New Cocktail Kit Alert: This Raspberry Gin Liqueur Is Made with Honey

My partner is the resident cocktail maker in our home. He knows his bitters, foams and liquors, and every drink he makes comes out looking like something you could find at the hottest bar in town. Me? I crack a mean beer and sometimes add a lime.

But when I learned about a local cocktail box that is both easy to follow and sustainable, I was game to try it. The Bar Cart’s new kits use Wayward Distillery’s raspberry gin liqueur, which is made with B.C. honey. The Distillery is actually the first in Canada to ferment and distill honey into spirits, and they even have demonstration honeybee hives onsite in Courtenay, if you ever want to visit. But back to the booze.

Credit: The Bar Cart

In honour of Pollinator Week (June 20-26), Wayward partnered with The Bar Cart to launch a limited edition cocktail kit with the proceeds going to Pollinator Partnership Canada. The kit makes four servings of two different cocktails: Float Like a Butterfly and Sting Like a Bee. I took this opportunity to try to impress my cocktail connoisseur partner, and even though I’m no professional, they tasted really delicious.

Credit: The Bar Cart

All of the ingredients come in a cardboard boxwith instructional cards that dictate how to make the drinks. The Float Like a Butterfly is inspired by the classic Clover Club, and is made with agave syrup, lemon juice, vegan foamer and of course, raspberry gin. The garnish is a pretty blue butterfly pea flower rim. Er, it’s supposed to be pretty—as you can see based on my picture, I struggled with the rim. But, the vegan foamer (by local company Mrs. Better’s Bitters) foamed right up in a move on par with egg whites, and the raspberry gin imparted a gorgeous pink colour. The drink itself is balanced, not too sweet and makes for easy sipping. 

Shaker not included in kit, my partner already had one that I used in an attempt to mix up drinks like Tom Cruise in Cocktail.

My version of the Float Like a Butterfly cocktail. I cannot hide my shame. Clearly the rim didn’t come out as pretty as the one below.

The professional version of the Float Like a Butterfly. Yours will probably look something like this. (Credit: The Bar Cart)

The Sting Like a Bee cocktail also features Wayward’s raspberry gin liqueur and adds lime, grapefruit bitters, honey and orange blossom syrup and a dried lime wheel garnish. This brightly flavoured drink reminded me a bit of a Cosmo, but finishes round thanks to the honey and orange blossom syrup. As you can see based on the picture, I am now a professional bartender. This drink came out looking just as pretty as it tasted.

My moment of glory! I even crushed ice to make it seem fancier!

credit: The Bar Cart

The raspberry gin liqueur is definitely inspiring—I may need to practice my cocktail skills more often. Save the bees! 

Float Like a Butterfly and Sting Like a Bee Cocktail Kit
Cost: $85
Where to buy: Available online at The Bar Cart
More Info: Wayward Distillery