Cocktailing | The Bee's Knees
In the era of prohibition, gin was terrible. It was made in bathtubs and buckets and could have actually been poison. In order to cover up the taste of the terrible gin, a bartender added honey and lemon and shook it up - like a martini only so it was palatable.
There are lots of stories about where the cocktail came from and most people like to say Paris. HOWEVER - prohibition was in the US not in France so how would the above explanation, which is the common explanation, make any sense at all? Here’s the better story that ties things together:
Do you know who Margaret Brown is? Molly Brown was traveling alone on the Titanic when it hit the iceberg. She loaded passengers on to lifeboats before she was finally persuaded onto one herself. Following the sinking, Ms. Brown organized the first class passengers to secure funding and necessities for the second and third class passengers who had survived. Her passion for philanthropy started long before she set foot on the Titanic and continued long after.
Here’s how she ties into the Bee’s Knees. The Unsinkable Molly Brown was on the Titanic because she needed to leave Paris, where she was visiting with her daughter, to get home to a sick grandchild. In the years following the sinking, Ms. Brown continued to travel to Paris - and as the wealthy woman she was - she stayed at the Ritz. The Ritz claims it originated the cocktail in 1921. However, another story says that Ms. Brown, the strong and independent woman that she was, brought the drink to Paris and had the bartender shake her up one. Ms. Brown bringing the drink to Paris makes way more sense - gin was readily available in Paris and would have been much more delicious than what was available back home in Denver.
Now that gin is delicious, we don’t need the honey and lemon to cover up the flavor. I chose a gin that has the flavors highlighted by the lemon and the honey serves to smooth out the lemon. I also chose this Empress Gin because it’s blue and turns this pink/purple when mixed with the lemon! Empress gin is one of the coolest you can have on your bar cart. It stays blue or gets a little more blue when mixed with basic ingredients (like soda water) but gets pink-y when mixed with anything acidic! It’s almost impossible to find cool colored liquors that aren’t mixed with weird ingredients - this one gets it’s purple color from the Butterfly Pea Flower. And it’s delish!
The Bee’s Knees
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon hot water
2 ounces Butterfly Pea Flower Gin
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
In a cocktail shaker, stir together honey and hot water to melt the honey. Add gin and lemon juice. Stir a little - then add ice to the shaker. Shake well and strain into two cocktail glasses. Garnish with a twist of lemon.
