English Garden
An English Garden is 50ml of gin, 20ml of elderflower liqueur, 20ml of fresh lemon juice, 10ml of sugar syrup, 50ml of pressed cloudy apple juice and six mint leaves, shaken hard with ice for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a highball over ice with a cucumber ribbon, then topped with a slapped mint sprig. About 2.4 UK units. Difford’s Guide lists an English Garden with a different build, 45ml of gin, 50ml of apple juice, 30ml of elderflower liqueur and 10ml of lime shaken and fine strained into a collins glass, and gives it no history. Versions differ: some use elderflower cordial, some lime. Every part points the same way. Elderflower and apple are hedgerow and orchard, the gin adds herbs, and the lemon with a small measure of syrup keeps the sweetness at long-drink level rather than cordial.
Glassware: Highball Glass
Garnish: Long cucumber ribbon pressed against the inside of the glass before the ice goes in and Mint sprig slapped awake and stood in the top of the glass
Ingredients
20ml
St-Germain or a similar liqueur. LWC lists St-Germain at 20% ABV. With a sweeter bottle, leave out the syrup.
20ml
Squeezed the same day. The only sharp thing in the glass against two sweet ingredients.
6 leaves
Six leaves in the shaker, where the shake bruises them and spreads the mint through the whole drink.
Instructions
Squeeze the lemon juice the same day.
Press a long cucumber ribbon against the inside of a highball glass and fill it with cubed ice.
Add the gin, elderflower liqueur, lemon juice, sugar syrup, apple juice and mint leaves to a shaker.
Fill with cubed ice and shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds.
Double strain into the prepared glass.
Slap a mint sprig and stand it in the top of the glass.
Our version
No creator or published specification is on record. Ours is 50ml gin, 20ml elderflower liqueur, 20ml lemon, 10ml syrup and 50ml pressed apple juice, shaken with six mint leaves.
Source: our own specification. Last checked 9 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Buy pressed cloudy apple juice. It brings body and a real orchard flavour; clear juice from concentrate brings sugar and little else, and the drink tastes like a mixer. Shake harder than a gentle drink seems to need, 10 to 12 seconds with plenty of ice. The apple juice froths a little, the mint bruises and gives up its oil, and the drink comes out lighter in texture. Double strain. Shaken mint breaks into flecks that catch in the teeth, and the fine strainer keeps them in the shaker while their flavour stays in the glass.
Behind the English Garden
Flavour Profile
The Origin
The English Garden is a modern drink, and Difford’s Guide gives its version no history. The elderflower liqueur is the modern part: the LWC catalogue describes St-Germain as the world’s first elderflower liqueur and dates its launch to 2007.
Some versions use elderflower cordial in place of the liqueur and some use lime in place of lemon, so two bars can serve two different drinks under the name.
The Orchard Question
Pressed cloudy apple juice is the drink’s body, and juice from concentrate is where it usually goes wrong.
Cloudy juice carries texture and a fresh, slightly sharp orchard flavour. Clear juice is mostly sugar, and at 50ml it flattens the glass. The other inputs need the same care: fresh lemon for the acid, and a gin with enough juniper to stay audible over the elderflower.
The Shake
A long drink is usually built in the glass. This one is shaken, because two of its ingredients need it.
The apple juice froths slightly, which lightens the texture, and the mint is bruised in the tin so its oil runs through the whole drink rather than sitting on top. Double strain to keep the torn leaves out of the glass.
The Garden Variations
The cordial version swaps the liqueur for elderflower cordial and drops the syrup, for a lighter glass. Cucumber can move from garnish to shaker, three or four slices pressed first, for a cooler, greener drink.
In autumn, swap a third of the gin for apple brandy to deepen the orchard side. These are adjustments for the weather; the pressed apple version is the complete drink.
