October 4, 2024

What I’m Drinking: The Santa Cruz Daisy (or darn close)

I have a pal named Daisy. She’s not from Santa Cruz, but I still feel I should introduce her (and probably others, as it’s not what you’d call a well-known drink today) to this charming sipper, which I found when perusing the liquor book shelves and pulled out the pocket-sized The Standard Cocktail Guide: A Manual of Mixed Drinks Written for the American Host. Written by gadabout, bon vivant, and early cocktailian Crosby Gaige (author also of the Cocktail Guide and Ladies Companion, which is a bit more fun) and published in 1944. A dandy little read, so keep your eyes open for it. And full of good drinks. Browsing random old books is a jolly way to decide on a drink to have when you aren’t feeling 100% in any direction, as I was when first making this. I used mint – because I had a lot – instead of the traditional Daisy fruit topping, and used crushed instead of shaved ice, as the shaver was down (or non-existent). Still, a tasty drink, and one all Daisies – and most others – will probably dig sipping.

The Santa Cruz Daisy Cocktail

The Santa Cruz Daisy

2 ounces white rum

1/4 ounce maraschino

1/4 ounce simple syrup

Crushed ice

Fresh mint sprigs

Splash of soda water

1. Add the rum, maraschino, simple syrup to a mixing glass and stir well.

2. Crush a bunch of ice in your Lewis bag (see NOTE below).

3. Fill a goblet or comparable glass with ice, and strain the mix gently over it, topping with more ice as needed.

4. Add a splash of soda and garnish with mint sprigs.

A NOTE: If you don’t know (and I didn’t at one point) a Lewis bag is the traditional bag bartenders use to crush ice. If you can get one, the McSology Lewis bag is ideal, made in Seattle out of 100% cotton canvas. Put ice cubes in the bag, get out your muddler, and start crushing.

October 18, 2013

What I’m Drinking: Santa Cruz Daisy (Sort Of)

So, the other night I was reclining in the big comfy chair, trying to decide what to have for my evening libation while paging through a pocket-sized book called The Standard Cocktail Guide: A Manual of Mixed Drinks Written for the American Host by Crosby Gaige, published in 1944. It’s a handy little book, if not as exuberantly fun at Mr. Gaige’s Cocktail Guide and Ladies Companion. But well worth picking up if you ever see it. I knew, before  deciding on a drink, a couple facts. One: I wanted to make a drink using iced crushed in my new McSology Lewis bag (a dandy Lewis bag made here in Seattle out of 100% cotton canvas, and available for $48 for the professional-sized model and $26 for the home-bartender version, if after reading this you want one). Two: I wanted to make a drink I didn’t know. Three: I wanted to make a drink out of this book. Four: I wanted to use the last bit of mint from the mint plant out back. I ended up with the Santa Cruz Daisy, though admittedly I modified it perhaps nearly out of Daisy-dom, cause I went with a mint instead of fruit topping, and I used crushed and not shaved ice. But it was still massively delicious.

santa-cruz-daisy

The Santa Cruz Daisy (Sort Of)

2 ounces white rum

1/4 ounce maraschino

1/4 ounce simple syrup

Crushed ice

Fresh mint sprigs

Splash of soda water

1. Add the rum, maraschino, simple syrup to a mixing glass and stir well.

2. Crush a bunch of ice in your Lewis bag and revel in the crushing.

3. Fill a goblet or other swell glass with ice, and strain the mix gently over it, topping with more ice as needed.

4. Add a splash of soda and garnish with mint sprigs.

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