Tequila Sunrise
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 13.6% ABV ∙
The Tequila Sunrise is a shaken tequila highball built to layer orange juice and grenadine into a red-to-orange gradient, served in a tall glass. The chilled pour settles into a glowing gradient, tart citrus riding a silky reposado base with a bright, tangy finish and barely-there sweetness from the deep red pool below.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Pour into the ice-filled glass: Grenadine syrup 5 ml and Crème de Cassis 5 ml
- Shake the remaining ingredients with ice: Tequila reposado 45 mlOrange curaçao liqueur 20 mlLime juice 15 mlOrange juice 75 ml
- Strain (pour slowly) into the glass to sit over the red base layer (to create a sunrise effect)
- Garnish with a lime wheel
Tips
- Pour the grenadine and cassis into the ice-filled glass first and let them settle before adding the shaken mix — this is what creates the sunrise gradient.
- Pre-chill the glass so the layers hold their separation longer instead of blurring together as the glass warms.
- Strain the shaken mix slowly over the back of a bar spoon to keep the red base layer intact rather than mixing on contact.
History
The Tequila Sunrise most bars know today—tequila, orange juice, and grenadine, layered rather than stirred—was popularized in the early 1970s by Bobby Lozoff and Billy Rice, young bartenders at the Trident restaurant in Sausalito, California. In the summer of 1972, concert promoter Bill Graham brought the Rolling Stones to the Trident during their U.S. tour; Mick Jagger tried the drink, and the band adopted it, later giving the tour its informal nickname. Jose Cuervo capitalized on the association in 1973, printing the recipe on its bottles, and the Eagles' same-year song of the same title cemented its fame.
That orange-and-grenadine version was itself a reworking of an earlier drink. Most accounts trace the name to bartender Gene Sulit at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix in the 1930s or 1940s, whose original used tequila, crème de cassis, lime juice, and soda water rather than orange juice. Cocktail historian David Wondrich instead places the drink's true birth at Agua Caliente, a Prohibition-era resort in Tijuana, describing it as a tequila daisy given a splash of crème de cassis, with the Biltmore also making its own rival claim to the same era. In both tellings, the Trident bartenders are credited with dropping the cassis in favor of grenadine and orange juice, arriving at the layered version that later became an IBA official cocktail.
FAQ
What is Tequila Sunrise made of?
This build combines tequila reposado, orange curaçao liqueur, fresh lime juice, and fresh orange juice, shaken and poured over a base of grenadine syrup and crème de cassis. The red layer settles at the bottom of the glass, and the shaken mix is strained slowly over it to create the signature sunrise gradient, finished with a lime wheel.
What are the three ingredients in a Tequila Sunrise?
The classic Tequila Sunrise is traditionally described as just tequila, orange juice, and grenadine. This build adds orange curaçao liqueur, fresh lime juice, and a touch of crème de cassis alongside those three, giving a fuller citrus flavor and a deeper red base layer.
How do you make a classic Tequila Sunrise?
Pour grenadine into an ice-filled glass, then add tequila and orange juice and let it settle so the grenadine sinks and rises through the drink, creating the sunrise effect. This build follows that same layering idea but shakes the tequila with orange curaçao, lime juice, and orange juice before straining it slowly over a grenadine-and-cassis base.
What is the difference between a Tequila Sunrise and a Tequila Sunset?
A Tequila Sunrise layers grenadine at the bottom of the glass so red rises upward through the orange juice, mimicking a sunrise; a Tequila Sunset typically reverses the effect, blending or layering to darken toward the top instead. The two share a tequila-and-orange-juice base but differ in how the color gradient is built.
Can a Tequila Sunrise get you drunk?
Yes, it contains a full pour of tequila reposado and has an ABV of about 13.6 percent, so drinking several will produce normal alcohol intoxication like any cocktail of similar strength. The orange juice and sweet layers mask the alcohol somewhat, which makes it easy to underestimate how much you have had.
