There’s a reason this drink is called Bees Knees – it’s the best. Seriously. This Prohibition Era cocktail is super simple to make – all you need is gin, fresh lemon juice and honey. These are all things you probably have at home already, which is a bonus. And let us tell you, this bevy goes down real easy. A bit too easy if you know what we mean. The acidity of the lemon juice paired with the sweetness of the honey makes it seem like there’s no gin at all. Until all of a sudden you’re feeling GREAT. Then you know for sure there’s gin in there.
A little history lesson for y’all: during the Prohibition era, adding ingredients like citrus and honey or simple syrup were often used to cover the less than ideal flavour of bathtub gin. Also, the colour of this cocktail makes it look like you might just be sipping on a little bit of lemonade – and there’s no crime in that. It was a secretly booze decade.
Fun fact: add two dashes of absinthe and two dashes of orange bitters to a Bees Knees and you’ve got a variation of the cocktail called “Oldest Living Confederate Widow.” Maybe the best cocktail name we’ve ever heard.
- 2 oz of gin
- 1 oz of lemon juice
- 1 oz of honey syrup
- Lemon wheels or twists (for garnish)
Start by making the honey syrup. Mix two parts honey with one part warm water, stirring until the honey dissolves. Next, fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add the gin, lemon juice and honey syrup. Shake vigorously for at least 10 seconds, then strain ingredients into coupe glasses. Garnish with a lemon wheel or twist. Cheers, sip, repeat.
