Classic Cocktails: The Daisy

The daisy cocktail, up until a week or two ago I had never heard of “the daisy”. Have you? It turns out it is a family, or style, of cocktail that came about in the mid to late 1800’s. As much as the latest trends are important, the origins are equally if not more so.

Just as the show “young Sheldon” is a spin off of “The Big Bang Theory”, the daisy is a spin off of the sour. A sour, in its’ simplest form is broken down to two parts base spirit, one part sugar, and one part sour. No egg, no garnish, just a basic sour. The daisy, as I best understand it, substitutes the sugar for a cordial or liqueur and is often but not always lengthened with an unsweetened, carbonated, non-alcoholic beverage such as club soda.

Early in its life the daisy was mixed with orange liqueur as its sweetener and the most popular base spirit was brandy. As the popularity of any drink grows there are always bars and bartenders trying to invent the next best thing. Along came grenadine. By the time prohibition hit the scene both versions were widely available and known in most bars.

As most things in life, the daisy came to glory, picked up steam and then gently slipped away as the decades past and other cocktails and base spirits took centre stage. The original spirit may have been brandy but one thing is for sure, over time they began mixing whatever they had for the base. Rum daisies, whisky daisies, gin daisies and vodka daisies all had their place; and have had several spin offs of their own by now.

Knowing your history only aids in your understanding of the development of events. While typically you will find recipes with us, this week we broadened our horizons as we hope we have broadened yours. A memorable cocktail has never been built on the backs of blending whatever you had on hand and hoping for the best, rather it was crafted with a careful understanding of cocktail science, what has worked before and the knowledge of ones sense of taste. To whatever you are drinking this weekend, enjoy it, there is probably a lot more thought that went along with that drink in your hand than you could have ever imagined.

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