The Spring Honey Bee is you new must make cocktail for Spring. A honey sweetened, floral, and pretty cocktail perfect for the sunny days ahead. Made with a honey simple syrup, fresh lemon juice, elderflower liquor, an egg white (for that foamy top), club soda (for a lil fizz), and my fav Empress 1908 gin.
Jump to Recipe
A pretty spring cocktail
Finally, Spring-like weather has arrived. So, it’s time for a refreshing, delicious cocktail you can enjoy outside!
This Spring Honey Bee will do the trick. It’s bright, perfectly sweet, and floral. It also has the prettiest purple hue, which is fitting for Spring.

Ingredients in the Spring Honey Bee
This is what you’ll need to make this cocktail:
- Empress 1908 Gin, This cocktail gets it’s show stopping purple hue from Empress 1908 gin, a 100% authentic and all natural gin, which is distilled with eight different botanicals, including vibrantly tinted butterfly pea blossoms. It’s a must for this cocktail!
- honey simple syrup, it’s sweet and floral, so pairs perfectly with the elderflower liquor and fitting for Spring.
- elderflower liquor, I’m obsessed with this liquor. It has a delicate scent with a floral sweetness. It pairs beautifully with the honey and lemon to create a balanced, refreshing cocktail.
- lemon juice, adds a pop of tangy goodness to round out the other sweet flavors. Also, citrus and gin pair wonderfully together.
- egg white, for that nice foamy top.
- club soda, for a little sparkle!

How to make this cocktail
- Make honey simple syrup; so simple to make! Combine 1/2 cup hot water and 1/2 cup runny honey to a jar (if your honey has crystalized a bit, just microwave it for 30 seconds). Top with lid and shake vigorously. You could use it right away but I think it’s best if you chill it first. So, it’s good to do this step the day before or a few hours before so it’s ready to use when you want to shake up your cocktail!
- Add main ingredients to shaker; add everything but the club soda (it’s just for topping; if you add it to the shaker, it will fizz everywhere!)
- Dry shake; I used to think this step was silly, but it actually does make a difference. A dry shake is just shaking the ingredients without ice first. It’s a necessary step when using an egg white. Egg whites are added to cocktails to make them foamy. Cocktail recipes involving egg whites start with a dry shake because dry-shaking ensures that the egg white incorporates with the other ingredients and provides that nice frothy texture.
- Add ice; next, add the ice and shake again. This step chills the cocktail.
- Pour into glass; I use a highball glass with one big ice cube. It makes me feel fancy and there’s less dilution.
- Top with soda water; just a touch is perfect. It adds just a little fizz to round out the cocktail.
- Enjoy!

Why You’ll Love the Spring Honey Bee
- It’s super pretty. That beautiful purple hue (Thank you Empress 1908), foamy top, and sweet little honey bee – it’s almost too pretty too drink. Almost…
- so tasty and refreshing. This cocktail is balanced and bright, with just a little fizz some pop. So good, it’s hard to have just one.
- refined-sugar free. Some cocktails are chalked full of simple syrups and cane sugar. This cocktail is made with a homemade honey simple syrup (which is incredibly easy to make, no stove top required), and uses just the right amount, so it’s sweet enough without overpowering the other flavors.
- easy to make; this cocktail may look fancy, but it’s simple to whip up! The honey simple syrup comes together in minutes. For the cocktail, you just need a shaker and ice. Done and yum!

More about Empress 1908 Gin
Empress 1908 Gin is a hand-crafted spirit from Victoria Distillers in British Columbia, Canada. It was inspired by the renowned tea and cocktail programs of the iconic Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria.
More, on it’s flavor and noticeable hue. Empress 1908 Gin is micro-distilled in small batch copper-pot stills using eight botanicals: juniper, rose, coriander seed, grapefruit peel, ginger root, cinnamon bark, butterfly pea blossoms and the Fairmont Empress Blend Tea. The result is a delicious, floral gin that pairs perfectly with flavors like grapefruit and elderflower. It’s also all-natural and gluten-free!
The butterfly pea blossom imparts subtle earthy notes and an all-natural indigo hue with a stunning secret to reveal: with the addition of citrus or tonic, Empress 1908 transforms from vivid indigo blue to a delicate soft pink. Together with the grapefruit juice, it creates this stunning pink and lavender ombre effect, which makes this cocktail look pretty and impressive.

Other pretty gin cocktail

Enjoy!
This Spring honey bee is perfectly sweet and refreshing with a little sting from the lemon. The perfect bright and pretty cocktail for Spring!
If you make this pretty cocktail, please leave a comment below. I absolutely love to hear from you guys and your thoughts on my recipes. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram or pin it on pinterest, cuz sharing is caring!


Spring Honey Bee
Ingredients
Honey simple syrup
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 1/2 cup runny honey
The Cocktail
- 2 oz Empress 1908 Gin
- 3/4 ounce honey simple syrup
- 3/4 ounce elderflower liquor
- 1 egg white
- 1 1/2 ounces lemon juice
- Club soda for topping
Instructions
-
For the honey simple syrup, in a jar with lid, combine hot water and honey and shake vigorously. Place in fridge to chill.
-
For the cocktail, combine the gin, chilled honey simple syrup, elderflower liquor, egg white, and lemon juice and top with lid and shake vinously. Add ice and again shake until cocktail is chilled.
-
Strain cocktail into a highball glass with large ice cube. Top with club soda. Garnish with lemon (and candy bee, if desired).
-
Enjoy!