Bee's Knees

This recipe is my take on a classic gin-based cocktail, The Bee's Knees. A cocktail that consists of gin, lemon juice, and honey. My version utilizes Barr Hill Gin, which has slight honey characteristics due to the incorporation of raw honey. I also incorporated lavender bitters and an egg white into the cocktail. The egg white adds a richness to the body of the cocktail. When shaken, the egg white produces a foam that sits on the top of the cocktail, giving a beautiful canvas to garnish with local bee pollen.

Bee's Knees

Yields one drink

1.5 oz. Barr Hill Gin ( any gin would work)

1 oz. Honey simple syrup

.75 oz. Lemon juice

1 ea. egg white

1 dash lavender bitters

Methods:

In a Boston shaker, place the egg white and shake without ice. Doing this is helping break up, and air rate the egg white before all of the other ingredients are added.
Open the Boston shaker and add gin, honey simple, lemon juice, and lavender bitters.
Add ice into the shaker and shake hard for about 30 seconds. The shaker will become cold to the touch.
Strain using a Hawthorne strainer into a chilled coupe or martini glass.
The drink will have a golden yellow color and a white foam floating on top of the egg white.
I like to garnish with a thin line of local bee pollen on top of the foam. A lemon peel would be lovely as well.

Honey Simple Syrup

Yields 8oz.

6 oz. wildflower honey

2 oz. boiling water

Method:

In a large container combine honey and boiling water
Gently stir the honey and water together until the honey has thinned out and is pourable
If the honey-water mixture is still too thick, add a little bit more boiling water. You do not want to add too much honey and water down the honey so much
Once the syrup is cooled transfer to an airtight container and store in refrigeration for up to a week

Lavender Bitters

Yields 8 oz.

8 oz. Neutral grain spirit, (vodka, Everclear)

4 tsp. dried lavender buds

2 lemons, peeled

Method:

In an airtight container combine lavender buds, lemon peels, gentian root, and grain spirit.
Seel the container and gave a good shake to mix everything together.
Allow the mixture to infuse for about seven (7) days at room temperature. The bitters should have a strong floral aroma and flavor. There should be finishing notes of bitterness as well.
Once infused, strain the bitters and store in bitter bottles and/or an airtight container.