John Daly (cocktail)

Lore & Background

The John Daly cocktail is attributed to bartender Daton Lewis at the Whiskey Creek Golf Course in Fort Myers, Florida. The drink is a spiked version of the Arnold Palmer, and its name humorously references Daly's well-known struggles with alcoholism. Daly considered the use of his name without authorization to be trademark infringement.

Reader's Guide

In response to the unauthorized use of his name, John Daly formed the GIASI Beverage Company in 2010 with two close friends, holding a majority share. GIASI stands for 'Grip It And Sip It', a play on his 'Grip it and Rip it' catchphrase. The official Original John Daly Cocktail, bottled by Frank-Lin Distiller's in Fairfield, California, came to market in 2013. Initial distribution in California and Nevada expanded to 13 states, including Arkansas, Texas, and Illinois. GIASI offers three flavors of the 30 proof vodka-based ready-to-drink cocktail: sweet tea/lemonade, peach tea/lemonade, and raspberry tea/lemonade. A variation, the Southern-Style John Daly, substitutes bourbon and mint for the vodka.

Did You Know?

• The John Daly cocktail is an alcoholic version of the Arnold Palmer, which is also named after an American golfer.
• The drink's name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to John Daly's public struggles with alcoholism.
• The official John Daly cocktail is bottled by Frank-Lin Distiller's in Fairfield, California.
• GIASI Beverage Company offers three flavors: sweet tea/lemonade, peach tea/lemonade, and raspberry tea/lemonade.

Origins at Whiskey Creek

The John Daly cocktail first gained traction on the back nine at Whiskey Creek Golf Course in Fort Myers, Florida. Bartender Daton Lewis crafted the drink during the 2005 Dirty Gator Open, a tournament in which the eponymous golfer was competing. The recipe is straightforward: vodka, lemonade, and iced tea combined into a single refreshing pour. An alternative preparation swaps the plain vodka for sweet tea vodka, a pre-infused spirit that folds the tea element directly into the base. The drink occupies a curious niche in cocktail culture as the alcoholic counterpart to the Arnold Palmer, a non-alcoholic iced tea and lemonade blend also named for a golfer. Both beverages share that golf-world naming convention, though the John Daly carries an additional layer of meaning tied to its namesake's well-documented relationship with alcohol.

The Name and Its Edge

Naming a mixed drink after a living athlete is not unusual in the golf world, but the John Daly cocktail carries a sharper edge than its Arnold Palmer counterpart. The tongue-in-cheek moniker is widely understood as a pointed nod to the golfer's publicly visible battles with alcoholism, turning a simple vodka-lemonade-iced tea mix into a piece of cultural commentary. The parallel to the Arnold Palmer is deliberate: both drinks are anchored to a golfer's identity, both pair lemonade with iced tea, and both occupy the casual, refreshing end of the beverage spectrum. Yet where the Palmer is a straightforward tribute, the Daly name invites a wry, self-aware chuckle from anyone who followed the golfer's career. The drink's very existence in bars and on menus became a form of collective humor, a way for fans and observers to acknowledge Daly's larger-than-life persona while sipping something undeniably fun.

Daly Strikes Back: GIASI

Rather than let the name be used freely, John Daly took the matter into his own hands. He viewed the unauthorized use of his name on the cocktail as trademark infringement and, in 2010, partnered with two close friends to found the GIASI Beverage Company, of which he holds the majority stake. The company's name is itself a playful riff on Daly's famous "Grip it and Rip it" catchphrase, reworked into "Grip It And Sip It" to fit the beverage world. This move transformed a bar-top joke into a legitimate commercial venture. The GIASI label gave Daly direct control over how his name appeared on a product, shifting the narrative from passive association to active ownership. It also let him shape the brand's identity, flavor profile, and market positioning on his own terms, turning what had been an unlicensed tribute into a company he could genuinely call his own.

From California to Thirteen States

The official Original John Daly Cocktail hit store shelves in 2013, bottled by Frank-Lin Distiller's out of Fairfield, California. The launch was initially confined to California and Nevada, but the product's reach expanded steadily until it was available across thirteen states, including Daly's home state of Arkansas as well as Texas and Illinois. GIASI markets the drink as a 30-proof ABV vodka-based "ready to drink" cocktail, eliminating the need for mixing at home. The company offers three flavor variants: the classic sweet tea and lemonade, a peach tea and lemonade blend, and a raspberry tea and lemonade option. Beyond the GIASI lineup, the broader cocktail family has spawned its own regional twist. The Southern-Style John Daly replaces the vodka base with bourbon and adds fresh mint, giving the drink a distinctly Southern character while keeping the lemonade-and-tea framework intact.

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