How Bees Help Make The Best Cocktails

Humans have been harvesting and using honey throughout recorded history. Early depictions of this relationship with bees have been found in cave paintings and hieroglyphics dating back nearly 10,000 years. In fact, 9,000-year-old pottery vessels that may have been used for early beekeeping have been discovered in North Africa.

We have uncovered early references of honey’s use in everything from food to medicine to fermented beverages such as mead. Mead is widely thought to be one of the oldest alcoholic beverages, dating to the 7th millennium BCE in China.

While honey has played an integral role in humans’ lives for millennia, the bees themselves, and other animal pollinators, likely play an even more critical role than previously realized. Bees are a part of the larger ecosystem of pollinators that provide an essential survival function for our world. Without pollinators, it’s likely that none of the earth’s terrestrial systems or even the human race would survive.

Bees travel between flowering plants to collect nectar and pollen to bring back to their hives. They can carry a payload that nearly matches their own weight. “Nectar is delivered to one of the indoor bees and is then passed mouth-to-mouth from bee to bee until its moisture content is reduced from about 70% to 20%,” says the Australian Honey Bee Council. “This changes the nectar into honey. The honey is then placed in storage cells and capped with beeswax.”

The movement of bees and other pollinators throughout this process helps flowering plants reproduce and flourish, leading to higher crop yields. They also help develop biodiversity and seed propagation and even help prevent erosion by assisting plants’ growth. According to the USDA, “Of the 1,400 crop plants grown in the world (i.e. those that produce all of our food and plant-based products), almost 80% require pollination by animals.” The US Forest Service estimates that “pollination of agricultural crops is valued at 10 billion dollars annually in the US alone. Globally, pollination services are likely worth more than 3 trillion dollars.”

Inspired by these hardworking bees and the beautiful agricultural region of northeastern Vermont, beekeeper Todd Hardie and distiller Ryan Christiansen founded Barr Hill in 2011. Their name was inspired by the Barr Hill Nature Preserve, just a few miles away from the distillery. Using a small, 15-gallon, direct-fire copper still to start, Barr Hill Gin quickly became award-winning, and the two knew “they were on to something.”

It wouldn’t have happened without those curious pollinators, the bees. What sets Barr Hill’s unique spirits apart is the raw northern honey used to produce every bottle. The honey acts to balance the spirits and provides a rich mouthfeel, unlike any other spirit. Ryan says, “it is not hard to make delicious spirits when you start with the best raw ingredients.”

Barr Hill purchases more than 150,000 pounds of honey per year to make its spirits. The honey is always kept raw, never heated above 90 degrees (the hive’s temperature), to preserve the floral depth of their honey. “Although we don’t always know all of the flowers that the bees visit, we know their honey tastes incredible,” continues Christiansen, “This provides a botanical depth and complexity to Barr Hill’s spirits that are unmatched.”

In 2019, Barr Hill opened their new distillery at 116 Gin Lane in Montpelier, Vermont. Their new homeplace in Vermont’s capital is solar-powered and boasts a world-class cocktail bar with a focus on using the abundant agricultural treasures of the region. “What makes Barr Hill work,” Christiansen says, “is a team of people aligned to a purpose — to reconnect cocktail culture to agriculture.”

Domesticated honeybee populations, which contribute pollination of crops, have been on a steady decline. According to an annual nationwide survey conducted by the nonprofit Bee Informed Partnership, or BIP, beekeepers across the United States lost 45.5% of their managed honey bee colonies from April 2020 to April 2021 - the second-highest loss rate since the survey began in 2006.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service lists various factors contributing to this decline, including colony infestations of parasitic mites, poisonings from heavy pesticide applications, and Colony Collapse Disorder. The EPA describes the latter as “the phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a colony disappear and leave behind a queen, plenty of food and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees and the queen.” Further, climate change and loss of natural habitat also impact pollinators and the plants they pollinate, as well as the timing of flowering and migration patterns, all of which likely contribute to the decline.

Each September, fans of Barr Hill throughout the country celebrate “Bee’s Knees Week.” This is not only a celebration of a favorite Prohibition-era cocktail; it also offers a focused initiative for us to save the bees.

This year, for each Bee’s Knees Cocktail that you share from your personal Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok account (using #beeskneesweek and tagging @barrhillgin), Barr Hill will plant 10 square feet of bee habitat. They have set a goal to plant 500,000 sq. ft. of habitat as a result of Bee’s Knees Week 2021! This effort will allow this keystone species even more space to thrive among pollinator-friendly plants in an area safe from development. Learn more at beeskneesweek.com.

Did you know that “Bee’s Knees” is Prohibition-era slang meaning “The Best?” Join us for Bee’s Knees week with this cocktail that is close to our hearts:

BARR HILL BEE'S KNEES This classic cocktail utilizes the freshest ingredients and is complemented by the botanicals in Barr Hill Gin.

1. 2 oz. Barr Hill Gin

2. ¾ oz. Fresh Lemon Juice

3. ¾ oz. Raw Honey Syrup (2 parts honey to 1 part hot water, let cool.)

4. 1 Lemon Twist (Garnish)

Tools of the Trade

1. Jigger

2. Cocktail Shaker

3. Strainer

4. Peeler

5. Coupe Glass

Recipe

• Combine all ingredients in a mixing tin, add ice, shake and then double strain into a chilled coupe glass.

• Add the lemon twist for garnish.

You can also discover two others that use Barr Hill’s spirits in the Cocktail Lounge:

1. The Barr Hill Tom Cat Martinez

2. The Barr Hill Vesper