Honey Bee

Serve in

Garnish:

Lemon zest twist

How to make:

SHAKE all ingredients with ice and fine strain into chilled glass.

Review:

Rich honey balances tart lemon juice over a characterful rum-base. Most recipes omit the orange juice, but as David Embury says in his Bee's Knees recipe (more from him below), "The addition of a small amount of orange juice (about 1 to 2 parts) makes for an interesting variation." The additional subtle fruitiness also sits well with Jamaican rum funk.

Variant:

With light rum this drink becomes a Honeysuckle, and with gin in place of rum, it becomes a Bee's Knees. With bourbon this is a Gold Rush.

History:

The 1949 edition of Esquire's Handbook for Hosts says a Honey Bee is "1 part honey, 4 parts Bacardi, 1 part lemon juice. Mix well, then add ice and shake."

However, in his 1948 The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, under his recipe for a Bee's Knees, David Embury handily explains, "The same drink except for the use of white Cuban rum in place of gin, is known as the Honeysuckle. The same drink with Jamaica rum is the Honey Bee. The Honeysuckle is also sometimes called the Airmail. Since Embury's era, an Airmail has become accepted as being a Honeysuckle lengthened with champagne.

Nutrition:

162 calories

Alcohol content:

• 1.4 standard drinks
• 19.85% alc./vol. (39.7° proof)
• 19.4 grams of pure alcohol