Bear With Me, Honey

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Cocktail History

The Bear With Me, Honey is a spring cocktail that was created by Morgan Stana at A Rake's Bar in Washington, D.C. It starts out similar to its Prohibition-era predecessor the Bee's Knees by using gin as the base spirit and honey as the sweetener, but it replaces the lemon with verjus blanc, a tangy fruit juice that tastes similar to vinegar. It then balances the acidity of the juice with orange liqueur, saline, frothy egg white, and aromatic rosemary.

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Cocktail Ingredients

To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:

Gin: This is a spirit made with juniper berries, botanicals, and alcohol. I used Suntory Roku Japanese Gin.

Verjus Blanc: This is an acidic juice made by pressing unripened grapes, crap-apples, or sour fruit. I used Fusion Napa Valley Verjus Blanc.

Honey Syrup: This is a sweetener made with honey and water. I made mine using this stovetop recipe.

Egg White: This is the clear liquid in an egg. I used fresh egg whites.

Triple Sec: This is a liqueur made with bitter oranges, lemons, sugar, and alcohol. I used Cointreau.

Saline Solution: This is a solution made with five to one kosher salt and water.

Rosemary Sprig: This is an evergreen herb.

Flower: This is an edible flower that can be used as a garnish.

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Bartending Tools

To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following bar tools:

Jigger: This is used to measure and pour ingredients. I used the Japanese jigger from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.

Boston Shaker: This is used to shake ingredients. I used the Boston shaker from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.

Hawthorne Strainer: This is used to strain out ice and solid ingredients after the cocktail is shaken. I used the A Bar Above Hawthorne Strainer.

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Tasting Notes

This cocktail has the following flavor profile:

• Appearance: Faint yellow color

• Aroma: Obvious rosemary and acidic juice

• Taste: Moderately bitter flavor and thick mouthfeel made of botanical gin and sweet honey

• Finish: More bitter sourness with slight citrus notes

Kendall’s Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Kendall’s Take: "I love the Bee's Knees, so I was expecting to enjoy this variation of the classic quite a bit. As it turns out though, the vinegar taste wasn't an ingredient I liked mixed with the others. The verjus was too overpowering compared to the other elements, in my opinion. It is a cute drink thanks to its bear-shaped glass, but I don't think I'll be shaking the Bear With Me, Honey up again. I'll be sticking to the tried and true Bee's Knees or the Tequila Honeysuckle made with tequila."

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Recipe

This cocktail recipe was adapted from Liquor.com, an online beverage publication.