The Gin Daisy cocktail is sweet, floral and light. It’s an easy recipe that will help you ease into gin drinking. Learn how to make the old school and new school versions of this classic sour cocktail!
Gin and I aren’t the best of friends. I convinced myself years ago that gin and I wouldn’t get along, and now — slowly but surely — I am changing my tune.
Gin is filled with floral, herbal flavors that take some getting used to, but it is a perfect spirit for springtime. And that’s why I chose it for this month’s Kindred Spirit.
The Gin Daisy is helping me ease into gin drinking. A daisy is a type of sour cocktail. Sours include a spirit, citrus and sweetener, but if you add club soda or seltzer, it becomes a daisy.
The flavors of the citrus and sweetener help to mask the gin’s strength of flavor, making this a good cocktail for gin beginners.
This recipe has two variations — an old school and a new school version.
The old school recipe calls for orange liqueur as the sweetener, and the new school calls for grenadine. Try it both ways and see how you like it!
I recently picked up a copy of The Essential Bar Book: An A-to-Z Guide to Spirits, Cocktails, and Wine, with 115 Recipes for the World’s Great Drinks by Jennifer Fiedler.
This is the kind of book every person needs to have in their bar. Not only is this book filled with classic cocktail recipes, but it contains definitions of common bar terms. It’s so handy to have!
As the title suggests, the book is organized alphabetically, making it a lot like a big glossary for all things cocktail. Turn to ‘A,’ and you’re greeted with a long definition for absinthe, followed by a recipe for an absinthe frappé.
If you’ve ever wanted to know more about cocktails or home bar stuff, this is the book for you. It’s definitely a book I will hold onto for years to come.
In the meantime, try this Gin Daisy! It’s a fantastic intro to gin drinking. // susannah
Full disclosure: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this honest review. This post contains affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking one of them, at no additional cost to you. All opinions are purely my own. Thank you in advance for supporting Feast + West!
Click below to see the Gin Daisy recipe!

The Gin Daisy
ingredients
Old School Gin Daisy
- 1 ½ ounces gin
- ¾ ounce lemon juice
- ¾ ounce orange liqueur
- soda water
- lemon peel for garnish
New School Gin Daisy
- 1 ½ ounces gin
- ½ ounce lemon juice
- ¼ ounce grenadine syrup
- ¼ ounce simple syrup
- soda water
- orange slice for garnish
instructions
Old School Gin Daisy
- Add gin, lemon juice, and orange liqueur to a cocktail shaker.
- Add ice and shake until chilled.
- Strain over ice into a Collins glass and top with soda. Garnish with a lemon peel.
New School Gin Daisy
- Add gin, lemon juice, grenadine, and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker.
- Add ice and shake until chilled.
- Strain over ice into a Collins glass. Garnish with a slice of orange.
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nutrition information
amount per serving:
Reprinted with permission from The Essential Bar Book: An A-to-Z Guide to Spirits, Cocktails, and Wine, with 115 Recipes for the World’s Great Drinks by Jennifer Fiedler, copyright 2014. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House LLC.
Jenna says
I received the bar book from blogging for books, too, and love it! It has so many fun recipes. I tried the New York Sour and it was delish! This drink looks so refreshing, I’m going to have to try it!