20 best Honey cocktails

Honey predates sugar as a sweetener and is a delicious alternative to sugar to balance citrus in sour cocktails, particularly when flavoursome raw honey is used. Light kinds of honey such as acacia and orange blossom, impart a very different flavour profile to heavier honeys such as heather honey. Honey varies as much in flavour as rum does.

You can use a bar spoon (or teaspoon) to measure honey directly from the jar but it's easier to accurately measure and use honey in cocktails if you first mix with water to make a honey syrup. It's quick and easy to make a honey syrup and I use three parts honey to one part water to make a syrup that flows and dissolves easier than when undiluted but maintains some of the honey's viscosity.

Aged Honey Daiquiri
With: Aged rum, lime juice and honey syrup.
We say: Rich flavoursome honey syrup replaces sugar in this delicious Daiquiri. Fuller flavoured honeys perhaps call for bigger bolder rums.

Air Mail
With: Golden rum, lime juice and honey syrup with champagne.
We say: Lightly or well-aged rum invigorated with champagne, freshened with a touch of lime, and balanced by honeyed richness.

Anything Else
With: Light rum, Campari, lemon juice, honey syrup and IPA beer.
We say: Zesty lemon, Italian bitter red liqueur, and tangy IPA makes for a zippy, refreshing drink. Using a characterful IPA and nailing exactly the right amount of honey are key to this drink's success.

Atholl Brose
With: Honey, Scotch whisky, oat milk, Drambuie liqueur, amaretto and cream.
We say: Forget the porridge and kick start your day with an Atholl Brose.

Bee's Knees
With: Dry gin, lemon juice, honey syrup and orange juice.
We say: The combination of honey and lemon suggests flu relief but don't wait for an ailment before trying this soothing concoction.

Gold Rush
With: Bourbon, lemon juice, and honey syrup.
We say: A Whiskey Sour with honey syrup in place of sugar.

Honey Badger
With: Fresh rosemary, bourbon, Yellow Chartreuse, ginger syrup, honey syrup, lemon juice, and lemon bitters.
We say: If you like a Penicillin Cocktail, then you should try this rosemary influenced alternative.

Bucket List
With: Vodka, genepi liqueur, lemon juice and honey syrup.
We say: Floral, honeyed, herbal and vodka-laced.

Canchànchara
With: Golden rum, lime juice and honey syrup.
We say: Achieve the perfect balance between sweet honey and sour lime and this is a truly great drink.

Honey Cobbler
With: Honey, Scotch whisky, red wine and cassis.
We say: Dry wine tannins and smoky scotch balance rich honey and blackcurrent liqueur.

Honeysuckle Daiquiri
With: Golden rum, lemon juice, orange juice and honey syrup.
We say: A Daiquiri made with flavoursome honey in place of sugar, or a Bee's Knees with rum in place of gin. However you view this, it's damn tasty.

Mr Anthony
With: Genever, Islay single malt, ginger liqueur, lemon juice, honey syrup, and ginger bitters.
We say: A genever-based Penicillin alternative.

The Prospector
With: Speyside single malt, lime juice, and honey syrup.
We say: A three ingredient malt whisky sour.

Pooh'tini
With: Honey, Bison grass vodka, camomile tea and honey liqueur.
We say: Grass honey with spicy, slightly tannic, camomile finish.

Queen's Knees
With: Calvados, honey syrup, orange bitters, and brut sparkling wine.
We say: Apple brandy and honey are a natural pairing which nestle harmoniously with zest orange and dry sparkling wine.

The Savelberg
With: Genever, Poire William eau-de-vie, sweet vermouth, dry vermouth, honey and lemon juice.
We say: Boozy with bready genever, pear, citrus and faint rich honey.

Three Dots and a Dash
With: Martinique V.S.O.P rum, aged rum, falernum, pimento dram liqueur, lime and orange juice, honey syrup and aromatic bitters.
We say: Rhum agricole and allspice dram play a huge role in what is one of the most complex of all classic tiki drinks.

Warsaw Cooler
With: Honey, Bison grass vodka, spiced rum, triple sec, sugar syrup, lemon juice and apple juice
We say: Orange, honey, apple and spice, laced with Polish Bison grass vodka.

Yellow Jacket (Gin-based)
With: Dry gin, Yellow Chartreuse, lemon juice, and honey syrup.
We say: Rich honey and herbal liqueur balance sour lemon in this tasty gin-laced sour.

Zoom
With: Cognac, honey syrup and single cream.
We say: Cognac is smoothed with honey and softened with milk and cream in this classic cocktail.