Master The Classics: Original Tequila Sunrise

The Tequila Sunrise has a long and interesting history and is best known for a different recipe than the one I teach here. Getting to that modern recipe, popularized in the 1970's is an incredibly interesting story.

The Tequila Sunrise was most likely created at the Agua Caliente in Tijuana which was a prohibition era resort where Americans could go for a legal sip as well as gamble. It had a track, a casino and hotel so a lot of Hollywood's elite would fly down there for a vacation. The original drink was basically a Tequila Daisy with a little creme de casis added, sweetened with Grenadine and lengthened with Soda.

The recipe which is most famous now was created in the 1960's at a bar called The Trident in the town of Sausalito, California (just outside San Francisco) and was more of a Rock n' Roll style joint frequented by Rock Stars. According to David Wondrich they paid little heed to precision in recipes and reconstructed the Tequila Sunrise by nixing the casis and adding Orange Juice (probably to give a sunrise effect as the juice and grenadine layer on one another). One day in 1972 The Rolling Stones came in and Mick Jagger had the drink and loved it. They took the drink with them on tour that year. This was the tour for their album "Exile on Main Street" and it became famous for it's debauchery and violence. It became known as the "Tour that broke America" years later Keith Richard's wrote in his Autobiography that the informal name of the tour was "The Cocaine and Tequila Sunrise Tour" it gained further notoriety when mention in a song by The Eagles and finally became as famous as other drinks of it's ilk such as the Rusty Nail, Screwdriver and so on. And that is how the modern recipe eclipsed the (in my opinion) superior original. So enjoy this drink and yes I will do an episode on the modern iteration of this drink, and no I don't hate it and no I'm not being pretentious. There I beat you guys to it!

here's links to the gear I use in this episode:
Barfly Copper Measuring Cup: https://amzn.to/2BA24Yk
Barfly Shaking Set: https://amzn.to/2OYG0w4
Barfly Hawthorn Strainer: https://amzn.to/2OkFZ8v
Barfly Fine Strainer: https://amzn.to/2RaFkoS
Glassware: 14oz Collins By Libbey

We are happy to announce that we are officially sponsored by Barfly Mixology Gear. Barfly makes very high quality professional bar equipment. Their barware essentials and accessories are designed to deliver optimal appearance, temperature consistency and proportion in every glass so you can achieve masterful results. Definitely check them out at: https://www.barflybymercer.com/home/

We are proud that our official apron sponsor is Stagger Lee Goods. Alfred Ramos hand stitches each of these amazing quality aprons in his Northern California workshop. He Does custom work and has aprons for just about every position in a restaurant and bar so do yourself a favor and check him out:
https://www.staggerleegoods.com

If you are interested in helping us offset the cost of production you should check out our Patreon page which has a bunch of great perks and goes a long way to helping us bring you quality content. You can find that here:
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Here's The Specs:

2oz (60ml) Blanco Tequila
.5oz (15ml) Creme de Casis
.75oz (22.5ml) Lime Juice
.5oz (15ml) Grenadine
Top Soda Water
Lime Wheel Garnish