Agave Cocktails: Tequila
Tequila Sunrise Cocktail
Tequila Sunrise Cocktail Ingredients
2 oz. El Jimador Tequila Reposado
4 oz. Fresh orange juice
0.5 oz. Grenadine
Garnish
Brandied cherry
Orange slice
Tequila Sunrise Cocktail Preparation
Combine all ingredients except grenadine in a Collins glass and add ice. Stir 25-35 times. Slowly float grenadine into the glass. Garnish with an orange twist, slice, or wedge and a brandied cherry.
Tequila Sunrise Cocktail Story
While at least two resorts in the American Southwest claim to be the birthplace of the iconic highball, only one claimed the recipe in print. Tijuana’s Agua Caliente resort printed a pamphlet of cocktail recipes in 1934 titled Bottoms up! Y como! which included a recipe for a Tequila Sunrise that closely resembled a drink Gene Sulit, bartender of Phoenix's Biltmore Hotel, claimed to have developed. The lasting power of the drink is partially due to the pleasing result of cassis and grenadine when mixed with tequila, but more so to the way the drink was built for speed and volume. Being able to quickly build ingredients in a glass and get away with an attractive looking drink is a double win for a bartender working in high volume clubs, which is where this drink would see its second coming from the 1970s onwards.