Tequila Sunrise Cocktail Recipe
Tequila and orange juice with a grenadine 'sunrise' bleeding from the bottom.
- Category: Contemporary Classics
- Glass: Highball glass
- ABV: 11%
- Difficulty: Easy
- Prep time: ~3 min
Ingredients
- Tequila45 ml (1.5 oz)
- Fresh orange juice90 ml (3 oz)
- Grenadine15 ml (0.5 oz)
How to Make It
- Fill a highball glass with ice.
- Add tequila and orange juice; stir.
- Slowly pour grenadine so it sinks and rises.
- Do not stir again; garnish.
Garnish
Orange slice and cherry
What it tastes like
The sweetness is pronounced and fruit notes come forward.
The technique
Built in the glass. Ice goes into the serving glass, the ingredients go on top, and you stir once if at all. Anything carbonated goes in LAST and never gets stirred; every turn of the spoon costs you bubbles. Fill the glass to the rim with ice: less ice melts faster, not slower.
Glass and ice
A tall, narrow highball. The narrowness does real work — less surface area means the carbonation lasts longer and the ice melts more slowly.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Fresh orange juice
- Fresh orange juice. Carton juice is sugar-adjusted, so it sweetens the drink and drops its acidity; when you squeeze your own, pull back a little on the syrup.
- Grenadine
- Pomegranate syrup. Most supermarket bottles are dyed corn syrup with no pomegranate in them; reducing pomegranate juice with an equal weight of sugar takes ten minutes and changes the drink completely.
The Story
The modern version was created in early-1970s California and spread via The Rolling Stones tour.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Tequila Sunrise mixed?
- It is built in the glass and served in a highball glass.
- How strong is a Tequila Sunrise?
- Roughly 11% ABV as served — right around a glass of wine — an aperitif or an early-evening drink.
- Can a Tequila Sunrise be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Tequila Sunrise hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.