I’m a bit of a honey collector. How do I justify this? I learned years ago that honey is the only natural food that truly never goes bad. It may crystallize and need to be heated to return it to a more liquid state, but it’s always safe to eat. So one can never have enough honey.
When I travel I like to buy honey so I reminded of the places I’ve been. While we were in Provence this summer I bought a local rosemary honey that I was really looking forward to trying at home. Sadly it didn’t make it through the local TSA in the Marseilles airport – I knew it was a risk since we only had carry on bags. This will not stop me from buying more honey in the future.
While honey may last forever, the bees that produce this wonderful natural sweetener are not. All around the world there are shortages of honey bees. And, this isn’t just bad for honey lovers – bees play a part in pollinating many of the foods we eat today. A shortage of bees likely means a shortage of many foods.
Many people and organizations are working hard to reverse this trend. Today’s recipe is inspired by Caledonia Spirits – a distillery in Montpelier, Vermont that uses honey to sweeten its Barr Hill spirits. In 2017 they created Bee’s Knees Week to raise awareness and funds to help save honey bees. This year Caledonia Spirits partnered with The Bee Cause Project – “an organization committed to installing beehives in public places [such as schools] as a way to spark curiosity, educate, and inspire action to help save the bees.”
From September 23 to 29, 2019, check to see if your favorite bar is serving a Bee’s Knees cocktail. And, if they’re not, the good news is that this is a simple cocktail to make at home. Just gin, honey and lemon. The only ‘work’ is making the honey syrup a bit in advance so that it can cool. We used Barr Hill gin as I was able to find it in our Pennsylvania Wine & Spirits store. It has a lovely smooth flavor with a hint of sweetness from the honey. It’s a lovely bottle with the neck covered in a beautifully scented beeswax. Any neutral gin will do – you could also use vodka if you’re not a gin fan.
Thank you to our friend, Lisa R, who gave us Jen’s Bees Wildflower Honey. It was quite local to Lisa as it was made in her neighborhood. It made the drink even more special.
| Bee’s Knees Cocktail | Print |
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup water
- 2 ounces dry gin
- ¾ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ¾ ounce honey syrup
- Garnish a strip of lemon peel
- In a saucepan set over medium-high heat add honey and water. Stir until honey completely dissolves and mixture comes to a simmer. Remove pan from heat. Let cool. Refrigerate (up to two weeks) until ready to use. Makes about 1 cup.
- In a shaker filled with ice, add gin, lemon juice and honey syrup. Shake.
- Strain into an old fashioned glass filled with ice. Garnish with a strip of lemon peel.
* Honey syrup makes about 10 cocktails.
Source: Variation on recipe from Food Network Magazine, September, 2019
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