Bees Knees cocktails are trending. Here’s where you can get one in Charlotte.
Trend seekers, listen up. The Bees Knees are where it’s at right now in the beverage world.
The New York Times recently shared: “The Bee’s Knees cocktail — a simple sour composed of gin, lemon juice and honey that is one of the few enduring drinks to come out of the Prohibition era — is having a busy time of it.” (Writer Robert Simonson would know — he’s written five books on cocktail culture.)
Charlotte hasn’t quite caught up to New York just yet, but you will find the Bees Knees on a few cocktail menus around town.
Here’s where you can find the classic drink:
Bar One Lounge
Location: Phillips Place, 6815 Phillips Place Court, Charlotte, NC 28210
Cocktail description: Bombay Gin, honey syrup, lemon juice.
“Little is known about this cocktail but the name has Prohibition era written all over it. Not only was a it a popular saying in the 20s but the honey was actually used to mask the smell of the infamous ‘bathtub gin’ which made police work very challenging,” Bar One’s cocktail menu says.
Price: $15
The Crunkleton
Location: 1957 E 7th St, Charlotte, NC 28204
Cocktail description: Bee’s Knees by Ms Margaret Brown: Tanqueray London Dry Gin, local wildflower honey, fresh lemon.
“A simple drink created by a complex woman in the early 20th Century, Ms Margaret Brown was married to a millionaire miner from Denver but made the drink popular while partying in the womens-only bars of Paris. She was also known as the “Unsinkable Molly Brown” after dramatically surviving the sinking of the Titanic,” The Crunkleton cocktail menu says.
Price: $15
Duckworth’s Grill & Taphouse
Location: 14015 Conlan Circle, Suite C1, Charlotte, NC 28277
Location: 16609 Statesville Road, Huntersville, NC 28078
Location: 560 River Highway, Mooresville, NC 28117
Location: 9805-D Sandy Rock Place, Charlotte, NC 28277
Location: 330 N. Tryon St., Charlotte, NC 28202
Cocktail description: Elderflower Bees: “Fresh lemon and honey illustrate the balance of Uncle Val’s Contemporary Gin. Its light lavender presence is blessed with the citrus and floral tones of St. Germaine Elderflower liqueur. A timeless year-long classic that will be enjoyed morning, afternoon or evening,” Duckworth’s cocktail menu says.
Price: $12
Pro tip: While it’s not on the menu per se, you can also get the drink at The Cellar at Duckworth’s, as well as any of the three Link & Pin locations.
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Fern, Flavors From the Garden
Location: 1419 East Blvd a, Charlotte, NC 28203
Cocktail description: Bees Knees Old Fashioned: bourbon, lemon juice, agave, bitters.
Vegan restaurant Fern, Flavors From the Garden makes a Bees Knees meets Old Fashioned, swapping the gin for bourbon.
Price: $14
This story was originally published February 21, 2023 at 6:15 AM.
