Honey Bee

Today we're drinking the Honey Bee, a cocktail that is quite similar to The Bee's Knees, though with rum instead of gin (and the addition of water).  Also, it's worth noting that this is another cocktail recipe taken from Esquire's fantastic online catalogue of drinks.  Tuesday's cocktail, the McCrory, was another Esquire find.  If you've never been to the site, I highly recommend checking it out (available here).

Honey Bee

1/2 tablespoon honey
1/2 tablespoon water
2 ounces white rum
1/2 ounce lemon juice

Put the honey and warm water in a cocktail shaker and stir it until the honey is thoroughly dissolved. Add the white rum* and lemon juice, then shake viciously with cracked ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. If this is too dry, or if you're feeling charitable and generous of spirit, g'ahead and add a little more honey. Drink how ya like.

*According to Embury, this makes it a Honeysuckle; a Honey Bee requires dark, Jamaican-style rum. Esquire's 1949 Handbook for Hosts disagrees. We'll go with Esquire.

This is a nice drink, and is quite similar to other rum plus lemon juice cocktails we've tried in the past.  Lemon juice and gin is an easy, reliable flavor combination.

This drink is sweet, but not too sweet, and as the recipe indicates, you should use more or less honey to your preference.  With the summer winding down, this may be one of the few remaining cold drinks we can consume before the days become too cold for BBQs.  It is, however, ideal for such occasions (BBQs that is). 

I hope everyone has an excellent weekend; for my Hebrew readers, an easy fast; and here's hoping we have at least a couple weeks of stellar weather so we can play some golf.   Cheers!

Bee's Knees

Last night, I had a soccer game that started at 10pm.  I don't know about you, but by 10pm, the last thing I want to do is sprint and run around.  Perhaps the worst part is the brief opportunity to cool-down before trying to go to sleep.  It never quite works.

Some friends have recommended drinking a beer before heading to bed.  That might work for someone else, but it doesn't sound too appealing to me.  If the game were earlier, a beer might go over well, but just before turning in, I'd just assume pass. 

Today's drink though, doesn't sound half bad. The Bee's Knees is the drink, named after a phrase that is meant to describe something that's top shelf.  Also, it's a nice little allusion to the use of honey in the cocktail. 

The Ultimate Book of Cocktails page 129

Bee's Knees

1 1/2 oz gin
1/4 oz honey
1/4 oz lemon juice

Shake the ingredients very well with ice to integrate the honey, and strain into a cocktail glass.

For this cocktail, I'm using New Amsterdam gin, Nellie and Joe's Key West Lemon Juice, and locally produced honey.

This is a very easy, very good cocktail.  If you like gin, this is an especially good cocktail that yields good gin flavor, while also leaving the door open for the rest of the ingredients to enter the mix. 

The drink will sometimes taste like a strong alcoholic lemonade, but for the most part there is exceptionally clean gin flavors that are both refreshing and at times, lip-smacking.

I'm a big fan of this cocktail, and would pair it with something spicy, as it would be the perfect cocktail to counterbalance any heat.  And, if you have a late night soccer game, think of it like the alcoholic version of orange wedges you used to get after Little League games. 

See you on Friday!