Saturday Sips! The Bee’s Knees
Happy Saturday, everyone! Since this is our first Saturday Sips post of the summer, we thought we’d start the season off with an easy old favorite: The Bee’s Knees cocktail.
The Bee’s Knees is traditionally made by mixing gin with a honey-based simple syrup and a squeeze of lemon, but we’re going to shake things up a bit by infusing both our gin AND simple syrup with some orange peel and lavender.
You could, of course, choose to infuse either your gin OR your simple syrup instead of both, but we liked the extra flavor we were able to achieve from infusing both components – especially with the orange, which compliments the notes of juniper and honey really well.
You could also opt to infuse your gin and/or syrup with another herb. For instance, Erica from NW Edible recommends in an article called Infuse Your Booze! A Complete Guide to DIY Flavored Liquors that “cucumber, citrus of all kinds, floral (lavender especially), herbal – think basil, fennel or lemon verbena – apple and pear, and green tea” make really great gin infusions, and her personal favorites include cucumber, star anise, grapefruit and ginger.
Whatever infusion you choose to try, just make sure it’s a flavor you’ll enjoy with the taste of honey, which is the main aftertaste you’ll experience in your cocktail.
- 1 orange, rinsed and dried
- 1 paring knife
- 1 liter gin
- 1 glass bottle with a cap or stopper, clean and dry
- Peel the orange.
- Using your paring knife, remove as much of the white pith from the orange peel as you can.
- Cut the orange peel into long strips and place in bottle.
- Cover with gin place cap to make air tight.
- Let sit for 2-3 days.
- 1-2 Tablespoons Dried Organic Lavender Buds
- 1 Liter Gin
- 1 Bottle with Cap or Stopper, Cleaned
- Fresh Lavender (optional), cleaned
- Fill the bottle with lavender buds.
- Pour the gin over the lavender, and place the cap on the bottle
- Let infusion sit for 24 hours, and strain out lavender buds.
- Place fresh lavender in bottle for presentation while serving (optional).
- 1 cup local honey
- ¾ cup cane sugar
- 1 cup water
- Lavender Additions:
- 2 Tablespoons Organic Dried Lavender Buds
- Orange Additions
- 1 Orange, peeled
- Pour the honey, sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat over medium-high.
- For lavender-honey simple syrup, add the dried lavender buds.
- For orange-honey simple syrup, add the peeled orange and mash with a potato masher.
- When mixture starts to boil, reduce heat and let simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Strain into a clean glass jar, and bring to room temperature.
- Cover and store in the refrigerator.
Once you’ve infused all your components, all that’s left is to make your cocktail! Just pour 2 ounces infused-gin, 1 ounce infused syrup (or to taste), a squeeze of fresh lemon juice (optional) and some ice to your a cocktail shaker. Shake well, pour into a cocktail glass, garnish and enjoy!
Used In This Project:
- Square Coasters • I chose the “Bumble Bee Baby” style in Lilac.
- Rectangular Labels • I chose the “Bumble Bee Baby” style in Lilac and Bahama Blue.
- Small Diamond Hang Tags • I chose the “Bumble Bee Baby” style in Lilac and Bahama Blue.
More Gift Ideas:
The Rhubarb Mojito Cocktails and Mocktails Homemade Bitters Cocktail and Mocktail Mason Jar Lemonade Herb-Infused Vodka
Shop Our Food/Craft Collection:
Josephine Guicciardi is the nom de plume of our creative Evermine blogger. With romantic connections to Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved” love letters, it is in keeping with the blog’s themes of love and joy. The great composer writes the famous words “ever thine, ever mine, ever ours” to a woman who remains a mystery to this day. Two of the most likely objects of his adoration are Josephine Brunsvik and Guilietta Guicciardi, and it’s from these two women that Josephine Guicciardi draws her persona.
