As served at the Boar’s Nest.

Daisy Duke.

A daisy is a largely forgotten class of cocktail that is made by adding a little soda water to a sour style cocktail. Everyone loves a daisy but when I was twelve years old the Daisy I was in love with was on my TV screen every weekend. I expect we won’t be seeing much more of The Dukes of Hazzard due to Daisy’s cousins flying around Hazzard county in a whip positively dripping with controversial symbolism. Still, I decided that if I was going to make a daisy it would have to be one that honoured Catherine Bach’s character from those halcyon days. This should have been a fairly easy brief – Southern, feminine, bourbon based – but the profile I was looking for proved stubbornly elusive. I almost gave up a couple of times but persistence eventually paid off and with a bit of inspiration from Donn Beach and Sasha Petraske I settled on the honey and passion fruit syrup combo for the sweet component – which fit perfectly on every level. Think of it as kind of Southern country bourbon lemonade. You could use any decent bourbon but I like to use Four Roses Small Batch because; a) it’s a really nice bourbon that works well in this drink, b) it fits the “sweetheart” brief perfectly and c) I got a load of it dirt cheap. The Daisy D, being a rather fun and tongue-in-cheek cocktail is a prime candidate for the jam jar shake but it can be made just as easily in a shaker with crushed (or even cubed) ice. Friends who liked this drink suggested I branch out with a whole family of variations. I’m thinking maybe a Jesse Duke with rye instead of bourbon. Y’all got any other suggestions?

Daisy Duke.

2oz / 60ml bourbon (I like to use Four Roses Small Batch).

1oz / 30ml fresh lemon juice.

0.5oz / 15ml honey syrup (3:1)*.

0.5oz / 15ml passion fruit syrup*.

1oz / 30ml soda water.

Shake with crushed ice in a jam jar.

Toast Catherine Bach who played Daisy Duke from 1979 – 1985.

*Details on syrups here.