This Chartreuse and lavender sour is the cocktail that you need to make if you love sweet and sour notes combined with beautiful fragrant herbs. When you combine Chartreuse liquor with lavender simple syrup, it makes the most amazing drink and one that everyone always enjoys. If you are looking for a great way to enjoy Chartreuse liquor, this lavender syrup cocktail is it.
About this Lavender Cocktail
This Chartreuse and lavender sour is my favorite lavender cocktail and a wonderful drink to make that you can sip on slowly. It is not overly strong and has a wonderful balance of citrus and floral notes.
This drink is also made with egg whites which really gives it body and a beautiful foam top. The combination of liquors, citrus and the egg whites is what makes this drink a traditional cocktail sour.
Ingredients Needed
- Green Chartreuse Liquor
- Lavender Simple Syrup (recipe below)
- Egg whites
- Lemon
- Bitters (optional)
How to make this Lavender and Chartreuse sour
- You start by making your lavender syrup. I suggest doing this the day before so it is ready when you want to make this cocktail.
- Assemble the ingredients for the cocktail.
- Juice your lemons.
- Separate your eggs (we are only using the egg whites).
- Make your drink.
- Shake it well in a shaker (I'm talking shake for 5 minutes!)
- Enjoy!
About the Lavender Simple Syrup
Because this lavender cocktail gets its flavor from a lavender simple syrup, the first thing you want to do is to make the simple syrup for this drink. It is best if you can let the lavender steep for a good couple hours.
If you have store bought lavender simple syrup already on hand, you can use that in lieu of this and just skip to the next steps of this recipe. In my house, we love lavender and will often have either lavender water, lavender lemonade or lavender simple syrup on hand 🙂
Once you have made your lavender simple syrup, the drink can be made in minutes. The main make ahead portion of this recipe is really the lavender syrup.
I recommend juicing your lemons and separating your eggs ahead of time as well.
If you prep all of your ingredients ahead of time then you will only have to assemble when you are ready to make your drinks. In thinking ahead, after your first drink you may want a second and and third.
So, if you know you want more than one drink, prep ahead! You will thank me.
Shaking the Cocktail
Now let's talk a little bit about the shaking part of this chartreuse and lavender sour. If you go to a reputable bar and order a drink that is made with egg whites, you should see the bartender shaking that drink in a shaker for a minimum of 2-3 minutes.
I have actually been to bars where they have shaken the cocktails for even longer. Those bartenders know their craft and because of this made some amazing drinks!
So for this cocktail, we are going to shake the drink well!
How to to get a perfect foam top on your sour
When you are working with egg white cocktails you want to make sure you retain the beautiful egg white foam that will be produced from all of the shaking you just did with the shaker. To do this, you are going to do a dry shake first.
The dry shake is when you do not have anything but the liquids in your shaker. I add one ice cube to the dry shake process to really mix up the egg whites.
After the dry shake, you can go ahead and add ice and shake again. The first shake (the dry shake) should have produced lots of foam so the second shake just helps it out more and chills the cocktail.
After this just gently strain the cocktail after shaking. You can scoop out any remaining egg white foam with a spoon and add that to your cocktail glass.
Garnishing this Cocktail
I always love some sort of garnish on my cocktails, especially if I am making them for guests. For this Chartreuse and lavender sour I used a dried lavender sprig.
I get these dried sprigs along with my dried lavender from the same lavender farm.
If you do not have dried lavender sprigs, go ahead and use a lemon garnish or a lemon twist. As long as your garnish represents at least one ingredient that is in the cocktail it will work.
Common Questions
The green and yellow chartreuse are he same liqueur but vary in alcohol intensity. The type of chartreuse liquor (color) you can find will vary by store.
Green Chartreuse liquor is much stronger in flavor and has a higher alcohol content (around 110 proof). The green version is the original version of this liquor.
Yellow Chartreuse liquor is more mellow and not as strong with a lower alcohol content (around 80 proof). This liquor is sometimes called yellow Chartreuse and was developed after the original green liquor.
