Bee's Knees cocktail

Bee's Knees

Alessandro Scire Calabrisotto

Few drinks capture the glamour and mischief of the Roaring Twenties quite like the Bee's Knees. Born in the speakeasies of Prohibition-era America, this gin sour wraps bright lemon and golden honey around a backbone of juniper, turning rough bathtub spirit into something genuinely elegant. The name itself was 1920s slang for the very best — and one sip explains why the phrase stuck.

History of the Bee's Knees

The Bee's Knees emerged during American Prohibition (1920–1933), an era when the production and sale of alcohol were banned and much of the gin in circulation was homemade and harsh. Bartenders faced a practical problem: how to mask the rough edges of low-quality spirit. The answer lay in honey and lemon, a combination that softened the bite while adding warmth and depth.

The drink is frequently associated with Frank Meier, an influential bartender at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, who included a honey-based gin recipe in his work during this period. Paris was a haven for Americans escaping the dry years at home, and its hotel bars became laboratories for the cocktails that would define the age. Whatever its precise origin, the Bee's Knees came to symbolise the inventive spirit of the time — a clever way of making the forbidden not just drinkable, but delightful.

Recipe: How to Make a Classic Bee's Knees

Ingredients:

  • 60 ml (2 oz) gin
  • 22.5 ml (0.75 oz) fresh lemon juice
  • 22.5 ml (0.75 oz) honey syrup (3 parts honey to 1 part warm water)

Instructions:

  1. Prepare your honey syrup in advance by stirring three parts honey into one part warm water until fully dissolved, then allow it to cool.
  2. Add the gin, fresh lemon juice and honey syrup to a cocktail shaker.
  3. Fill the shaker with ice and shake hard for around 12 to 15 seconds until well chilled.
  4. Double-strain into a chilled coupe or Nick and Nora glass.
  5. Garnish with a lemon twist, expressing the oils over the surface before dropping it in.

Tips for Perfection:

  • Always make a honey syrup rather than using neat honey — straight honey will not incorporate properly and will sink to the bottom of the glass.
  • Use freshly squeezed lemon juice; bottled juice lacks the brightness this delicate drink depends on.
  • Chill your glassware beforehand so the cocktail stays crisp and the honey aromatics remain lifted.

Additional Recommendations

Variations:

  • Gold Rush: swap the gin for bourbon to create a richer, warmer cousin of the Bee's Knees.
  • Business Cocktail: a closely related classic combining gin, honey and lemon in similar proportions.
  • Lavender Bee's Knees: infuse the honey syrup with a little dried lavender for a floral, aromatic twist.

Pairings:

  • Soft, creamy cheeses such as brie or a mild goat's cheese.
  • Light seafood starters like prawns or smoked salmon.
  • Honey-glazed nuts or a citrus-forward dessert.

Presentation:

  • Serve in an elegant coupe to echo the drink's Jazz Age heritage.
  • A single lemon twist keeps the look clean and timeless.

Curiosity: A Fun Fact About the Bee's Knees

The phrase "the bee's knees" was popular American slang in the 1920s, meaning something outstanding or the height of excellence. It belonged to a playful family of nonsense superlatives that also gave us "the cat's pyjamas" and "the eel's ankles." Naming a cocktail after such a phrase was a wink to its drinkers: this was, quite literally, the best the era had to offer.

Sources

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