Here is another Bees Knees cocktail recipe:
I had this version at Deacon Street Restaurant/Martini & Whiskey Bar.
Ingredients:
2 oz Barr Hill Gin
1 oz Elderflower Liquor
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz honey simple syrup
Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake and then strain into a coupe or a martini glass and garnish with a lemon twist.
For the honey simple syrup:
Heat 2 parts honey and 1 part water until the honey is melted. Cool.
Bees Knees Week is 9/23-10/2
It is “Bees Knees” Week and as I was pondering a new honey gin cocktail to create I couldn’t seem to pull myself away from the idea of some kind of modified Negroni. Gin is hands down my favorite spirit and the Negroni is one of my favorite gin cocktails. Last winter I played with the herbal characters of Green and Yellow Chartreuse and the refined floral flavors of Elderflower to come up with a White Negroni since there are many liquors that define a White Negroni that we cannot get in the state of NH. Today, I decided to play with the fruit and acid components of the ingredients without undermining the beautiful honey tones of the gin. I think it worked. I’d love to hear what you think.
There are many choices for bitters right now but if you cannot find cranberry bitters use 100% cranberry juice and the acid and bitters in that will take the place bitters in the cocktail.
Ingredients:
1 oz Tamworth Distilling Apiary Gin or Barr Hill Gin
1 oz Aperol
1/2 oz Domaine de Canton Ginger Liquor
1/2 oz cranberry juice
2-3 dashes of cranberry bitters
Juice of 1/4 of lime
Add all ingredients to a glass filled with ice and stir briskly with a cocktail spoon or an iced tea spoon. Strain into a rocks glass with a large cube. Garnish with a lime twist.
This cocktail will be just as good with a London Dry Gin. I wouldn’t use an herbal gin, unless you want to substitute lemon juice for the lime juice and garnish with a rosemary sprig.
Updated: Mar 21, 2023
Last week I had to drive 2 hours each way for an inspection far north in Milan, NH. It's outside of my typical territory, but the house fit my client's needs, and I wanted to be with him. I usually don't mind driving since I can listen to a book on tape, and have some down time. And sometimes a northbound drive up 93 can be breathtaking if it is a clear day. This day it happened to be pouring. There were definitely no views, and I am not a fan of driving in the pouring rain.
The inspection was not typical, as the owner has not only painstakingly renovated this old farmhouse over the past 19 years, leaving it in very good condition for my buyer; but she made the time to be there with us, and answer any questions he or the inspector might have. The rain became a drizzle as we were nearing the end of the inspection and we got to spend some time in the yard discussing some of the plantings and the apple trees. It's not every day that you get to eat a Golden Delicious Apple from the backyard of your buyer's soon to be home. It was a simple but wonderful moment. As we headed toward the front yard the seller commented on the horse running in the field across the street. Immediately, all I could think of, was that I wanted to meet that horse and give it then end of my apple. I have no idea where that came from, but lately I am trying to listen to the voice in my head, which is usually right. The seller was more than happy to introduce me to the horses which turned out to be rescue horses. As we visited she explained the stories and the issues that each horse came to her with and I commented that it was a wonderful thing that she was doing. That's when she told me that she hasn't been without a horse since she was a little girl, and it became obvious that these graceful creatures with the soulful eyes were giving her just as much as she was giving them. The visit to the barn left me with a feeling that not only could this small, northern town in NH be a really good place for my client, but there is still such good in the world and it is a special thing to witness it.
Later, as I was heading home over the crest of a hill this is the view that I saw. What a treat that the break in the weather allowed me to have an unexpected view that day, but more than that, my inspection left me with a positive view on life.
