A TASTE OF SAN FRANCISCO
San Francisco, United States
If you could bottle hazy California days then pour it into a tall glass with fat ice cubes - it’d be a Tequila Sunrise. It looks like a melty orange sunset and feels like swim-up bars and day-drinking…
Oh yeah, and Keith Richards loves it. SOLD.
This week we’re hitching a ride on a VW to San Francisco to find out where to drink the best Tequila Sunrise and how to make it at home.
Oh yeah, and Keith Richards loves it. SOLD.
This week we’re hitching a ride on a VW to San Francisco to find out where to drink the best Tequila Sunrise and how to make it at home.
The History
The Tequila Sunrise is the guitar-smashing rockstar of the cocktail world… Don’t let a Whiskey Sour tell you different.
What kind of genius mind comes up with a tequila-drenched sunrise in a glass? Gene Sulit was mixing tequila with creme de cassis, lime juice, and soda water at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in the 30s.
Buttt the modern version was created by Bobby Lozoff and Billy Rice in the 70s at The Trident in Sausalito, California. Which is where The Rolling Stones kicked off their American tour. Keith Richards loved the tequila sunrise so much he (and his entourage) drank them all throughout America...
They called the tour the “cocaine and tequila sunrise tour”.
What kind of genius mind comes up with a tequila-drenched sunrise in a glass? Gene Sulit was mixing tequila with creme de cassis, lime juice, and soda water at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in the 30s.
Buttt the modern version was created by Bobby Lozoff and Billy Rice in the 70s at The Trident in Sausalito, California. Which is where The Rolling Stones kicked off their American tour. Keith Richards loved the tequila sunrise so much he (and his entourage) drank them all throughout America...
They called the tour the “cocaine and tequila sunrise tour”.
The Recipe
There are just three ingredients but make sure you get good quality tequila, fresh OJ, and swanky syrup if you want it to be really tasty.
Just want to get through another Zoom call? Yeah, Tesco value tequila will do.
You'll need:
• 1 1/2 oz Tequila
• 3 oz orange juice
• 1 tsp grenadine syrup
• Ice (enough to fill your shaker up 3/4 of the way)
Just want to get through another Zoom call? Yeah, Tesco value tequila will do.
You'll need:
• 1 1/2 oz Tequila
• 3 oz orange juice
• 1 tsp grenadine syrup
• Ice (enough to fill your shaker up 3/4 of the way)
Method
1) If you have a cocktail shaker, add tequila and orange juice plus some ice. Do the obligatory comical shake that’s offensive to trained bartenders.
No cocktail shaker? Just pour in your tequila, ice, then juice, and syrup last. Memorise this order. Get a tattoo of it. Never forget it.
2) Pour into a cocktail glass (make it a chilled highball glass to be real fancy).
3) Add the grenadine and stir very gently.
4) To get the sunrise effect you can guide the syrup to the bottom of the glass with a spoon or straw.
1) If you have a cocktail shaker, add tequila and orange juice plus some ice. Do the obligatory comical shake that’s offensive to trained bartenders.
No cocktail shaker? Just pour in your tequila, ice, then juice, and syrup last. Memorise this order. Get a tattoo of it. Never forget it.
2) Pour into a cocktail glass (make it a chilled highball glass to be real fancy).
3) Add the grenadine and stir very gently.
4) To get the sunrise effect you can guide the syrup to the bottom of the glass with a spoon or straw.
Our Bar Pick
Tequila, mezcal, moody lighting and banging bar snacks… Tequila Mockingbird is your spiritual home in San Fran.
These guys do a grown-up riff on a tequila sunrise that boss man Leary describes as “the kind of drink you would make for yourself when you skipped school and raided your parents’ liquor cabinet.”
It’s blanco tequila, Curaçao (orange liquer), grapefruit and lime.
We’ll take 10.
These guys do a grown-up riff on a tequila sunrise that boss man Leary describes as “the kind of drink you would make for yourself when you skipped school and raided your parents’ liquor cabinet.”
It’s blanco tequila, Curaçao (orange liquer), grapefruit and lime.
We’ll take 10.
This one’s a keeper - hit the Lucky button then save this trip for a happier time 💚