Bee's Knees Recipe: Gin, Honey and Lemon

Ingredients

1¾ oz London dry gine.g. Tanqueray · Gordon's · Beefeater · Bombay Sapphire · Sipsmith
¾ oz lemon juice
¾ oz honey syrup 2 parts honey to 1 part warm water

Garnish: Lemon twist · Ice: Served up, no ice

Method

Make the honey syrup by stirring two parts honey into one part warm water until smooth, then cool it.
Add gin, lemon juice and honey syrup to a shaker filled with ice.
Shake hard for 12 to 15 seconds.
Double strain into a chilled coupe.
Express a lemon twist over the drink and place it on the rim.

Watch it made

Bee's Knees

Taste

Floral honey and bright lemon over crisp juniper, with a round, silky finish. Balanced between sweet and tart, moderately strong.

History and origin

"The bee's knees" was 1920s American slang for something excellent, and the cocktail carries that era in its name. It is often linked to Prohibition, with the popular story that honey and lemon helped mask the harsh flavour of bootleg gin, though that explanation is more legend than documented fact.

The drink is commonly traced to Frank Meier, the head bartender at the Ritz in Paris, whose 1930s book "The Artistry of Mixing Drinks" includes a Bee's Knees; other early claims exist as well. After decades of obscurity, it was revived by modern bartenders as an easy, honey-driven variation on the gin sour, and the International Bartenders Association added it to its list in the "New Era" category.

Bartender tips

Never shake raw honey directly: it sets hard on the ice. Always make a syrup first.
The type of honey changes the drink: acacia is light and clean, wildflower or heather honey adds more character.
Use a classic London dry gin; very floral gins can make the drink taste perfumed.

Variations

Gold Rush: Bourbon instead of gin with lemon and honey syrup, a modern classic.
Penicillin: A smoky relative with blended Scotch, lemon, honey-ginger syrup and a float of Islay whisky.