Spirits

Barfly: The Bee’s Knees Cocktail

By Vancouver Magazine /

                        

 

Its ingredients work in perfect harmony: the gin gets the job done, the lemon cools you, and the honey masks the bitterness and the fact that you’re drinking-not unimportant back in the days of Prohibition when this cocktail was popular. People monkey with the recipe by adding orange juice or egg whites or champagne, which is fine, but for a quick belt for the crew before a game of croquet, all you need are the three amigos. And it can easily be quintupled with little ill effect.

 
                         2 oz Hendrick’s Gin
              (or G’Vine Floraison if you can find it)
                    ¾ oz fresh lemon juice
                      1 spoonful of honey
 

Add all ingredients and ice into a cocktail shaker, shake, and strain into jam jars. Maybe garnish with a lemon wedge. Add ice if needed.

 

Note: Adding straight honey to an ice-filled shaker will cause it to harden, so you have two options: make honey syrup by boiling equal parts honey and hot water; or shake the bejesus out of it. Guess which method we prefer. 

 

 

Watch and Learn

A video on how to make a Bee’s Knee’s cocktail with bartender Colin Turner of CinCin.