What's new here: A modern take on a forgotten classic, using a honey-lime gin liqueur and blood orange liqueur to deepen the original's simple honey, lemon and orange.
Method
- Shake all the ingredients with ice.
- Strain into a chilled coupe.
- Garnish with a lemon wedge and a small spoon of quality honey.
You can substitute blood orange juice for the regular orange juice — IMO it isn’t better, just different.
History
The Bebbo likely owes its existence to the famous Bee’s Knees. It first appears in Hyman Gale and Gerald F. Marco’s 1937 The How and When:
Bebbo Cocktail — 1 pony lemon juice, 1 spoon orange juice, 1 spoon honey, 1 jigger dry gin. Shake well; strain into cocktail glass.
It shows up again in Stanley M. Jones’ 1977 Jones’ Complete Barguide (1 1/2 oz gin, 1 oz lemon juice, 1/2 oz honey, 1/4 oz orange juice), and was revived thanks to Ted Haigh’s 2004 book Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails.
Make it ours (ideas, not yet tested)
- Brown-butter gin. Fat-wash the gin with brown butter for a honey-on-toast note.
- Infused honey. Steep lavender, chamomile or black tea into the honey syrup.
- Charred orange. Char the orange before juicing for a smoky edge.
Enjoy!