Bourbon Sour Sunrise

From sunrise to sunset, the Bourbon Sour Sunrise is always a good choice.

The Bourbon Sour Sunrise is a daring cocktail cross between the classic Whiskey Sour and the modern Tequila Sunrise. If that feels like an unlikely combination, you’re not alone, but somehow it really works.

The Whiskey Sour is simple combination of whiskey, lemon juice, and simple syrup served over ice. It appeared in print as late as 1862, but was popular before then and was even allegedly enjoyed by Abraham Lincoln. The Sour is a foundation of the cocktail world inspiring variations like the New York Sour, Amaretto Sour, and Midori Sour, as well as other riffs.

In sharp contrast to the Whiskey Sour stands the Tequila Sunrise. Created in the 1970s by Bobby Lozoff and Billy Rice at a bar in Sausalito, California, the Tequila Sunrise was a wild mix of tequila, orange juice, and grenadine. At least, it was pretty wild at the time and things only got wilder. The Trident Bar, Lozoff and Rice’s bar, ended up hosting a kickoff party for The Rolling Stones’ 1972 tour. The one and only Mick Jagger tried the drink and it really Got Him Rocking. Throughout the tour, Mick Jagger continued to order the unique cocktail that mimicked the California sunrise and ended up calling the tour the “cocaine and Tequila Sunrise tour.”

So where does the Bourbon Sour Sunrise come in? Somewhere in the 1980s, this whiskey cross between a Sour and Sunrise begins to pop up. The cocktail combines the whiskey and lemon juice of the Whiskey Sour with the orange juice and layered grenadine of a Tequila Sunrise. The result is a sweet, tart cocktail that gives you a fun way to sneak in some Vitamin C.

While the Bourbon Sour Sunrise, it’s necessarily Lincoln or Jagger approved, it sure does deliver plenty of Satisfaction.