Bebbo Cocktail
I love gin cocktails. It doesn’t matter if they’re straight up, on the rocks or full of bubbles. As long as the gin is good, I’m all in. While I prefer gin drinks full of bubbles when the sun is high in the summer sky, every so often a gin cocktail that’s straight up is necessary. They look beautiful in a vintage cocktail glass, and are ideal for dinner parties, a romantic evening and even a nice ladies lunch. The Bebbo is just such a drink.
Similar to the Bee’s Knees, another Prohibition cocktail, this drink is made with gin, a little sweet and a little sour. But where the Knees only uses lemon juice for the sour, the Bebbo adds a little orange juice as well. What makes this drink really special though, is the sweet. Unlike most vintage cocktails which use simple syrup or powdered sugar, this one uses honey. That honey adds a rich and a velvety texture you just can’t find in other drinks old or new. And if you have the right honey (ie something that doesn’t come out of plastic bear) this will absolutely become your drink of choice no matter what time of year.
I know I said I like gin cocktails in the spring and summer, but the orange juice makes this cocktail a year round drink. See, in the spring and summer you can use an orange juice that comes from a carton or even navel oranges from the grocery store. But in the late fall and winter you can use fresh oranges from the farmer’s market. Orange juice from a can or carton is fine, but fresh oranges during citrus season are so much better. Not just because they’re fresh and in season but because of all the choices. During the height of citrus season there are so many varieties. There are Satsumas, Tangelos, Sumos, Valencias… the list goes on and on. But my favorite… the one I wait for, the one I would make this drink with in a heartbeat, is the Blood Orange.
The Blood Orange is sweet and tart and hands down my favorite orange. Not only are they delicious and some of the best oranges out there, the color… the color is something else! Like the name says, it’s blood red, which means any cocktail it’s added to turns a beautiful shade of pink. You may have noticed that the drink in these pictures isn’t pink and that’s because I recently made it. Since blood oranges aren’t in season yet, I went with your basic Valencia. Yes, it’s orange, but it’s got great flavor and it’s a wonderful alternative to the prettier blood orange, especially if you want to make it now and into the fall. In other words, don’t put that gin away just yet. Grab an orange or two, some local honey and shake this drink up!
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 ounces gin
- 1/2 ounce honey syrup
- 1 ounce lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons orange juice
Instructions
- Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Stir until the honey is dissolved. Add ice and shake vigorously until chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe, garnish with a twist of lemon and serve.
