Barenjaeger Honey Liquor

Bärenjäger today is a 70-proof honey-based spiritous liquor, loosely inspired by a traditional honey liqueur made in the fifteenth century in Eastern Prussia. Bärenfang was the traditional name ("bear trap" in German) but the most common version in the United States is that distilled by Teucke & Koenig, a German company in Steinhagen, Germany. Bärenjäger ("bear hunter" in German) was so successful in the U.S. that the bottle design, a glass bee hive, was trademarked and other, similar liqueurs appeared. There's Wild Turkey American Honey Liquor, based on bourbon. Evan Williams has a honey based bourbon too; Evan Williams Honey Reserve. Krupnik, or Krupnikas as it is known in Lithuanian, is a similar honey flavored spirit made with distilled grain based alcohol and honey and popular in Poland and Lithuania. It was, according to legend, created by a Benedictine monk as a tonic.

My experience with Bärenjäger began when a friend bought me a bottle to try in hot lemon and ginger tea as a way of controlling a cough that was making sleep impossible. The tea and Bärenjäger helped enormously. The liquor is honey-colored, and has a distinct honey odor, with a hint of orange blossom, much like orange infused mead. It is very sweet and it worked wonderfully well in terms of flavor with the ginger and lemon tea, because both the honey sweetness and the hint of orange carry over to the taste. It's also lovely straight, and even better over ice. I can also recommend it as a companion for fresh strawberries; marinate halved strawberries in a tablespoon or so of Bärenjäger for a few minutes before serving, gently stirring them once or twice to mingle the liqueur and the juice.

There are a lot of mixed drink recipes online based on Bärenjäger, but honestly, they're so vile (most seem based on the assumption that a mixed drink is made by mixing as many high proof spirits as possible) that I'm not going to link to any. Instead, I'm going to talk about making your own vodka-based honey liquor. There are a number of traditional recipes for making Bärenfang at home using vodka as a base (this is still the way most commercial versions are made). The things that the recipes have in common are, first, about two thirds of a pound to a pound of quality honey. How do you know it's quality honey? You taste it first. You want honey that is flavorful, beyond being simply sweet, and you want it to be on the runny side. Try honeys based on fruit flowers, like orange or blueberry, or apple, or even tupelo. Second, you want quality vodka. I'd stick to unflavored or possibly, a high quality vanilla vodka, or add a vanilla bean to your own liquor. Then pick the base recipe that most appeals to you. There's one at Drink Focus, and two alternatives here. I suggest substituting vodka for grain alcohol, unless you're very sure about what you're doing.