Bee's Knees

Taste

Two ounces of gin, three-quarters of lemon, three-quarters of honey syrup, so the honey is a full partner to the citrus. Shaken, coupe. The honey is floral and thick where simple would be thin; the lemon keeps it tart. Gin, pith, and a coat of honey.

History

The Bee's Knees first prints in 1929, twice. Cocktails de Paris credits Frank Meier, head bartender at the Hotel Ritz in Paris from 1921; Meier reprints it in his 1936 The Artistry of Mixing Drinks. A Brooklyn Standard Union piece of 22 April 1929, cited by Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller, ascribes the drink to Mrs. J.J. Brown of Denver and Paris, Margaret Brown of the Titanic. David Embury, in 1948, calls the equal-parts gin, lemon, and honey a pernicious Prohibition recipe meant to cover vile gin, and dries it out. Both claims stay in print. Two ounces of gin and three-quarters each of lemon and honey syrup, shaken into a coupe.

• The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails, Bee's Knees
• Epicurious, Bee's Knees

Same shape, other bottles

The Sour family, with the bottle that changed.

• Gold Rushbourbon for gin
• Honeysucklelight rum and lime juice for gin and lemon juice
• Southsidelime juice and simple syrup for lemon juice and honey syrup
• Daiquirilight rum and lime juice for gin and lemon juice
• Gimletlime juice and simple syrup for lemon juice and honey syrup
• Santiagolight rum and lime juice for gin and lemon juice