Orange juice and tequila fill the glass, then the grenadine slides to the bottom and paints a glow from deep red to gold. It tastes as it looks: juicy, sweet and sunny, with a peppery agave note underneath.
3.6Editors’ rating
Taste3.7
Balance3.4
Easy to make5
Popularity88
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Garnish: Orange slice and cocktail cherry · Ice: Ice cubes
Method
Fill a highball glass with ice cubes.
Pour in the tequila, then the orange juice, and stir briefly.
Slowly pour the grenadine down the inside of the glass so it sinks to the bottom.
Do not stir again; garnish with an orange slice and a cherry.
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Watch it made
Tequila Sunrise
Taste
Juicy orange with sweet red berry notes at the bottom and a light, peppery agave backbone. Easy drinking and medium light.
History and origin
The modern Tequila Sunrise is credited to Bobby Lozoff and Billy Rice, bartenders at the Trident in Sausalito, California, in the early 1970s. It became famous when the Rolling Stones picked it up during their 1972 American tour, and the Eagles' 1973 song "Tequila Sunrise" added to its fame.
An older drink of the same name is linked to the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, where a bartender is said to have mixed tequila with crème de cassis, lime and soda water in the 1930s or 1940s. It shares the name and the sunrise effect, but not the recipe.
The orange juice version is the one that made it onto the IBA list of contemporary classics.
Bartender tips
Freshly squeezed orange juice keeps the drink from tasting like a soft drink.
Pour the grenadine over the back of a barspoon for a cleaner gradient.
Use a real pomegranate grenadine; artificial red syrups make it cloying.
Variations
Arizona Biltmore style
Tequila, crème de cassis and lime juice topped with soda water, the older, drier version.
