Bee's Knees (cocktail)

Bee's Knees
Cocktail
Type Cocktail
Primary alcohol by volume
Served Straight up; without ice
Standard garnish lemon peel
Standard drinkware
Cocktail glass
Commonly used ingredients
  • 2 oz gin
  • 3/4 oz lemon juice
  • 3/4 oz honey
Preparation Shake with ice and strain into a chilled large cocktail glass

A Bees Knees (or Bee's Knees) is a Prohibition Era cocktail made with Gin, fresh lemon juice, and honey. It is served shaken and chilled, often with a lemon twist.

The name comes from prohibition-era slang meaning "the best."[1]

History

Like many prohibition-era cocktails, the Bee's Knees was invented as a way to hide the scent and flavor of poor quality homemade spirits,[1] in this case bathtub gin.[2] The addition of honey was considered bizarre by some at the time, since sugar is more usual.[3] The honey sweetens the drink, and may make it palatable to people who don't normally like gin.

Variations

A Bee's Knees cocktail made with gin, 1:1 honey syrup, and lemon juice
  • Barr Hill Gin is sometimes recommended for its honey infusion, though other gins may be used.[1]
  • The honey may be diluted 1:1 with warm water to thin the consistency.[2]
  • The honey may be diluted 1:1 with simple syrup instead of water.[1]
  • A sprig of basil may be used for garnish instead of lemon peel.[2]
  • Some variations contain orange juice[3]
  • Add 2 dashes of Absinthe and 2 dashes of orange bitters to make a variation called "Oldest Living Confederate Widow"[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Bee's Knees". Post Prohibition Handcrafted cocktails. Baltimore: Post Prohibition. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Westfall, JD. "5 Prohibition Cocktails You Should Try". Q Avenue. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  3. 1 2 Puchko, Kathy. "The Origins Of 10 Popular Prohibition Cocktails". Mental Floss. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  4. ↑ Deluna, Dani (10 November 2014). "The Oldest Living Confederate Widow". Home Bar Girl. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
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