The Bees Knees

Sweet and Sour, Lively and Refreshing, The Bees Knees is a great cocktail

Caledonia Spirits Barr Hill Gin makes a great juniper forward gin adding raw honey to finish its flavor profile. Next week they are having a countrywide charity event focusing on bee organizations and pollinators. Bees Knees Week is all about the plight bees. Follow the link here to see what bars in your area are supporting this great event. Visit one of the bars on the map or you can donate directly to one of the bee or pollinator organizations that are on their web site. Saving the bees is a worldwide issue that needs your help. Please participate as much as you can. Barr Hill Gin is a fabulous choice to use in The Bees Knees.

The Bees Knees is a cocktail that comes out of the Prohibition Era of the 1920’s. It’s oriGINS (no pun intended, ok, maybe intended!) were probably because bathtub gin of the 1920’s and 30’s was harsh flavored and not full of the rich flavors of the botanicals used today. The Bees Knees was a fun expression that meant how awesome something was it goes with other fun expressions of the day like: elephant’s adenoids, cat’s meow, ant’s pants, tiger’s spots, bullfrog’s beard, etc. which are mostly long forgotten now, apart from cat’s whiskers/pajamas.

Gin drinks of the bathtub era needed something sweet or sour to combat those flavors. Honey was easily found and made a great addition. Some of the versions from the 20’s and 30’s have more lemon and honey syrup than the modern versions that we see today. Modern gins have great botanical flavors that don’t need to be hidden or covered up. And our tastes have changed.

In doing some research I made a bunch of Bees Knees, and one day I was cooking some bacon wrapped salmon and I looked at the lemon I just grilled and thought, what would the flavor of grilling the lemon add to the Bees Knees? It turns out, It made an awesome addition. The grilling brings out more sweetness from the lemon and a bit of smokeyness that plays well with the honey. I encourage you to try grilling the lemons; it only takes a couple of minutes and will take your cocktail to a new height.

Different honeys also bring a different flavor to this delightful cocktail. I used Turkish honey one time and there was a subtle floral character and using a raw local honey bringing more of the strong honey flavor. Experiment you never know what flavor your local honey will bring. Making the honey simple syrup is very easy, just stir equal parts honey and warm water together.

I’ve been a fan of Barr Hill Gin for awhile now, it is one of my favorite gins. I encourage you to seek a bottle out. Let me know your thought in the comments below what you honey you have used. And Please donate to this great cause.

Print

The Grilled Lemon Bees Knees

Gin, Honey, and Lemon cocktail from the 1920's

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: American

Servings: 1 cocktail

Ingredients

• 1 lemon halved
• light flavored cooking oil, or even olive if you dare for brushing the lemon half
• 2 oz gin preferably Barr Hill
• 1/2 oz honey syrup 1/2 honey 1/2 warm water stirred

Instructions

1. Place a coup or martini glass in the freezer to chill.

2. To grill the lemon; you need to heat a skillet to medium high heat.

3. Cut a lemon in half and lightly brush the cut edges with a light cooking oil, Though I’ve used olive oil and it worked great, it added a richness and went will with the honey. 
   

4. Place the lemon halves cut side down onto the hot pan and grill for 2-3 minutes until the lemon halves are somewhat blackened. 
   

5. Let cool slightly and juice to get ¾ oz of juice strained with a mesh strainer.
   

6. Add the ¾ oz lemon juice, the 2 oz gin and the simple honey syrup to a cocktail shaker.
   

7. Fill the shaker with ice. Cover the shaker with a lid and shake vigorously for a minute or longer
   

8. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass preferably a coup or a martini. Garnish with a lemon twist.