Impress Your Guests with This 2-Step Tequila Sunrise Recipe!

The Tequila Sunrise cocktail is a colorful, picture-perfect drink with a rock ‘n roll history. Serve it poolside, at parties, and any time you are craving a sweet sunrise, no fancy bar equipment required.

The original Tequila Sunrise cocktail was created in Phoenix, Arizona in the 1930s or 1940’s by a bartender named Gene Sulit at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel. The original tequila sunrise ingredients were tequila, creme de cassis (a blackcurrent liqueur), lime juice, and soda water or club soda, so it didn’t have the sunny, golden hue we have come to expect.

The modern version of the Tequila Sunrise, now an official IBA cocktail, was first served in Sausalito, California in the 1970s, created by bartenders Bobby Lozoff and Billy Rice. It’s still made with tequila, but now it has tangy orange juice and sweet grenadine. You craft each cocktail by hand instead of using a cocktail shaker.

In 1972, Mick Jagger tried it at a launch part for the Rolling Stones upcoming tour. He liked it so much, that the band ordered it everywhere they played in the United States. Keith Richards jokingly said that tour became the “Tequila Sunrise tour” among other things.

All of this made tequila infinitely more popular all around the country, and Jose Cuervo started promoting the cocktail on the back of their tequila bottles. Things just snowballed from there. The Eagles recorded a song called Tequila Sunrise for their Desperado album, and then a movie named Tequila Sunrise was released in 1988. The movie started Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Kurt Russel, and the movie was a commercial success.

Many versions of the Tequila Sunrise are pretty to look at but can taste overly sweet. Not this one! I add fresh lime juice and an optional splash of seltzer, which in my humble opinion makes this cocktail worth an extra look.

Recipe ingredients

Ingredient notes

• Tequila: Choose tequila blanco, aka silver tequila, which has not been aged. This lighter tequila is great for mixed drinks.
• Lime juice: Purely optional, but oh, so amazing.  Tequila and lime are best buds.
• Orange Juice: Freshly squeezed, if you can. It really makes a huge difference in a simple cocktail like this one.
• Grenadine syrup: That little bottle of red, sugary pomegranate-flavored syrup that is part of a well-stocked bar? That’s the “sunrise.” The syrup sinks to the bottom of the glass, giving the cocktail a rosy hue and some sweetness.
• Soda or seltzer water: Look for an unsweetened, bubbly soda. Optional, but lightens the drink up from syrupy to ahhh, refreshing!

Step-by-step instructions

1. Fill a highball glass (or other tall glass) with ice. Add tequila, lime juice (if using), and orange juice. Stir. Pour grenadine down the back of a spoon and let it rise from the bottom of the glass (you should see it clearly through the side of the glass).

Do not stir. Top with seltzer water (if using) and garnish with the orange wheel and maraschino cherry.

Recipe tips and variations

• Yield: This recipe makes 1 cocktail as Tequila Sunrise drinks are best crafted one at a time, by hand. There isn’t really a way to see the grenadine float across the top of the glass if you make them in a big batch or in a blender.
• Glassware: The more dynamic, the better. Tall glasses really show off the sunrise.
• Tequila Sunset: Some variations use grapefruit juice instead of orange juice. Other recipes call for raspberry Chambord, crème de cacao, or even blackberry brandy drizzled over the drink instead grenadine, giving the drink a darker, purplish hue that resembles a sunset.
• Tequila Screwdriver: Make it with tequila, orange juice, and a pinch of salt (no grenadine).
• Grenadine substitute: Feel free to experiment with a drizzle of maraschino cherry juice, pomegranate molasses, a splash of cranberry juice, or raspberry syrup instead.
• More Tequila Sunrise variations: Try pineapple juice or a tequila mix (for Margaritas). You could also pour your grenadine into the center of the drink instead of towards the edge of the glass.