Bee's Knees
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 16.9% ABV ∙
The Bee's Knees is a gin sour of London dry gin, lemon juice and honey syrup with a touch of orange juice, shaken and served up.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: London dry gin 60 mlLemon juice 25 mlHoney syrup 15 mlOrange juice 10 ml
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Express an orange twist over the cocktail and use as garnish
Tips
- Make the honey syrup 1:1 with warm water. Neat honey seizes into clumps when it hits cold lemon and gin, and the sweetness comes out uneven.
- Shake hard with large cubes for a full 12-15 seconds; the honey syrup needs that long to mix in, and the drink comes out cold and properly diluted.
History
The Bee's Knees is a Prohibition-era cocktail made from gin, lemon juice, and honey, with honey and citrus traditionally used to mask the harsh taste of homemade bathtub gin common in the 1920s. Its exact creator is disputed. Some accounts credit Frank Meier, the Austrian-born head bartender at the Ritz Hotel's Cafe Parisien in Paris, who took up that post in 1921 and later claimed the drink in his 1936 book, The Artistry of Mixing Drinks. A 1929 newspaper account instead attributed it to American socialite Margaret "Molly" Brown, the Titanic survivor later known as "the Unsinkable Molly Brown."
The name borrows Prohibition-era slang in which "the bee's knees" meant something excellent. This Bee's Knees recipe follows the same gin, lemon, and honey base but adds a splash of orange juice, an addition also found in the International Bartenders Association's own official recipe, giving the classic sour a fruitier, softer edge.
FAQ
What is a Bee's Knees made of?
London dry gin, lemon juice and honey syrup, with a splash of orange juice: 60 ml gin, 25 ml lemon, 15 ml honey syrup and 10 ml orange juice.
What are the common mistakes when making a Bee's Knees?
Under-shaking: the honey syrup never mixes in and sinks to the bottom of the glass. Two other common mistakes: using neat honey instead of a 1:1 honey syrup, and not tasting the drink. Straight honey clumps in cold lemon juice and gin, and lemons vary enough in acidity to tip it too sour or too sweet.
What gin is best for a Bee's Knees?
A London dry gin. Its juniper and citrus stand up to the honey. A softer, floral or citrus-forward gin tends to disappear under the honey syrup and lemon, and the drink goes flat.
Is a Bee's Knees shaken or stirred?
Shaken. Honey syrup and citrus need a hard shake to mix, chill and dilute properly; stirring leaves the honey undissolved.
What makes the Bee's Knees a speakeasy drink?
Honey and citrus covered the rough edges of the bathtub gin of Prohibition, which is why the Bee's Knees is remembered as a speakeasy-era drink.
