ClassicsFall

Bee's Knees

The Bee's Knees is gin, honey and lemon, shaken and strained into a coupe. Honey gives it more body and a floral depth that plain sugar cannot, and London dry gin keeps it crisp. Three ingredients, very little to hide behind, and one of the best ways to taste a gin.

  • GlassCoupe
  • MethodShaken
  • Ingredients3
Bee's Knees

Ingredients

Making a batch?
Servings
Lemon peel, optionalGarnish
Total volume—

Directions

  1. Shake all ingredients with ice.
  2. Double strain into a chilled coupe.

ToolsJiggerShakerHawthorne strainerFine strainerCoupe glass

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History

The Bee's Knees is a Prohibition-era drink, and its origin is unclear. Frank Meier, the first head bartender at the Ritz Paris bar when it opened in 1921, is sometimes credited. A popular explanation holds that honey and lemon softened rough Prohibition gin, though that is lore rather than record.

Making a batch? Scale it for a crowd, add dilution water, and see how many bottles to buy.
Quick sizes
How are you making it? ⓘ Batching includes dilution water. Pre-batched cocktails need added water to replace the melt from stirring or shaking. We use Jeffrey Morgenthaler's standard: 18% for spirit-forward drinks, 25% for shaken.

What you'll need to buy

Based on 750ml bottles (25.4 oz), rounded up.

Bottle math, generally

750ml bottle25.4 oz
2 oz pours per bottle12 cocktails
1.5 oz pours per bottle16 cocktails
1 oz =29.6 ml
This recipe per 750ml of spirit—

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