This drink is both a relic of its original period (the years just before Prohibition) as well as of the cocktail revival of the aughts. It became an emblem of a certain kind of “golden-age” cocktail and people are still intrigued by its name and esoteric ingredients. It’s a little bit too floral for my palate these days, but it’s a great drink to have up your sleeve for friends who enjoy flowery gin drinks.

When I was developing this drink for a potential slot on Gigantic’s 2020 spring menu (sadly reopening was postponed until 2021), I kept thinking of the nursery rhyme “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary,” because it’s all about spring flowers and honeybees. And because I’m about 500 years old. Anyway, this song is probably about Mary Tudor, but it may also be about Mary Stuart, commonly known as the Queen of Scots, who was eventually beheaded by her cousin Elizabeth I.