DRINK : WORLD BEE DAY with Martin Millers Gin
I absolutely adore those big fat flying bumble bees. They always seem to use our flat as a short cut through to the gardens at the back. Their bums always seem to fly lower than their heads, as if it’s a mega slog to fly up and over our roof to get to the flowers. ‘Come on through little fella’ I always mutter as I follow them from one room to the next and make sure the window is open to let them out. Then down they swoop into green garden and get lost in the scent and the flowers.
WORLD BEE BAY with Martin Millers Gin
Friday 20th May is World Bee Day! And its a day to celebrate the bee - bumble or honey! This day is all about acknowledging the role bees play in our ecosystem especially the humble honey bee!
Last week, I headed to Kyloe in Edinburgh for a very special event with Martin Millers Gin and the Edinburgh Honey Co. Martin Milliers Gin have joined forces with Bermondsey Street Bees in London, Edinburgh Honey Co in Edinburgh and Manchester & District Beekeepers in Manchester to serve the Ultimate Bees Knees Cocktail at bars in these cities.
Martin Millers Gin will donate thyme seeds (bees love thyme) for each drink sold aiming to support bee conservation in each city by planting over 7000 thyme plants. So when you head into a bar this weekend, in one of these cities, be sure to ask for a Bees Knees.
Did you know: Bees must gather nectar from two million flowers to make one pound of honey
Martin Miller Gin, is an English gin and a very highly coveted gin at that. Since its launch, Martin Miller’s Gin has consistently won awards for excellence in the world’s leading spirit competitions and institutions. Specifically in the last 15 years, the brand has received more gold and platinum medals than any other gin in the world, including in the four most highly respected spirits competitions.
They currently have five gins in their range :
Martin Miller’s Original Gin. A modern classic dry gin based on the best traditions of English distillers but with our their twist to obtain the perfectly balanced gin. A gin that ‘tasted of gin’ in the words of Martin Miller. The taste is smooth and citrus. An excellent balance where juniper is still dominant but a citrus freshness is also allowed to shine through. A gin that ‘tastes of gin’.
Martin Miller’s Westbourne Gin. A gin for those in the know, its name derives from the location of Martin Miller’s own residence in Westbourne Grove in London, where the brand was conceived. The taste is Intense and citrus. An emphasis on the spicier, peppery notes of cassia and nutmeg. Harnessed to an exact higher craft strength for a smooth and attractive alcohol sensation.
Martin Miller’s 9 Moons Gin is a high strength gin, cask-aged for 9 months in Iceland. A Solera Vat process gives excellent consistency while maintaining the complex and distinctive taste. The taste Elegant and oaky. The juniper flavour is matched with a perfect balance of vanilla and citrus aromas. Creamy in the mouth with toasted oak in the finish. Superb over ice.
Martin Miller’s Summerful Gin adds an extra distillation of seasonal Rosemary from England and Arctic Thyme from Iceland to the Martin Miller’s Original Gin flagship variant. The taste Arctic thyme adds floral flavours to the lemon and balsamic aromas found in Rosemary which together balance with our citrus and juniper classic profile.
Inspired by ingredients commonly used in home-made mulled wine recipes in England and Iceland, Martin Miller’s Winterful Gin includes cinnamon and mandarin orange peel, added during a third distillation, to the Original blend. The taste Intense and citrus. The mandarin and juniper are present in the nose. In the mouth the cinnamon is dominant before the mandarin reappears in the long finish.
Did you know : The average bee will make only 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.
The Edinburgh Honey Co are based on Easter Road, Edinburgh run by Andy and Marta who have been beekeepers in Edinburgh since 2017. Beekeeping is a family tradition inherited from their grandfather in Poland. They have four apiaries around Scotland - Colstoun House, East Lothian; Centre for Stewardship, Falkland, Fife; Gleneagles Hotel and North Berwick. Their Scottish bees produce heather, blossom and rapeseed honey. They also supply Polish honey which cannot be cultivated here in Scotland.
We tried their Scottish heather honey not only in the food but also in the amazing cocktails produced by Jon from Hedonist Drinks. The Scottish heather honey really is special. Scottish Heather Honey has an unusual texture, due to its thixotropic characteristic, it is a jelly until stirred then it becomes a syrup like other honey, but returns to jelly once left alone again.
Thixotropic means that they are gel-like (extremely viscous) when standing still, but they can turn liquid when agitated or stirred. The viscosity of heather honey is so high that it makes the extraction of the honey from the comb very difficult. The honey needs to be extracted with pressure instead of centrifugation, which in turn unfortunately destroys the combs.
Did you know : A honey bee visits 50 to 100 flowers during a collection trip.
Kyloe whipped up an incredible menu using Edinburgh Honey Co’s Scottish honey as an essential ingredient.
Dinner was magnificent.
STARTER : Eassie Farm Asparagus and goats cheese tarte fine with pickled mushrooms, blossom honeycombe and a sherry vinegar reduction.
MAIN : Orange honey glazed duck breast with confit leg and potato presse, hispi cabbage, broad beans and Cointreau jus.
DESSERT : Iced blossom honey parfait with strawberries, bee pollen, toasted oats and strawberry sorbet.
Did you know : One bee has to fly about 50,000 miles – three times around the globe – to make one pound of honey.
Our four cocktails using Martin Miller Gins where created by Jon from Hedonist Drinks themed around the honey bee.
BEE’S KNEES COCKTAIL
50ml Martin Millers Summerful Gin
25ml Fresh Lemon Juice
20ml Honey
Stir without ice to loosen the honey and then shake with ice. Serve straight up in a cocktail glass with a sprig of thyme.
ARISTOTLE
50ml Martin Millers Summerful Gin
40ml Strawberry & Watermelon Oxymel
5ml Fresh Lemon
Garnish with a bees favourite herb (Thyme, mint, rosemary, or basil)
SYLVIA
40ml Martin Millers Westbourne Gin
10ml Peppermint Liqueur
25ml Linden Honey (Edinburgh Honey Co)
50ml London Essence Grapefruit Soda
Garnish with fresh mint
Martin Miller’s 9 MOONS GIN
25ml 9 moons
On the rocks
Did you know : Bees communicate by dancing
Here are a few things you can do immediately to help honey bees - besides buying several Bees Knees cocktails.
If you have a garden, no matter the size, mow less and love weeds.
Bees see blue - so blue, violet, purple and white flowers are especially attractive to them - so plant them!
Honeybees only visit one type of flower per trip! So plant large areas of the same flower species thus making the bees journey more effective.
Leave out some water! Bees don’t store water in their hives, they forage as needed.
These fantastic tips are taken from a wonderful wee book called ‘Planting for Bees’ written by Sarah Wyndham Lewis and is available to purchase here.
We all need to get behind saving the bees and there are so many ways in which to do it. If we all done something small, it can add up to make a big difference.
My windows are open - fly on through little fella!