The bee’s knees vintage cocktail is a Prohibition era drink that is still perfectly delicious today! Just shake your favorite gin, some fresh lemon juice & honey simple syrup (so easy!) until ice cold and serve in a coupe glass with a twist.
The Bee’s Knees Vintage Cocktail
If I’m going to have a cocktail, I always lean towards gin. The bee’s knees is a Prohibition era gin cocktail that’s right up my alley. Which makes sense since you’d probably have to walk down a dark alley to get to the speakeasy to order a bee’s knees during Prohibition!
Fresh lemon juice and honey simple syrup are combined with gin and shaken until ice cold, then served up in a coupe glass with a twist of lemon peel. It’s tart, sweet and strong! You can also optionally add a little cayenne pepper to the mix if you’re feeling spicy.
And have you ever heard a cuter name for a cocktail? The “bee’s knees” is an old fashioned way of saying something is amazing or the best or the greatest. You can picture the scene – a speakeasy patron takes a sip of this delicious drink and says “now this is the bee’s knees!” and the cocktail’s name is born. Pure speculation, but that’s how I see it happening. Plus, bee’s like honey, as in the honey simple syrup. Just another theory.
The Ingredients:
There are so many delicious kinds of gin on the market these days, but during the Prohibition era, that wasn’t the case. During Prohibition there was a constitutional ban on everything to do with alcoholic beverages. The drinking of them, the production of them, the distribution and sale of them – you name it! The restrictions were in place from 1920 to 1933, which is a long time to go without a drink. I’m sure everyone’s seen a movie where the characters in a gin joint in the 1920’s all suddenly run for the door when the police show up. Bars were illegal too, of course, and enjoying a cocktail could be a costly experience!
The gin that was available for purchase on the black market was the opposite of delicious. It was made to be very strong, with no time given to flavor. Most of the cocktails from the Prohibition era were created to mask the taste of this bad “bathtub” gin. Bartenders would add strong flavors, like the lemon juice and honey syrup in the bee’s knees, so people wouldn’t complain about the flavor of the gin.
Even though we no longer need to mask the flavor of bad gin, we can take advantage of the creativity behind the cocktails of the Prohibition era. This time we’ll use great gin, make a homemade honey simple syrup and squeeze fresh lemon juice to recreate the best version of the bee’s knees.
I also occasionally add a spicy note to my honey simple syrup by adding some cayenne pepper or ground chipotle chili pepper. It doesn’t make the drink spicy hot, it just gives it a little extra zing and slight heat at the back of your throat.
The Preparation:
First you’ll make your honey simple syrup. Just like with other simple syrups, you’ll use a one to one ratio for the sweet component, in this case honey, and water. As I mentioned, I wanted to add a little kick to the syrup, so I also added a some ground cayenne chili powder.
Make the honey simple syrup far enough in advance that it’s nice and chilled before you make your drink. It lasts forever in the fridge, so I made it a few days ahead of time and had enough to shake up a few rounds of bee’s knees cocktails.
Besides making the honey syrup, the only other prep work is to squeeze some fresh lemon juice. I love these colorful citrus squeezers. You’ll get way more lemon juice than when you squeeze them by hand. It also traps the seeds! All you have to do is cut the lemon in half and squeeze it!
Now fill your cocktail shaker up with ice and add your gin, honey syrup and lemon juice. Why not use a mason jar cocktail shaker? ; )
The Payoff:
I like to serve these in pretty coupe glasses, they have a vintage look that goes perfectly with the bee’s knees vintage cocktail!
If you’re hooked on vintage cocktails, try The Last Word – it’s another beauty!
Here’s a list of the tools I used (these are affiliate links):
- My favorite juicer/citrus squeezer. I have one for limes, lemons and oranges! They work really well and are really cute.
- A mason jar cocktail shaker. Because you need a cocktail shaker, so why not make it a mason jar?
- Coupe style cocktail glasses. Classic and beautiful!
- Small, wide mouth mason jars for the honey simple syrup. Because what else would you put honey simple syrup in?
Disclaimer: any links to products in this post may be affiliate links. This means I would get a small commission if the product was purchased. I only link to products I like and use myself, or are similar to what I use. Thanks for your support!
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The Bee’s Knees Vintage Gin Cocktail
- Yield: 2 1x
Description
Shake gin, fresh lemon juice & honey simple syrup until ice cold and serve in a cocktail glass with a twist.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (4 oz) of gin, I like Bombay Sapphire
- 1/4 cup (2 oz) honey simple syrup
- 3 tablespoons (1 1/2 oz) of fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder or cayenne pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker along with lots of ice.
- Shake until cold, then strain/pour into two coupe or cocktail glasses. Garnish with a twist of lemon peel and enjoy!
