Not wanting another gin & tonic, not even with my new Beehive Jack Rabbit gin (Utah, delicious), I decided to experiment.

Backstory: A couple of years ago I came across a sunflower spirit called Taza Ray, distilled right here in Georgia in Dalton. There were two versions, plain Taza Ray and Taza Ray Red, which had been aged in barrels. They were yummy (and gluten free!).

Alas, when I went back to the store to get more, it had vanished. This past spring, my Lovely First Wife and I went to Dalton specifically to buy some more. This involved more emails and texts than you might imagine. But the guys there were personable and helpful. They even — upon hearing of my interest in the Taza Ray Red, which they no longer bottled — decanted me my own bottle of fresh-from-the-barrel Taza Ray, which they blend with their regular stuff to make Taza Ray.

So my eye fell on my bottle of Taza Ray. The mental slot machine clicked around, and came up with…

Sunflower Sour

• 1.5 oz Taza Ray
• .75 oz lemon juice
• .5 oz barrel-aged maple syrup

It is quite tasty. I’ve had two. (A second one using Taza Ray Red was not good, so I made the original just to confirm.)