The Bee’s Knees

When life hands you lemons,… add honey and gin to make yourself a cocktail! This cocktail is a throwback to the Prohibition-era (1920-1933) that followed the Spanish Flu (1918-1920). Similar to today, this drink was inspired out of a time the world was challenged by a pandemic and struggling to deal with public morals. The mixture of gin, lemon, and honey reflect the vibrancy that can spring from the bitter and sweetness of life. Ultimately, you have a brightly flavored, lightly sweet, and overall delightful drink in the Bee’s Knees.

Skip out on the gin, and VOILA! Lemonade. There’s something for grown-ups and the children. Both refreshing, tart and quench the thirst of summer’s heat. Raw honey is featured front and center of this Bee’s Knees classic. We LOVE the simplicity of this recipe – you really only need three ingredients: lemon, honey, and gin. However, we love pouring over a little bubbly soda water to give it some fizz. Something about those bubbles that makes it oh so thirst quenching, and reminds us of the buzz of the bees.

The Bee’s Knees is also a wonderful opportunity to showcase different varietal honey flavors. Personally, I prefer the more fruity honey flavor profiles of clover and basswood honeys to offset the puckering pairing with lemon juice. However, I do appreciate the over the top tartness and floral scent the comes with an orange blossom honey and lemon combo that packs a citrus on citrus punch. I do not prefer to blend a Bee’s Knees with any honeys that hint of molasses or cocoa – so no buckwheat or gallberry honeys for me. But, then again, it could be a fun evening of tasting different honey varietals with friends through libations. A true, heart felt offering and toast to the fantastic honey bee! Just an idea.

Raw honey makes a spectacular simple syrup for your summertime cocktails (or mocktails, if you rather) that will take your post-solstice bar to the next level. Using different honey varietals can even showcase and enhance flavor profiles unique to different honeys (e.g. the dark cherry highlights found in buckwheat honey for your Classic Old Fashioned). The other bonus of honey syrup is that it sweetens your drinks naturally, and because honey is sweeter than a basic cane, corn, rice, or most other common sugars – you don’t need as much, allowing all those other bright, fresh, and tart flavors to shine through! Now for the recipe.

How To Make Honey Simple Syrup: Combine equal parts honey and water in a saucepan. Then heat until the mixture nearly reaches a simmer, then whisk together until the honey melts into the water. You can refrigerate the mixture in a sealed container for up to 3 days. Pro tip: feel free to also make a small batch in the microwave, it’s even faster! Also, if your honey is not crystallized, just add warm water from the tap and mix!

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Instructions

Juice your lemon. Combine your gin, lemon juice, and honey syrup (see preparation directions above) in a cocktail shaker.

Shake with ice.  Add ice to the cocktail shaker, then cover and give it a good vigorous shake for about 15 seconds until chilled.

Strain, then top with club soda.  Strain the mixture into a tall glass filled with ice (or martini glass), being sure that an inch or so is left at the top of the glass. Top off with club soda

And serve!  Garnished with a twist of lemon peel, if desired.

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That said, while making a Bee’s Knees in a cocktail shaker is standard, feel free to take a shortcut and just mix everything together directly in the serving glass (skipping step 2), which is just as delicious. 😉