SiscoVanilla Has a 🌅🍊Tequila Sunrise 🍊🌅

Welcome back folks to the next installment of SiscoVanilla Drinks. For today I'm going back to the 1970's with an offering from the Old Man Drinks cocktail book: The Tequila Sunrise. Before I go into the cocktail itself, I wanted to look into the varied histories of the cocktail. Apparently there are a few histories behind how this cocktail came to be.

The Old Man Drinks cocktail book mentions that this cocktail harks back to the Prohibition era in Tijuana, Mexico. According to author Robert Schnackenberg, the Tequila Sunrise came to life at the Agua Caliente Racetrack as a hangover cure for those who were betting on the ponies.

In his article How to Make a Tequila Sunrise from Esquire dated January 5, 2018, David Wondrich states that the cocktail was supposedly invented at the racetrack. For more on the Agua Caliente racetrack, check out the article The Glitter of Agua Caliente by Greg Niemann from BajaBound.com. But it doesn't quite finish there.

According to the post The Birth of the Tequila Sunrise from the Sahid Bartending Club dated October 27, 2013, a guide book called Bottoms Up! Subtitled El Catecismo del la Libacion was published and distributed throughout the property's bars and restaurants. In said book was the original recipe for the Agua Caliente's version of the Tequila Sunrise. Here it is:

THE TEQUILA SUNRISE
(recipe for 1 drink)

1. One jigger Tequila.
2. One half lime, squeezed. Insert peel.
3. EXACTLY six dashes grenadine.
4. EXACTLY two dashes Crème de Cassis.
5. Two lumps ice.
6. Serve in highball glass, filled to brim with healthful Agua Caliente "Roca Blanca" water. If not available, fizz with seltzer.
7. Stir slightly.

There is no Orange Juice as in the recipe we know today. On to origin story number 2.

Now we are in post-Prohibition Arizona at the Biltmore hotel. Now according to the article Just Another Tequila Sunrise by Jeff Burkhart from the National Geographic Assignment Blog dated on February 17th, 2012, the Biltmore states that their bartender Gene Sulit came up with the idea for the Tequila Sunrise during the 1930's. His cocktail consisted of tequila, lime juice, soda and crème de cassis. Burkhart states that he couldn't find any listing for this recipe in any of the cocktail books of the time and after. Aside from the grenadine, Sulit's recipe is very similar to the one listed above. Let's fast forward to the 1970's.

The third origin story takes us back to the Pacific Coast to the Northern California town of Sausalito. The story states that bartenders Bobby Lozoff and Billy Rice at the Trident came up with the Tequila Sunrise. It wasn't until the Rolling Stones arrived at the Trident in 1972 that the cocktail took off. Offering the drink to Mick Jagger, the cocktail became the go-to drink for the Stones across the country. To the point that one of the nicknames for their tour was the "cocaine and tequila sunrise tour." In stepped Lou, the manager of the Trident. For this I'll let Burkhart continue telling the story:

In 1973, Jose Cuervo seized on this new cocktail sensation and began marketing it in various print advertisements, eventually releasing it as one of their canned “club cocktails.”

“Lou, (the manager of the Trident) talked to the Cuervo people,” said Lozoff. “We were the biggest outlet in the United States, and they were talking to us – that recipe, with crème de cassis went on the back of bottles, and at one point our recipe made it on the back of the gold bottle.”

But don't take his word for it. Watch this video to hear the story being related straight from the mouths of those who lived it at the Trident:

The video states that the creme de cassis was removed for simplicity sake. Was Lozoff's version based on the above listed recipe from the Agua Caliente? Who really knows. Does it really matter? I'll leave that up to you. 

Add to the mix the Eagles song entitled Tequila Sunrise, which ironically isn't about the cocktail but about just drinking tequila until the sun rises. Nonetheless, the popularity of the song just further made the cocktail one of the go-to drinks of the 1970's. On to the cocktail itself. 

I decided to make the cocktail based on the current version that is found in cocktail books. Here is the cocktail and the recipe I used:

I followed the advice of David Wondrich by using freshly squeezed orange juice as opposed to using store bought OJ. While I've had the Tequila Sunrise in the past, I can't say that I've had one as light and tasty as the one I made for myself. I would certainly think that using the Espolon Reposado and fresh OJ over Jose Cuervo and store bought OJ made a big difference in the cocktail. It was simply delicious. 

The cocktail was light. The flavor of the tequila stood out without being too sweet, even with the presence of the grenadine. Always go fresh when you can with your juices folks. Here are my thoughts right after tasting the Tequila Sunrise from the SiscoVanilla YouTube Channel:

So for my next post I stay in the 1970's with the Harvey Wallbanger. I'll be posting my thoughts on that cocktail soon. Keep an eye out for it. And with that I leave 

Until Then Happy Drinking,
SiscoVanilla

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