It's cocktail Sunday in our little slice of Northern California and to honor the poor bee who stung me exactly one week ago today, it seems apropos to imbibe upon a Prohibition era cocktail called the Bee's Knees.
Now, the original version of this cocktail was simply composed of dry gin, lemon juice, and honey syrup. More modern versions have added orange juice as well. However, since we have access to a dizzying variety of local honey, I wanted to try this beverage with a syrup that utilizes a lesser known variety of honey. So this morning my husband headed off to the Farmer's Market and surprised me with an enormous sampler box from Mike & Niki's Honey Company.
Of course this transformed what was supposed to be a simple cocktail hour into an elaborate honey tasting session and, given my daughter's predilection for all things sweet, she was more than willing to participate and offer her expert honey-tasting commentary.
The full range of flavors included Buckwheat, Sage, Star Thistle, Canola, Orange Blossom, in addition to several varieties from locales such as Livermore, Fremont, Stonyford, Campbell, and Woodside. Buckwheat was the least favorite with its molasses-like consistency and a taste somewhat resembling burnt grass. Orange Blossom and Canola were the most favorite and ultimately chosen for our Bee's Knees cocktail experiment.
Making the Honey Syrup
Honey syrup is incredibly easy to make. All that's required is equal parts honey and warm water. Just enough to make about 1/2 ounce honey syrup per serving. To ensure the honey fully incorporated into the water, I also briefly heated the mixture in the microwave for about 5-10 seconds and whisked just before measuring out into a cocktail shaker.
Bee's Knees
1 2/3 ounce dry gin
2/3 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce honey syrup
Place all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice, shake until well chilled, and fine strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with lemon twist.
Could this also be a honey gin and tonic?
Actually yes! Just pour the ingredients into a glass and top with tonic water. I ultimately did this so I could enjoy a slower sipper and it's delicious.
So which honey won?
Both were very good but the orange blossom honey was definitely the favorite. It offered a nice compliment to the lemon juice and helped soften the tartness of the cocktail a bit. The canola flower honey, on the other hand, had a nice spicy floral note to it that made the drink feel more fancy than it had any right to be. Either way, I definitely recommend giving this a try for your next cocktail hour.
