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Bebbo

Citrusy · Classic/vintage · Elevenses/afternoon

4.0 49 ratings

Ingredients

1 2/3 oz Gin
1/2 oz Lemon juice
1/2 oz Orange juice
1/2 oz Honey and water syrup
2 drop Saline solution 4:1

How to make

Serve in a coupe glass

Prepare

  1. 1 Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
  2. 2 Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.

Method

  1. 3 SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  2. 4 FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish

  1. 5 EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Flavour profile

15.9% alc./vol. · 1.2 standard drinks · 156 calories

History

This vintage riff on a Bee's Knees is fresh, clean, and citrusy with rich honeyed notes. Blood orange juice offers a different, not necessarily better, flavour profile. Add two spoons of honey to lemon juice in the shaker base and stir to dissolve before adding other ingredients and shaking, if using honey rather than honey syrup.

The Bebbo cocktail's first known appearance was in Hyman Gale and Gerald F. Marco's 1937 publication, The How and When. The original recipe called for: Bebbo Cocktail 1 pony Lemon Juice 1 spoon Orange Juice 1 spoon Honey 1 jigger Dry Gin Shake well Strain into Cocktail Glass Later mentions of the Bebbo can be found in Victor Bergeron's 1947 Bartender's Guide by Trader Vic, and Stanley M. Jones' 1977 Jones' Complete Barguide. These later versions provide slightly different proportions: BEBBO COCKTAIL 1½ oz. dry gin 1 oz. lemon juice ½ tsp. orange juice 1/2tsp. honey Shake with cracked ice; strain into chilled cocktail glass. BEBBO Cocktail Glass Shake 1-1/2 oz gin 1 oz lemon juice 1/2 oz honey 1/4 oz orange juice This drink, a distant relative of the Bee's Knees, was brought back into the limelight through the efforts of Ted Haigh in his 2004 book, Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails.