Tequila Sunrise Shot

Most of us are familiar with the classic tequila sunrise cocktail, a drink that’s simple to make and visually beautiful. I recreate it here as a tequila sunrise shot that still uses the same three ingredients but makes for a short, snappy shooter you drink down in one go.

I love layered shots, especially ones as delicious as this one. If you love the tequila sunrise cocktail, you’re going to adore this recipe.

This layered shot is so colorful and pretty that it’s fun to serve at a party. Watch everyone line up to down one of these beauties and listen to them murmur ‘yum’ after imbibing it!

And the best part is you can serve your guests more than one since each shooter is only one-third alcohol.

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This recipe is for one layered shot. Just add the same ingredient amounts to as many shot glasses as you need.

Helpful tips

• Usually when you are layering a shot, you need to put the heaviest liquor on the bottom and work your way up to the lightest. Not true in this case, the heaviest substance is the grenadine and will be layered in last. You want it to switch places with the other ingredients so you get the sunrise affect.
• When making a layered shot, you can only measure the first ingredient because you’ll need a pourer in conjunction with a cocktail spoon to layer the other ingredients directly from the bottle into the shot glass, which means you’ll need to eyeball the quantities of those additional ingredients.
• One tool you definitely need for layering is either a regular teaspoon or a cocktail spoon. I prefer the cocktail spoon since it has a wider bowl.
• I also prefer to use pourers, like the ones you see in bars, because they control the flow of liquor from the bottle, allowing you to pour slowly, which is required for layered shots.
• When layering, place your spoon bowl side up against the inside of the glass, but above the liquid.
• It’s one of my favorite things that sometimes in layered shots, you will see an ingredient switch places with the rest of the ingredients. In this layered shot, the grenadine does just that.
• Most shot glasses are 2 ounces. You can find smaller ones but I like the 2 ounce glasses because most of my layered shots are 1.5 ounces.
• For this drink, you can use as much or as little grenadine as you like. I used different amounts for each of the glasses so you can see how it looks. The smooth short glass has more than the beveled glass, but the tall glass has the most.
• The shape of the glass showcases the layered shots differently. I love that. As you can see, the tall glass allows more infiltration of the grenadine, where the shorter glasses separate easily.

How to make a layered tequila sunrise shot

Pre-step

Get a cocktail spoon or teaspoon, pourer and three shot glasses.

Step one

Gather the ingredients – tequila, fresh orange juice and grenadine.

Step two

Measure out .50 ounce of tequila and pour it into the shot glasses.

Step three

Add .75 ounce of orange juice. You want the liquid to come up to leave less than ¼ of the glass free.

Step four

Place a pourer into the grenadine bottle. Put the cocktail spoon in and against the glass with the bowl side facing up. Carefully pour the grenadine over the bowl of the spoon and into the glass. Use as much or as little as you like.

It’s a pretty drink isn’t it?

But it’s not just pretty, it’s delicious as well. See the different ways the layered shot looks in each glass?

Let’s see the smallest glass in front.

I hope you enjoyed this layered tequila sunrise shot. It’s one of the most popular tequila shots. It’s delicious and a people pleaser.

Other fun layered shots

• Snickers
• B52
• After Eight
• Chocolate covered cherry
• Pineapple upside down cake

If you’ve tried this recipe, I’d love the know what you thought about it in the comments below. I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more of my delicious food and delightful cocktails!