Bee's Knees (cocktail)

Bee's Knees

Type	Cocktail
Primary alcohol by volume	Gin
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