Bee My Valentine

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Cocktail History

The Bee My Valentine is a Valentine’s Day cocktail that was created by Emma Stokes and was first published in her book Have Yourself a Merry Little Cocktail: 80 Cheerful Tipples to Warm Up Winter. It’s a simple variation of the Bee’s Knees that uses the classic’s template of gin, honey, and lemon, but it adds a bright strawberry syrup for more fruit flavor.

Cocktail Ingredients

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

Gin: This is a spirit made by redistilling a neutral spirit with juniper berries and other botanicals to develop a distinctive, aromatic flavor.

Lemon Juice: This is the liquid extracted from the flesh of ripe lemons that has a sweet, tangy flavor and light yellow color.

Strawberry Syrup: This is a sweetener made with strawberries, white sugar, and water, which are heated and infused into a syrup with a sweet-tart, berry flavor.

Honey Syrup: This is a sweetener made with honey and water, which are heated and infused into a syrup with a sweet flavor.

Rose Water: This is a floral distillate made with rose petals and water, which are steam-distilled to develop a delicate, floral aroma.

Strawberry: This is a type of berry grown on low plants that has bright red skin speckled with yellow seeds and tart, sweet flavor.

Brands I Used

• 🔗 The Botanist Islay Dry Gin
• 🔗 Liber & Co. Pacific Strawberry Syrup
• 🔗 Monin Premium Honey Syrup
• 🔗 Cortas Premium Rose Water

Bartending Tools

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

Bar Mat: This is a rubber or silicone mat that’s placed on the bar surface and used for catching spills, providing grip for glasses and tools, and keeping the workspace clean and organized.

Jigger: This is a small double-sided tool with different volume measurements on each side that’s used for accurately portioning ingredients.

Boston Shaker: This is a two-piece cocktail shaker made with a large metal tin and a second tin or mixing glass that’s used for shaking and chilling cocktail ingredients.

Hawthorne Strainer: This is a flat metal strainer with a handle and a coiled spring around the edge that’s used for straining shaken cocktails from a shaker while holding back ice and solids.

Cutting Board: This is a flat, durable kitchen surface made from materials like wood or plastic that’s used for slicing ingredients and preparing garnishes.

Paring Knife: This is a small kitchen knife with a narrow, sharp blade that’s used for peeling fruit and trimming garnishes.

Electric Citrus Juicer: This is a kitchen appliance with a motorized reamer that’s used for quickly extracting juice from citrus fruits.

Fine Mesh Strainer: This is a mesh metal strainer with a tightly woven bowl and handle that’s used for straining out small ice shards and other solids while pouring cocktails from a shaker or mixing glass.

Measuring Cup: This is a kitchen tool with a handled cup and marked volume measurements that’s used for accurately measuring and pouring liquid ingredients.

Cocktail Pick: This is a small, slender skewer made from metal, wood, or bamboo that’s used for holding cocktail garnishes in place.

Nick & Nora Glass: This is a small, stemmed glass with a round or square delicately curved bowl that’s used for serving stirred, spirit-forward cocktails in smaller portions.

Tools I Used

• 🔗 A Bar Above 18×12 Premium Bar Mat
• 🔗 A Bar Above Stainless Steel Japanese Jigger
• 🔗 A Bar Above Stainless Steel Boston Shaker
• 🔗 A Bar Above Stainless Steel Hawthorne Strainer
• 🔗 OXO Good Grips 2-Piece Cutting Board Set
• 🔗 OXO Good Grips 3.5 Inch Paring Knife
• 🔗 BLACK+DECKER 32 oz Electric Citrus Juicer
• 🔗 Barfly Silver Stainless Steel Fine Mesh Cocktail Strainer
• 🔗 OXO Good Grips 2 Cup Angled Measuring Cup
• 🔗 I-MART Silver Metal Cocktail Pick Set
• 🔗 History Company Original Nick & Nora Glass

Tasting Notes

This cocktail has the following flavor profile:

• Appearance: Pale orange-yellow color

• Aroma: Prominent strawberry

• Taste: Honey-sweetened flavor featuring gin botanicals, fruity strawberry, and citrus

• Finish: More sweet honey and florals

Kendall’s Take: “This was supposed to be what I’d consider a strawberry-flavored Bee’s Knees topped off with sparkling wine, but I decided to skip the bubbly altogether. I’m really glad because this tart sipper is absolutely delicious as is and honestly wouldn’t have been quite as good with the wine masking the other ingredients. If anything, I’d up the strawberry syrup some more because I wanted more of its flavor, but otherwise, the Bee My Valentine is divine.”

Recipe

This cocktail recipe was found in the book Have Yourself a Merry Little Cocktail: 80 Cheerful Tipples to Warm Up Winter by Emma Stokes.