The Business
Gin, honey syrup, and fresh lime — Sasha Petraske's Milk & Honey riff on the Bee's Knees, made snappier with lime in place of lemon.
- 2 ozgin
- ¾ ozfresh lime juice(freshly squeezed)
- ¾ ozhoney syrup(1:1 honey to water)
- lime wheelgarnish
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The Business is a modern classic created by the influential bartender Sasha Petraske at his Manhattan speakeasy Milk & Honey, which opened on the Lower East Side in 1999 and helped launch the craft-cocktail revival. The drink is a deliberately minimal riff on the Prohibition-era Bee's Knees — gin, honey, and citrus — with one change that gives it its snap: lime juice in place of the Bee's Knees' lemon. The result is a tight, three-ingredient gin sour in which honey syrup rounds the gin's botanicals while fresh lime keeps the drink bright and dry. The recipe was published in Georgette Moger-Petraske's 2016 book Regarding Cocktails, the posthumous collection of Petraske's work, cementing The Business as a staple of the modern cocktail canon. Its appeal lies in its restraint: like much of Petraske's Milk & Honey ethos, it strips a drink to three well-measured components and lets balance rather than complexity carry it.
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