Against Its Neighbours
The English Garden beside two other British long drinks, with Pimm’s No. 1 at 25% ABV as The Bar lists it
English Garden
- Spirit
- 50ml gin
- Elderflower
- 20ml liqueur
- Citrus
- 20ml lemon
- Long element
- 50ml pressed apple juice
- UK units
- About 2.4
Elderflower Collins
- Spirit
- 45ml gin
- Elderflower
- 20ml liqueur
- Citrus
- 25ml lemon
- Long element
- 90ml soda
- UK units
- About 2.2
Pimm’s Cup
- Spirit
- 50ml Pimm’s No. 1
- Elderflower
- None
- Citrus
- None
- Long element
- 150ml sparkling lemonade
- UK units
- About 1.3
| Drink | Spirit | Elderflower | Citrus | Long element | UK units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Garden | 50ml gin | 20ml liqueur | 20ml lemon | 50ml pressed apple juice | About 2.4 |
| Elderflower Collins | 45ml gin | 20ml liqueur | 25ml lemon | 90ml soda | About 2.2 |
| Pimm’s Cup | 50ml Pimm’s No. 1 | None | None | 150ml sparkling lemonade | About 1.3 |
The Elderflower Collins trades the apple for soda; the Pimm’s Cup is the sweeter, lighter garden-party jug.
How to Serve It
In a highball packed with cubed ice, the cucumber ribbon pressed against the glass before the ice goes in, and a slapped mint sprig standing in the top.
It is a daytime drink: garden lunches and spring afternoons, when a Collins feels plain and a jug of Pimm’s too sweet.
Make it at home
The Spirit
GinGin is a spirit flavoured with juniper berries. Under the retained Regulation (EC) 110/2008, juniper must lead the taste, the floor is 37.5% ABV, and the route the flavour takes sets the grade: plain gin, distilled gin or London gin. Our recipes count it at 40%, and it carries the Martini, the Negroni and the Gin and Tonic.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an English Garden cocktail?
Who invented the English Garden?
Can I use elderflower cordial instead of the liqueur?
Does the apple juice need to be cloudy?
How strong is an English Garden?
Can I make an English Garden in a jug?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- Difford’s Guide, “English Garden” (secondary source: its own English Garden is 45ml Hayman’s London Dry gin, 50ml apple juice, 30ml elderflower liqueur, 10ml lime juice, shaken and fine strained into a collins glass, cucumber garnish; no history given).
- LWC, “St Germain 70cl NRB” (wholesaler’s catalogue: 20% ABV; “launched St-Germain, the world’s first elderflower liqueur, in 2007”).
- The Bar, “Pimm’s No.1 Cup, 70cl” (retailer’s product page: ABV 25%, volume 70cl).
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Elderflower Collins
An Elderflower Collins is 45ml of gin, 20ml of elderflower liqueur and 25ml of fresh lemon juice, shaken hard for 10 to 12 seconds, strained over fresh ice in a collins glass and topped with 90ml of soda, with a lemon wheel and a mint sprig. About 2.2 UK units. It is a Tom Collins with the sugar syrup replaced by elderflower liqueur, which sweetens and perfumes at once. The LWC catalogue describes St-Germain as the world’s first elderflower liqueur and dates its launch to 2007, and the Collins is an obvious frame to try such a liqueur in. Measure the liqueur. At 20ml the drink is floral and still tastes of gin; at 30ml the elderflower takes over and no extra lemon brings it back.
Tom Collins
A Tom Collins is 60ml London Dry gin, 30ml fresh lemon juice and 15ml sugar syrup built over ice in a collins glass, topped with 90ml of cold soda and stirred once, with a lemon slice and a cherry. It is a collins in the plainest sense: spirit, citrus and sugar, topped with soda. Difford’s Guide, a secondary source, reports one account that traces the name to the Great Tom Collins Hoax of 1874, in which people in New York were told that a man called Tom Collins had been insulting them and could be found in a bar some distance away. It also gives accounts of a real Mr Collins. The drink the name attached to may be older: Difford’s credits John Collins, head waiter at Limmer’s Hotel on Conduit Street in London, with the Collins. Early recipes used Dutch genever, and Old Tom gin came into them later; the IBA still specifies Old Tom for a Tom Collins. This version uses London Dry for a drier, sharper drink, and the Old Tom version follows as a variation.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 19 October 2026