single stir. About 2.0 UK units. Tonic began as medicine. Quinine, from the bark of the cinchona tree, was taken against malaria by the British in India, and its bitterness went down more easily with sugar, soda and gin. Erasmus Bond is usually credited with the first commercial tonic water, patented in London in 1858. Modern tonic keeps a small dose of quinine for its bitterness, far too little to treat anything. With two ingredients, the ice and the tonic decide the drink as much as the gin. A glass packed with ice stays cold and dilutes slowly; fresh tonic from a small bottle keeps the fizz that carries the gin’s aroma.
Hugo Spritz
A Hugo Spritz is 25ml of elderflower liqueur, 90ml of cold prosecco and 30ml of soda water, built in a large wine glass full of ice with a slapped sprig of mint and a lime wheel, then stirred once. It holds about 1.5 UK units, a little less than an Aperol Spritz, and tastes floral where that one is bitter. Roland Gruber created it in 2005 as bar manager at San Zeno Bar in Naturns, South Tyrol, as an alternative to the Venetian spritz. His first version used lemon balm syrup, and elderflower replaced it. He considered calling it Otto and, by his account, chose Hugo at random. From South Tyrol it spread through north-east Italy, then into Austria, Switzerland and Germany.
Sloe Gin & Lemon Tonic
A Sloe Gin and Lemon Tonic is 50ml of sloe gin over cubed ice in a highball, topped with 150ml of Fever-Tree Refreshingly Light Lemon Tonic Water and finished with a squeezed slice of lemon. It is Fever-Tree’s published serve. About 1.3 UK units, with the sloe gin taken at 25% ABV. Sloe gin is a liqueur, not a gin. Sloes, the fruit of the blackthorn, are steeped in gin with sugar, and the result is sweet, plummy and usually around 25% ABV, against the 37.5% minimum for gin. That sugar is why the mixer matters. The lemon in the tonic brings the acid sloe gin lacks, and the quinine dries the finish. Taste the sloe gin first. Homemade bottles vary widely in sugar, and a sweet one wants a shorter pour, 40ml, rather than more tonic.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Dan Freeman · Updated 9 October 2026