Original Tequila Sunrise

Difford's Guide
Discerning Drinkers (85 ratings)

Serve in a

Collins glass
Ingredients:
1 1/2 fl oz Patrón Silver blanco tequila
1/2 fl oz Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
1/4 fl oz Monin Grenadine Syrup
1/12 fl oz Joseph Cartron Double Crème de Cassis de Bourgogne
2 drop Saline solution 4:1 (20g sea salt to 80g water)
3 1/3 fl oz Thomas Henry Soda Water (optional)
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Read about cocktail measures and measuring.

Garnish:

Lime wedge

How to make:

POUR first 5 ingredients into glass and fill with ice. TOP with soda water.

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Strength & taste guide:


Review:

Tequila notes shine with delicate berry fruit (and depending on your ingredients subtle vanilla) in this delicious 1930's version of the Sunrise.

History:

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.

Hollywood Cocktails, 1933

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.

Nutrition:

One serving of Original Tequila Sunrise contains 130 calories.

Alcohol content:

  • 1.2 standard drinks
  • 9.88% alc./vol. (19.76° proof)
  • 16.8 grams of pure alcohol
Difford's Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Bacardi's birthday image

Bacardi's birthday

The founder of Bacardi was a Catalan wine merchant called Facundo Bacardi Massó, who left Spain for Cuba in 1830.

Valentine's Day image

Valentine's Day

You can't have failed to notice that 14 February is St. Valentine's Day, a time of year when a sum equivalent to the GDP of a small country is spent on

Fernand Petiot's birthday image

Fernand Petiot's birthday

On this day in 1900, Fernand Pete Petiot was born in Paris, to parents who owned a guesthouse - he would come to fame, correctly or otherwise, as the inventor

Margarita Day image

Margarita Day

There are days for most things in the US, but Margarita Day is a subject very close to our hearts. Because, no matter who invented this classic cocktail,

World Bartender Day image

World Bartender Day

We're celebrating what the Oxford English dictionary defines as a person serving drinks at a bar, but we know as creative, hard-working folk who satisfy

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