There can be a healthy debate among cocktail historians about the subtle differences between classic classes of drinks. The nuances in many of them are so subtle it could be said there is no real difference at all. Take the Daisy and the Fix. Both have the following ingredients: a spirit of your choice, lemon or lime juice (both if you are fancy), and something sweet to bind it all together. David Embury laid out the difference in his book The Fine Art Of Mixing Drinks as the syrup you us to sweeten it. The Fix used pineapple syrup, and the Daisy used grendadine or raspberry syrup. Professor Jerry Thomas was more of orange liqueur (which becomes important for a later cocktail). It was an issue of color: one was a little pink, one was clear. In fact, the different between a Fix, a Fizz, a Collins, and a Daisy was so slight that the Daisy eventually disappeared. In many more recent tomes, the cocktail is not even mentioned, possibly because of the subtlety of the differences between those categories. They eventually all were absorbed into the general category of Sours, and that was that. And if it seems like you just saw this recipe yesterday as a Tom Collins, that is a reasonable thought. The recipe is incredibly similar.
What makes it more similar is the popularity of gin in the Daisy. It can be made with any liqueur that you would like to add, but the gin version as the most popular at the time.
Isn't that a delightful Daisy?
Gin Daisy
2 oz./60 mL of your choice of spirit
The juice of one half of a medium lime (about .5 oz/15 mL)
The juice of one half a small lemon (about .5 oz./15 mL)
1 tsp. superfine sugar
1 tsp. grenadine
Soda Water
Glass: Mug, silver if available
Garnish: Seasonal fruit
Ice: Crushed or cubed
Combine all of the ingredients into the glass over the ice and stir until the mug is frosty. Top with the soda water and give it another gentle stir. Top with seasonal berries.
This was a little unbalanced to the sour side. Adding another dash or two of grenadine or simple syrup would have helped, but I was sticking to one of the classic versions of the recipe. The drink itself is lovely, with a light pink color and berries adding some visual impact. I am not sure why you would block the visual impact of the color with a opaque mug, but I am sure it looks very fancy and refreshing in one. I can see the reason gin was the popular choice for this cocktail. The floral notes it adds go well with the lemony flavor. Those guys in the late 19th and early 20th century knew what they were doing.