Bee Nice


This cocktail is our variation on the prohibition classic Bee’s Knees. The traditional Bee’s Knees is a straightforward combination of gin, honey, and lemon juice. It was developed at a time when gin wasn’t what you would call high quality. Actually, it was barely drinkable and required the addition of the lemon and honey to mask its flavor. Thankfully we don’t have that problem now! 
One of the drinkable spirits we have been enjoying is from the kind people at Bluewater Organic Distilling – who recently sent us a bottle of their new Wintersun Aquavit. This is a clear, crisp aquavit with citrus and anise notes. More people are discovering aquavit – a traditional Scandinavian spirit, and using it as a gin or vodka substitute in classic cocktails (with varying degrees of success). We thought herbal notes of Wintersun Aquavit would be best complimented by honey and some citrus – which brought us to the Bee’s Knees recipe. We then set about experimenting with ratios and ingredients and came up with our preferred combination, which involved Cointreau and grapefruit bitters, along with honey-thyme simple syrup and fresh lemon juice.

While the Artist got to work creating watercolor paintings to pair with our cocktail, I sat down to write up this blog post and flipped through several cocktail books to see what other Aquavit cocktail recipes are out there. The Death & Co. Modern Classic Cocktail book includes a page that features aquavit recipes. To my horror/surprise the first recipe was quite close to the one we had felt such pride in developing! Well, I guess we can feel good that our tastes align with these cocktail masters. Compared to our Bee Nice, Death & Co’s Great Northern cocktail has the additional ingredient of Lillet Blanc, doesn’t include bitters and is served over crushed ice. We’re going to mix up one of those next!

For now, we’re quite pleased with our Bee Nice cocktail and grateful to the nice folks at Bluewater Distilling for sending us the bottle of their new release. 

Cheers!... and let's BE(E) NICE

Bee Nice

2 ounces Aquavit (Bluewater Distilling Wintersun Aquavit)
½ ounce Cointreau
½ ounce Honey Thyme Simple Syrup (recipe below)
¾ ounce fresh lemon juice
dash of Grapefruit bitters (Dashfire Bitters)

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail coup. Garnish with a lemon twist and a sprig of thyme.


Honey Thyme Simple Syrup

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup orange blossom honey
1/2 cup (packed) of lemon thyme sprigs

Combine honey and water in a small saucepan and bring to a low boil. Add thyme and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat, cover and let steep for 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature and strain through a sieve. Put in a covered bottle and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Note: See our Old Thyme Cocktail recipe for another drink using this syrup.

Pollination - original watercolor by The Cocktail Artist
 
Bees - original watercolor by The Cocktail Artist


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