Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: A New Day Dawns

January is all about new beginnings right? This year it certainly is for me. New Year, new house, new president. What is a more fitting metaphor than a rising sun?

Exactly.

Now that I have a fully armed and operational battle station bar at my disposal again, I thought it was appropriate to make a tequila sunrise as a way to celebrate those aforementioned events. Per Liquor.com (because while the bar may be unpacked, the library is still boxed away…somewhere) here is the Tequila Sunrise:

2 ounces blanco tequila
4 ounces orange juice, freshly squeezed
.25 ounces grenadine
Orange slice for garnish
Maraschino or Luxardo cherry  for garnish

Add the tequila and then the orange juice to a chilled highball glass filled with ice. Top with the grenadine, which will sink to the bottom of the glass, creating a layered effect. Garnish with an orange slice and a cherry.

Nose is orange forward, with a little hint of something else. Not quite sure it is the tequila though. Maybe a combination of the booze, grenadine and cherry? No one flavor stands out, but there is something there that cuts the orange aroma.

The sip is orange juice forward, but you can tell it has been cut with something. The mouth feel isn’t as viscous as orange juice usually is. Nor does it coat the palate like undiluted orange juice. Shortly after, the juice flavor gives way to a slightly boozy middle. Thankfully, the tequila flavor doesn’t take over. It eases its flavor forward the longer you sip the drink. The way the flavors build and are nuanced here necessitates decent to good tequila. Rotgut blanco I fear would ruin this balance and kill the spirit of the drink. I’m not saying use top shelf here, but definitely make sure you’re not scraping the bottom of the price point barrel.

The finish is light, and I detect a bit of cherry at the end too, which is a bit surprising. I figured the cherry would be more up front. Especially since I’m using a Woodford bourbon cherry in place of a normal luxardo or maraschino cherry. The fact that this is a whiskey cherry has no ill effects on the drink whatsoever. Glad that little gamble paid off.

The grenadine thankfully doesn’t do much more than provide a visual sunrise effect. It might also cut the acidity of the orange juice a little bit. But if it does, I can’t really detect it. I think the tequila does more lifting in that department. The very bottom of the drink does get cloyingly sweet though. The grenadine syrup sinks and since you don’t stir this at all, it all settles at the bottom. so beware.

I’m glad I finally made this one. I’ve said more than once I need to start incorporating more tequila based drinks here, and this one is a start. It’s a bit of a weird winter drink, but it works quite nicely. Make this one it late in the morning for brunch, or early afternoon to start day drinking.

(Banner image found here)