Bee's Knees Cocktail Recipe

Before you start

The Bee's Knees is a gin sour sweetened with honey instead of sugar. That single change matters: honey brings floral, waxy flavors that suit gin's botanicals, and it gives the drink a slightly fuller texture than simple syrup. The drink is often linked to the Prohibition era, but the details of its origin are not certain.

The practical issue is that raw honey will not dissolve in cold liquid; it seizes into a sticky lump on the ice. Thin it into a syrup first by stirring it with warm water. A 1:1 honey syrup is easy to measure and pour, while a 3:1 syrup is richer and needs a smaller pour. The type of honey changes the drink more than you might expect, so start with a mild clover or wildflower honey and experiment from there.

Ingredients

• Honey syrup (makes about 120 ml)85 g (¼ cup) honey — mild clover or wildflower
• 60 ml (¼ cup) warm water — hot from the tap is fine
• Cocktail60 ml (2 oz) London dry gin
• 22 ml (¾ oz) fresh lemon juice — strained
• 22 ml (¾ oz) honey syrup (1:1)
• 1 cup (about 150 g) ice cubes — for shaking
• 1 strip lemon peel — optional garnish

Method

1. Make the honey syrup: put the honey and warm water in a jar, close it, and shake or stir until no streaks of honey remain. Let it cool to room temperature.
2. Chill the coupe in the freezer or with ice water while you measure.
3. Add the gin, lemon juice and cooled honey syrup to the shaker. Taste a drop; it should be tart and floral at the same time.
4. Fill the shaker two-thirds with ice and shake for 10 to 12 seconds, until well chilled.
5. Double-strain into the chilled coupe. Twist a lemon peel over the top and drop it in, or serve without garnish.

Tips for success

• Weigh honey rather than spooning it. Honey sticks to measuring cups and you end up with less than you think.
• Strongly flavored honeys such as buckwheat can dominate the gin. Blend a spoon of it with a milder honey if you want its character in a gentler form.
• A slightly floral gin pairs well with honey, but a classic London dry keeps the drink crisp.

Substitutions

1:1 honey syrup

Use 15 ml of a 3:1 honey syrup (honey to water by weight) for a richer texture with the same sweetness.

Honey

Agave syrup makes a cleaner, earthier drink and dissolves easily. Maple syrup works too but reads more autumnal.

Gin

Bourbon turns it into a gold rush-style drink, with honey and oak instead of honey and juniper.

Variations

Lavender Bee's Knees

Steep 1 tsp dried culinary lavender in the warm honey syrup for 10 minutes, strain, cool, and use as written.

Bee's Knees highball

Strain the shaken drink over ice in a highball and top with 60 ml soda water.

Troubleshooting

A sticky lump of honey stuck to the ice

You used straight honey. Always thin it into syrup with warm water before shaking.

The drink tastes flat

The lemon may be old, or the honey is mild enough to read as just sweet. Use same-day juice and add a lemon twist for aroma.

Honey syrup crystallized in the fridge

Warm the jar in a bowl of hot water and shake. A 1:1 syrup crystallizes less readily than a rich 3:1 syrup.

Storage

Serve the cocktail immediately. Refrigerate honey syrup in a sealed jar and use it within about 1 month; discard it if it smells fermented, turns cloudy, or shows mold.

Safety notes

One drink with 60 ml of 40% gin equals about 1.4 U.S. standard drinks (around 14 g of alcohol per standard drink). For adults of legal drinking age only. Do not drive after drinking.