Winter Tequila Sunrise Recipe

Winter Tequila Sunrise shows off the beauty of blood oranges. A great pick-me-up drink for the winter months.

You’ll love this popular winter tequila sunrise recipe so much that you’ll probably make it all year long.

What comes to mind when I mention tequila sunrise?

Is it the Eagles song?

The ’80s movie starring Mel Gibson and Kurt Russell?

Or is it the too-sweet cocktail standby?

I’d say it’s a tossup between the song and the cocktail for me. What can I say — Eagles tunes are catchy.

Now if you’d asked me this question about 15 years or go, my answer would have been the cocktail.

It was a bar staple for me just after I turned 21. 

Tequila was my spirit of choice and a tequila sunrise was easy drinking with the orange juice and sweet grenadine syrup poured on top.

These days I sing a different tune with my drink choices.

Tequila is found in my margaritas and once in a while a specialty cocktail.

Occasionally I look back to those tequila sunrise drinking days and think, “How can I improve on that simply but sickening sweet drink?”

Adding Blood Oranges to the Classic Tequila Sunrise

Turns out the answer to my question was quite simple.

Meet my friend the blood orange, nature’s answer for bright and gorgeous winter cocktails.

Blood orange season is short and sweet with the citrus easily located December through March — and some varieties through May.

Unlike navel or juice oranges, blood oranges have a deep red flesh and a sweet flavor but a slightly bitter aftertaste.

They are without a doubt my favorite winter fruit!

And they brought on cocktail inspiration for everything from a modified Moscow mules to palomas to this Winter Tequila Sunrise recipe.

Unlike the original version of the tequila sunrise, our Winter Tequila Sunrise gets its color and flavor from nature itself.

To that end, if you embrace squeezing your own orange juice, it will level up the whole cocktail.

If you’ve ever looked out the window when the sun is rising in the winter you might spot colors of deep red, orange, and yellow.

Which is exactly what you see in this cocktail.

The Cocktail’s Origins

The classic tequila sunrise recipe uses grenadine.

Popular brands like Rose’s Grenadine Syrup are made with high fructose corn syrup, Red 40, and natural and artificial flavors.

Among other things.

As you can see, there are benefits to swapping in blood oranges. Beyond just the flavor.

The drink was first created in the early 1970s in Calfornia.

Apparently the Rolling Stones helped popularize it.

And the Eagles’ 1973 song helped take it to new heights, according to Liquor.com.

The original recipe calls for blanco tequila, just like our version here.

Blanco tequila is clear in color because, unlike other types, it is not barrel-aged or rested.

Achieving the Iconic Tequila Sunrise Look

The most challenging part was to figure out how to separate the juices. 

I didn’t want the colors to bleed into one another when you mixed them.

The solution is relatively simple!

Blending the tequila and blood orange juice with ice to make a slushy layer and then slowly pouring in our orange (or my preference tangerine for a touch more sweetness) juice on top.

What you get is a gorgeous drink to perk up the gloomiest winter days. Feeling too chilly for a frost drink?

Just make believe you’re sipping this Winter Tequila Sunrise on a beach and maybe add an umbrella on top, too!

If you find yourself craving this winter tequila sunrise recipe in the warmer months, there’s no reason to hold back!

But you could also consider our Tequila Sunrise Ice Pops Recipe.