Tequila Sunrise – Original Recipe & History

Original Tequila Sunrise
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Tequila Sunrise (1930s Recipe)

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Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

303

kcal
ABV

11%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the original tequila sunrise.

Ingredients

  • 2/3 oz Lime Juice

  • 2/3 oz Creme De Cassis

  • 1.5 oz Silver Tequila

  • 5 oz Soda Water

Directions

  • Technique: Tiki Dirty Pour
  • Combine all ingredients, except for the soda water, into a shaker with crushed ice.
  • Vigorously shake the shaker for 10 seconds.
  • Dirty pour the whole shaker into a glass. Crushed ice and all.
  • Top the drink off with soda water.
  • Garnish:
  • Squeezed lime hull

Featured Video

The History Of The Tequila Sunrise.

The Original tequila sunrise is commonly believed to be invented by Gene Sulit in the 1930s at the Baltimore Hotel in Pheonix, Arizona. The Original Baltimore Hotel tequila sunrise is entirely different from the orange juice one most are familiar with. The recipe most are familiar with is the 1970s Trident Hotel recipe. In my opinion, the original Baltimore hotel recipe is delicious and superior to the Trident recipe.

The original tequila sunrise recipe was not widely published from what I can find, but I did find a recipe for it in the 1972 edition of the Trader Vic’s Bartender guide. That recipe is slightly different from the one I have here, but it is still structurally a collins and has creme de cassis as the sweetener and soda water as the lengthener. The more common orange juice version by Trident was invented around the 1970s. The bartender credited with creating this newer version was Bob Lozoff. In an ad for Jose Cuervo, bob stated the tequila sunrise was too complicated for them to make, so they made their own variation of tequila, orange juice, and grenadine. I’m not sure if he literally means it was too hard to make it, or he instead means maybe the creme de cassis was hard to keep stock, which I could see being an issue. But if that is the case, why change the soda water to orange juice, and why not just give it a different name? Who knows.

What Does The Tequila Sunrise Taste Like?

The original Baltimore Hotel tequila sunrise recipe is fantastic. It is so much better than the orange juice one. It tastes like a jolly rancher and is sweet, tart, and refreshing. It’s so easy to drink a couple of these, and I’m a little sad I only just learned of this great classic.

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El Diablo – Original Recipe

El Diablo
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El Diablo

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

4

servings
Calories

300

kcal
Total time

0

minutes

Learn how to make the an El Diablo.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 oz Lime Juice

  • 1/2 oz Creme de Cassis

  • 1 oz Reposado Tequila

  • 6 oz Ginger Beer

Directions

  • Technique: Saxe Soda Shake
  • Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker except for the soda.
  • Add one medium or two small ice cubes to the cocktail shaker and shake until the ice fully melts.
  • Without a strainer, pour the chilled and aerated drink into a glass with ice.
  • Top with soda.
  • Garnish:
  • Squeezed lime hull

Notes

Featured Video

The History Of The El Diablo Cocktail

The El Diablo cocktail first appeared in Trader Vic’s 1948 Bartenders Guide as the Mexican El Diablo cocktail. It seems to be a variation of the original 1930s Tequila Sunrise with ginger beer replacing the soda water. In his 1972 edition of his Bartender’s Guide, it is called just the El Diablo. Funny enough, he still has the Mexican El Diablo listed in his 1972 edition, and they are line for line, word for word, and ounce for ounce the same. The only difference is one has a straw, and the other does not. It was likely just an oversight, and the same cocktail was added twice with its older name. Also, the recipes do not have a large “TV” next to them, meaning they are not Trader Vic’s original recipes, but I cannot locate them anywhere else. Whether you call it an El Diablo or Mexican El Diablo, this is a fantastic cocktail.

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