Directions
The Bee’s Knees cocktail is a great classic made with gin, lime and honey, one of the historic drinks of the twentieth century. It is a great drink, the cocktail is aromatic at frightening levels: resin and juniper mix with the warm and velvety flavors of honey, with lime acting as a needle of the scales.
The ingredients are old-fashioned: gin as a distillate, honey premix to sweeten, lemon or lime juice and it has now become customary to add 1 cl of orange juice to expand the aromatic boundaries of the cocktail. And in fact, this small addition is wonderful, it makes the drink richer and more velvety.
The Bee’s Knees cocktail has a medium-high alcohol content, so don’t overdo it. Although it is a classic aperitif drink and despite having a light flavor that does not weigh down the palate, it hits hard, so watch out.
History of the Bee’s Knees cocktail
For years this drink was considered one of the official Prohibition drinks, for the simple reason that during this dark period in speakeasies it was normal to make poor quality spirits, illegally produced, drinkable, by adding honey and lemon. After careful research, the legendary writer and researcher Jared Brown, a real detective born to find stories and peculiarities of the world of mixology, has ascertained that the Bee’s Knees cocktail was invented by Mrs. Margaret Brown, a rich and eccentric American who spent her days drinking, exploring Europe like many of the wealthy Americans engaged in the Grand Tours of the early 1900s. An interesting note about Mrs. Brown: she was one of the few survivors of the sinking of the Titanic.
Ingredients and doses to make the Bee’s Knees cocktail
- 6 cl of gin
- 2.5 cl of lemon or lime juice
- 1.5 ml of honey
How to make the Bee’s Knees cocktail
If you want you can put the honey in a jar or shaker with the same amount of water and then stir or shake to dissolve. If you have to make a lot of cocktails, increase the doses to make a honey premix. The doses of water are ridiculous, so you won’t be watering down your cocktail, don’t worry.
Once the honey premix is ready, put it in the shaker with the gin and lime juice, add ice and shake quickly.
Pour into a cooled cup, filtering with a colander.
Which gin to use for the Bee’s Knees cocktail
For simpler aperitifs, use a London dry gin, but if you want to make more sumptuous drinks, don’t hesitate to use spiced and more sophisticated gins such as the Opihr. The combination of spices and honey is fabulous and lends itself to daring experimentation.
Other great cocktails to try as an aperitif
Negroni, Mojito, Moscow Mule, Gin & Tonic, Dark and Stormy, Daiquiri, Margarita, Spritz, Hugo, Old Fashioned, Manhattan.
