Yellow Jacket
A herbal and sour gin cocktail ∙ Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 18.6% ABV ∙
The Yellow Jacket is a gin sour of London dry gin, a honeyed herbal liqueur such as Yellow Chartreuse, lemon juice and honey syrup.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: London dry gin 50 mlHerbal liqueur (e.g., Yellow Chartreuse) 10 mlLemon juice 25 mlHoney syrup 15 ml
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Express a lemon twist over the cocktail and use as garnish
Tips
- Shake hard for 10-12 seconds; honey syrup is thicker than plain syrup and needs a proper shake to mix with the lemon and gin.
History
The gin-based Yellow Jacket is a modern riff on the Bee's Knees, swapping in Yellow Chartreuse for part of the honey-lemon-gin base to add herbal, floral depth. Its name plays on the American term "yellow jacket" for a wasp, echoing the parent drink's "bee" while distinguishing it from an unrelated tequila-based cocktail of the same name created at the New York bar Employees Only, with which it shares only the Chartreuse.
The Bee's Knees itself is a Prohibition-era cocktail of gin, lemon juice, and honey whose exact origin is disputed. It is sometimes credited to Frank Meier, the bartender at the Ritz Hotel's Cafe Parisien in Paris starting in 1921, while a 1929 news account instead named American socialite Margaret Brown as its creator.
FAQ
What's in a Yellow Jacket drink?
London dry gin, a honeyed herbal liqueur such as Yellow Chartreuse, fresh lemon juice, and honey syrup.
How do you make a Yellow Jacket cocktail?
Shake the gin, herbal liqueur, lemon juice, and honey syrup hard with ice, then fine-strain into a pre-chilled coupe. Finish by expressing a lemon twist over the drink and dropping it in as garnish.
