If you’ve spent any time in Manitoba, you already know.
Honey dill isn’t just a sauce. It’s a thing.
You’ll find it on chicken finger plates in small-town cafés, rink concessions and places where the booths are cracked and the ketchup bottles are sticky. It’s sweet. It’s tangy. And if it’s done properly, there’s a lot of dill. It’s got a bite to it. A little zip. And for reasons no one can fully explain, it stuck around.
So when someone suggested turning it into a cocktail, I didn’t laugh. I said yes.
Because around these parts, we believe in the kinds of ideas that feel like home. Even when they sound a little strange at first. Especially when they do.
Let’s get one thing clear.
We didn’t pour honey dill sauce into a shaker.
We’re not monsters.
This started with a simple idea. What would it taste like if you took the feeling of honey dill and turned it into a drink?
We began with a good gin. Nothing fancy. Just something that plays well with herbs and citrus. From there, we made a honey syrup using Youngest Son Beekeeping’s Spun Honey. It’s a beautiful product harvested in the Austin and McGregor region of Manitoba and can be found in our West End Winnipeg shoppe.
We added fresh lemon juice to bring the tang. Thin slices of cucumber to keep it cool. And dill. SO MUCH DILL.
No muddling. No overthinking. Just everything into a shaker with ice, a hard shake and a quick double strain to catch the bits. What you end up with is something light, fresh and just a little unexpected. But in a good way.
The Recipe: Honey Dill Cocktail
2 oz gin (we're partial to Manitoba's own Patent 5)
¾ oz fresh lemon juice
¾ oz honey syrup (made with 1 part Youngest Son Beekeeping's spun honey to 1 part water, gently heated and cooled)
2 to 3 slices fresh cucumber
A few small sprigs fresh dill
Add everything to a shaker with ice. Shake hard.
Double strain into a coupe glass.
Garnish with a fresh dill sprig.
It’s bright. It’s herbaceous. It’s lightly sweet with a clean finish. It doesn’t taste like the sauce. But somehow, it still feels like it.
For the Manitoba-Hearted and the Sauce-Curious
This drink isn’t a gimmick. It’s a nod.
To the chicken fingers we grew up with.
To the sauce that showed up at every rink, every diner and every late-night takeout run.
To the moment you realized most people outside this province have never even heard of honey dill.
And to the pride that comes from being from somewhere that would come up with something this weird and this good.
So would you drink a honey dill cocktail?
I did. And I will again.
Alongside summer pantry favourites, cocktail tools and other small joys, you’ll find everything you need to make this drink your own.
Visit us in Winnipeg’s West End or browse the full collection online at farmerssonco.com
If you give the recipe a try, tag us, share it or send it to a friend who still asks for extra sauce with their chicken fingers.
Here’s to good ideas.
Here’s to making something weird and making it wonderful.
Here’s to Manitoba flavour.
Cheers,
Dan