Yes they do and they have since the 1600's. The present day monks who make the Chartreuse liquor are still using the original recipe written on an ancient manuscript. The sales of Chartreuse help fund the Brothers today.
You can but it is very strong. If you are not used to drinking Chartreuse, it has a bite that follows all of the herbal notes when you sip it, especially the Green Chartreuse.
Making this cocktail even easier
Here are a couple suggestions to make this Chartreuse and lavender syrup cocktail even easier so there is less that stands between you and a good evening.
- If you are looking for an easier way to get lavender in the drink, you can use a shot of lavender liquor and a plain store bought simple syrup. Both can be found at liquor stores. Just reduce the amount of simple syrup by the amount of lavender liquor you are adding.
- Another shortcut is you can use store bought lemonade instead of the simple syrup and lemon portion. I will often just make my lavender lemonade earlier in the week which is made with lavender water (not syrup) and lemons with a plain simple syrup. When we are ready to make these cocktails we only need to add the eggs and Chartreuse.
More Cocktail recipes
- Vodka Lemon and Cranberry Cocktail
- Spiced Pear Martini
- Aperol Sangria
- Aperol and Soda
- Chartreuse and Gin Cocktail
- St Germain Gin and Tonic
- Gin Gimlet
- French Gimlet
Chartreuse and Lavender Sour
Tried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!
Ingredients
Lavender Simple Syrup
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried lavender buds
Lavender and Chartreuse Sour Cocktails
- 1.5 ounces Chartreuse Liquor about 1 shot
- 1.5 ounces Lavender Simple Syrup
- 2 ounces fresh squeezed lemon juice. This is about 1 ½ large lemons juiced and strained about ¼ cup
- 2 dashes of aromatic bitters
- 1 egg separated You only need the egg white for this recipe.
Instructions
Lavender Simple Syrup
- In a medium sauce pan add your water and sugar and bring to a boil.
- Measure out 1 teaspoon of dried lavender buds
- Once your sugar has melted into the water add your lavender and remove from heat.
- Let the mixture come to room temperature.
- Strain your mixture to remove the lavender buds and discard them.
- Your lavender simple syrup is ready.
Making the drinks
- Juice your lemons and strain out the pulp and any seeds with a fine mesh strainer.
- Grab a cocktail shaker or mason jar and add one ice cube to the shaker, your Chartreuse, bitters, lemon, simple syrup and your egg white. This is the dry shake step.
- Shake vigorously for 1 minute. You know when to stop when you hear the ice cube that you added, not shaking around anymore.
- After the dry shake, you can go ahead and add ice half way up the shaker and shake again. The first shake (the dry shake) should have produced lots of foam so the second shake just helps it out more and chills the cocktail.
- Pour into a martini glass and scoop out any residual egg white foam with a spoon and add to your glass.
- Garnish with a sprig of lavender or some lemon.
- Enjoy.
Nutrition
Nutrition Values are estimates only.
See full nutrition disclaimer here
Brian says
This was delicious! We were gifted a bottle of chartreuse and didn't know what to do with it. Now we know we will be making this recipe often!
Melissa says
I love hearing that!
Mia says
We really enjoyed this recipe
Melissa says
I am so glad 🙂
Dan says
This was really good. Chartreuse is kind of strong so I loved the citrus and lavender notes with this.
Sarah says
looks great
Kelley says
You can't possibly mean 3/4 cup syrup? Is there an easier store bought option?
Melissa says
Hi Kelley. Thank you for letting me know about this typo- It has been updated! This cocktail recipe does still have a little more simple syrup than most sours to help tame the 110 proof Chartreuse liquor 🙂
If you are looking for an easier way to get lavender in the drink, you can use a shot of lavender liquor and a plain store bought simple syrup. Both can be found at liquor stores. Just reduce the amount of simple syrup by the amount of lavender liquor you are adding.
Another shortcut is you can use store bought lemonade instead of the simple syrup and lemon portion. I often just make my lavender lemonade which is made with lavender water (not syrup) and lemons with a plain simple syrup. When we are ready to make these cocktails we only need to add the eggs and Chartreuse.
I hope some of this helps!