Original Tequila Sunrise
4.0 125 ratings
Ingredients
How to make
Serve in a collins glass
Prepare
- 1 Select and pre-chill a COLLINS GLASS.
- 2 Prepare garnish of lime wedge.
Method
- 3 POUR all ingredients into chilled glass.
- 4 FILL glass with ice.
Garnish
- 5 Garnish with lime wedge.
Flavour profile
9.9% alc./vol. · 1 standard drink · 131 calories
History
Tequila notes shine with delicate berry fruit (and, depending on ingredients, subtle vanilla) in this 1930s Tequila Sunrise.
The older of the two versions of the Tequila Sunrise, this one was served and is thought to have been created around 1930 at the Agua Caliente racetrack hotel, spa, and casino resort in Tijuana, Mexico. It is recommended in the Bottoms Up! drinks guide come menu published by the resort and, handily, this vintage publication authenticates the Tequila Sunrise's 1930s connection to Agua Caliente. This describes the Sunrise as being "A Fascinating Tequila Fantasy -- The Drink you can Never Forget -- A Mans Drink -- A Womans Drink." The birth of this cocktail prior to 1933 is supported by its appearance in Hollywood Cocktails, published in November that year (just before the end of US Prohibition) with a recipe identical to that in the Agua Caliente publication. And as that says, "Under no circumstances alter this order." THE SUNRISE COCKTAIL 1 Jigger Tequila ½ Lime, squeezed, insert peel 6 Dashes Grenadine 2 Dashes Creme de Cassis 2 Lumps Ice Serve in a highball glass filled to brim with Roca Blanca water or fizz with seltzer. The "original" Tequila Sunrise should not be confused with the "Sunrise" in Harry Craddock's 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book and some other notable vintage tomes. This quite different cocktail is a layered shot comprising equal parts grenadine, crème de violette, Yellow Chartreuse, and triple sec. Some misguided folk say the Tequila Sunrise was created in the early 1940s by Gene Sulit, a longstanding bartender at the Arizona Biltmore resort's Wright bar where this cocktail is known as a "Biltmore Original Tequila Sunrise," I've not found anything earlier than the 2000s supporting this and although Sulit worked at the resort in the 1930s, its bar was not operational due to Prohibition. The better known and more recent Tequila Sunrise with orange juice dates from 1970.