Daisies: The cocktail category you never knew you loved

Ask someone their favourite type of martini, sour or highball and you might get a quick answer. But ask their favourite daisy, and you’ll more likely get a blank stare.

Despite the unfamiliar name, the daisy category contains some of the most popular cocktails out there. The Sidecar. The Cosmopolitan. The Last Word, White Lady and Between the Sheets. And of course, the ultra-trendy Margarita – which, by the way, means ‘daisy’ in Spanish.

What is a daisy?

But what actually is a daisy cocktail? Simply put, it’s a sour – which is classified as containing a base spirit, citrus and sugar syrup – where part or all of the sweetness comes from the addition of a liqueur.

For example, take that classic Margarita: an easy trio of tequila, lime and orange liqueur.

The earliest written recipe for a daisy stretches back to the 1876 book by Jerry Thomas: Bar-Tender’s Guide. Early versions featured gin, whiskey and brandy with orange liqueur or cordial, plus a dash of soda water.

Today, the soda water has left the equation and not all daisies include orange liqueur. Though many do.

For example, the Sidecar, one of the earliest daisies – said to have been created by an American army captain in Paris during WWI – pairs it with Cognac and lemon juice.

How do daisies taste?

If simple sours are all about bright acidity, citrus freshness and a star base spirit, daisies are their slightly more complex cousins.

‘A classic sour is more refreshing because there are no other ingredients to cloud the citrus,’ says Dan Ghazal, head of drinks development at The Umbrella Project, which includes London bar Discount Suit Company.

‘It’s simple and tart, and thirst-quenching. But adding liqueur changes it.’

While all cocktails should be more than the sum of their parts, that’s even more so the case for daisies.

The liqueur is not only adding sweetness, but also abv, tannin and, of course, distinct flavour that interacts with the base spirit and citrus.

When done right, elements come together in beautiful harmony, and the drink changes and evolves in the glass.

Finding perfect balance

Such complexity makes daisies a joy to drink but it can also mean that they’re trickier to make.

The particularities of individual brands and bottles become crucial as the drink becomes about finding the perfect marriage between multiple different components. Substitutions are less easily made.

For example, a Margarita recipe that tastes perfectly balanced with one tequila and triple sec might just as easily feel incredibly out of whack if you change up just one element.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for experimentation. You just need a handle on how to go about it.

Three is the magic number

‘One of the things I love about daisies is their simplicity; many of them include just three ingredients,’ says Oisin Kelly, bar manager at the appropriately named The Sidecar bar in The Westbury Hotel, Dublin.

He notes that while there are many other more complex variations to try, three-ingredient daisies are a great place to start when you’re getting to grips with the category.

Again, think Margarita or Sidecar.

Ghazal agrees: ‘When you’re only using three ingredients it’s easy to get creative. You can swap an elderflower or peach liqueur for orange, say, and see what happens.’

How to make daisies at home

Whenever you make a daisy recipe for the first time – or any time you’re experimenting with new brands or bottles – Ghazal also recommends that you stick to a tried-and-tested 2:1:1 ratio.

Once you see where the flavour profile lands for your palate, you can then think about how to tweak it.

‘Start with two parts spirit, one citrus and one liqueur. Taste it and then you can adjust. Maybe, in the case of a Sidecar, it needs a bit more sweetness, so you move up the liqueur amount by 5ml. Or maybe that Margarita needs more acidity, so you up the lime.’

Getting to know your individual ingredients is crucial. ‘I always encourage team members to really try the liqueurs and let them sit on the palate,’ says Kelly.

‘Feel the level of sweetness hitting the sides of your cheek, so you can understand what you’re actually mixing. Same with spirits; taste everything.’

While some cocktails are easier to tinker with on the fly, daisies can benefit from a bit of pre-planning too.

‘We have more than 120 recipes off our menu and through trial and error we know they work,’ notes Kelly. ‘So if you’re having friends over, make the drink well in advance. Ensure the balance is just right before trying to replicate it.’

Four daisy cocktails to try

Cosmopolitan

Recipe from Death & Co, New York

The team at Death & Co bar use Cointreau orange liqueur for its relative dryness and neutral spirit base.

Ingredients: 60ml citrus vodka, 22.5ml orange liqueur, 15ml unsweetened cranberry juice, 15ml simple syrup

Glass: Coupe

Garnish: Lime wheel

Method: Shake the ingredients with ice before double-straining into a chilled glass.

White Lady

Recipe from Harry’s New York Bar, Paris – 1929 version

Oisin Kelly suggests using Plymouth Gin in a White Lady for its softer profile and restrained juniper notes.

Ingredients: 60ml gin, 15ml orange liqueur or triple sec, 30ml lemon juice, 1 egg white

Glass: Martini

Garnish: Lemon twist

Method: Add all ingredients to a shaker and dry shake (without ice) until frothy. Fill the shaker with ice and shake again until well-chilled. Strain into chilled glass.

Page Turner

Recipe from The Sidecar, Dublin

This equal parts version of The Sidecar can be batched ahead of time and served ice-cold from the freezer. Oisin Kelly recommends using Hennessy VS for its classic balanced Cognac profile and Giffard Abricot Apricot Brandy Liqueur.

Ingredients: 30ml Cognac, 30ml apricot brandy, 30ml Cocchi Enhanced*, Grand Marnier for rinse

Glass: Nick & Nora

Garnish: Orange peel

Method: Put the Cognac, brandy and Cocci Enhanced in a mixing glass with ice and stir to mix. Strain into a glass rinsed with Grand Marnier.

*For the Cocchi Enhanced: Make the Cocchi Enhanced the day before by combining peeled zests of 6 lemons and 2 oranges (white pith removed) with 750ml Cocchi Americano. Stir and refrigerate overnight, then strain. This will will keep for up to two weeks in the fridge.

Tijuana Panther

Recipe from The Discount Suit Company, London

This is a take on modern classic daisy The Infante, which blends tequila, lime and orgeat. Dan Ghazal recommends using Ocho Plata Tequila for its clean, fresh profile and Cocchi Vermouth di Torino Extra Dry.

Ingredients: 35ml tequila, 15ml dry vermouth, 25ml lime juice, 25ml pistachio and curry leaf syrup*

Glass: Coupette

Garnish: Curry leaf

Method: Shake all of the ingredients with ice, then double strain into a chilled glass.

*For the pistachio and curry leaf syrup: To make the pistachio and curry leaf syrup, combine 200g shelled pistachios and 20g fresh curry leaves with 1 litre boiling water. Blend, cool and strain through fine mesh to make a pistachio-curry leaf ‘milk’. Combine one part milk to one part caster sugar, and shake to mix. This will keep in the fridge for one month.