The Bees Knees

Take a Boston glass and fill with ice cubes. Pour in a double shot (50ml) of gin (preferably a nice local gin), add 25ml (or however much you want!) of honey and 25ml of fresh lemon juice. Shake until ice cold and then strain into a large cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon peel.

With Summer fast approaching, we wanted to celebrate a Prohibition-era cocktail that to us, sums up the taste of Summer. The Bees Knees cocktail is made up of gin, fresh lemon juice and honey. Although it was invented, like so many Prohibition cocktails, as a way to hide the taste and smell of moonshine and bathtub gin, you can make The Bees Knees to suit your tastes, matching different gins (from the sweeter Old Tom to a more juniper-led gin) with different honeys (from Manukas to heather honeys to your favourite local variety). It’s name comes from Prohibition-era slang meaning ‘the best’ so you’ll be sure to enjoy. 

You could always dilute the honey (if you want to make it slightly less sweet), add in a splash of orange juice to lengthen the drink, or use a basil leaf as a garnish, if you like a more aromatic finish.