A Gin Daisy drinks like an effervescent sour, the gin sharpened by lemon and softened by a touch of red grenadine, shaken hard, poured over crushed ice and lifted with a splash of soda. Bright, faintly fruity and endlessly refreshing, it wears a pale blush from the grenadine and picks up an orange edge when a little triple sec goes in, while the soda keeps every sip light and lively.
Garnish: Lemon Wheel
Shaken · Rocks · Crushed
add
Combine gin, lemon juice, grenadine, and triple sec (if using) in a shaker with ice.
shake
Shake well until chilled.
strain
Strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice.
top
Top with a splash of soda water — the Daisy's defining effervescent finish.
garnish
Garnish with a lemon wheel (an orange peel or mint sprig also works).
No one is credited with inventing the Daisy, which emerged as a whole category of drinks rather than a single creation, and its earliest printed recipes turn up in Jerry Thomas's 1876 Bar-Tender's Guide, where the gin version sat beside brandy, whiskey and Santa Cruz rum versions. Thomas made his with Holland gin, lemon, orgeat or gum syrup and maraschino, strained it into a large cocktail glass and topped it with Seltzer or Apollinaris water. The sweetener shifted over the following decades, and by the early twentieth century grenadine had become the customary choice. That pattern of spirit, citrus, sweetener and fizz went on to shape both the Sidecar and the Margarita.