Bees Knees Cocktail

We were introduced to Ungava Gin this summer and love it! Ungava Gin is Canadian and crafted from native Canadian botanicals that give it it’s signature yellow colour. Ungava Gin has the most delicious bees knees cocktail recipe on their website, we used that recipe and added tonic water for extra fizz. Delicious!

This bees knees cocktail is both light and refreshing. You can save the honey syrup for up to one month in the fridge.

Bees don’t have knees, so where does the saying come from?

According to the phrase finder, the idiom “bees knees”: was originally an 18th century fanciful phrase which referred to something that didn’t exist. It was used as the kind of spoof item apprentices would be sent to the stores to fetch – like a left-handed hammer. This meaning is no longer used.

In the Roaring Twenties in America, bright young things invented nonsense language to refer to things that were ‘the tops’ – like ‘the cat’s pajamas’, ‘the snake’s hips’ and so on. They utilized the existing ‘bee’s knees’ phrase to add to that list.

The expression has since spread and is now used worldwide to mean ‘excellent/the very best’

Ingredients

2 oz. Ungava Gin
3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
3/4 oz. honey syrup
1 cup tonic water
ice

Directions

To make honey syrup, combine 2 cups of Peace River Honey and 1 cup of water in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Bring to a simmer until mixture reduces (approximately 7 minutes). Allow to cool and store in an empty Peace River Honey jar in the fridge. Can store for up to 2 weeks.

To make cocktail, add ice to a glass. Add gin, lemon juice, honey syrup and top with tonic water. Garnish with a lemon wedge.