Emerald Sunrise (St Patrick's Day Cocktail)

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Forget the green beer! Celebrate in style with an Emerald Sunrise; a St Patrick's Day cocktail that puts a beautiful spin on a Tequila Sunrise. Make it layered and pretty, or mixed green through and through; either way, it's magically delicious!

Green mixed drink in a wine glas, garnished with an orange slice and a shamrock.

This easy mixed version is perfect for pitchers and St. Patrick's Day parties!

Three-layered cocktail, served in a wine glass. Layers are orange, green, and blue.

This fancy layered versionꜛ is surprisingly easy to pull off! (All you need is gravity and a straw.)

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What's the Story on this Cocktail?
Emerald Sunrise Ingredients
How a Layered Cocktail Works
How to Make this St Patrick's Day Cocktail
FAQ
More St Patrick's Day Recipes
Emerald Sunrise (Cocktail)

What's the Story on this Cocktail?

A few springtimes back, Mr B was mixing up a Tequila Sunrise and decided to use Blue Curaçao in place of the traditional grenadine. This substitution turned the whole drink a bright green!

This happened just after Saint Patrick's Day, which is a very big deal around our house. When we saw that tall glass of green, we had a flash of inspiration! I added a mandarine orange for garnish and a shamrock from my windowsill, and there we had the Irish flag in a glass - our very own, original Emerald Sunrise!

There are two ways to mix this St Patrick's Day cocktail: layered and pretty, or mixed and green (also pretty). Enjoy!

Emerald Sunrise Ingredients

The ingredients for this cocktail are pretty simple and straight-forward.

Ingredients for an Emerald Sunrise displayed in small glasses.

Tequila: We prefer 1800, but you do you.
Orange juice: We always make this drink with premade orange juice, but freshly squeezed sounds like a great idea.
Blue Curaçao: Curaçao is a liqueur flavored with the dried peel of the laraha citrus fruit, similar in flavor to an orange, and is grown on the island of Curaçao (hence the name). You don't need to go top shelf for this one.
Garnishes: Mandarine orange slice or orange twist, and shamrocks.

How a Layered Cocktail Works

Specific gravity is the key to layered cocktails. Specific gravity is the ratio between the density of an object and a reference substance, usually water. The amount of sugar or alcohol in a liquid determines its density. Water has a specific gravity of 1.0.

In the case of this cocktail recipe:

Blue Curaçao has a specific density of 1.10, making it heavier than water.
Tequila has a specific density of .94, making it lighter than water.
The specific density of orange juice varies wildly, so adding the tequila to the orange juice helps stabilize the specific density of the OJ before adding the Blue Curaçao.

Each layer of this stunning cocktail honors our Irish heritage:

Blue for the sky above and ocean around the Emerald Isle.
Green for the green that covers the whole of Ireland, and for the first stripe on the Irish flag.
Orange for the third stripe on Irish flag, which has a meaning of its own. (And for all that ginger hair I sadly did not inherit.)

Usually, when you make a layered cocktail, the heaviest liquid is poured first, and the rest are gently spooned or poured on top. In the case of our Emerald Sunrise, however, we find that mixing the orange juice and tequila first, and then funneling the Blue Curaçao to the bottom of the glass using a large straw works much better, and allows the it retains its three beautiful layers until you are ready to drink it.

How to Make this St Patrick's Day Cocktail

Layered Version

First, pour the orange juice and tequila into a glass and stir.

To add the blue Curaçao without messing up the layers, you will need a big straw, like the kind you get with smoothies or at a bubble tea shop. You will also something with a spout.

Put the straw into the tequila-OJ mix, with the bottom of the straw resting on the bottom of the glass.

Blue liquid being poured through a large straw into the bottom of a glas filled with orange juice.

Slowly pour the blue Curaçao into the straw, allowing it to settle to the bottom. This may sound difficult, but it is actually very easy. Gravity does all the work for you!

Layered St Patrick's Day cocktail in wine glass: blue, green, and orange.

Mixed Version

If you don't care about the layers and just want a pretty green drink, simply mix up a pitcher and serve it over ice! Enjoy!

Horizontal image of green mixed drink in a wine glas, garnished with an orange slice and a shamrock.

FAQ

Are shamrocks edible?

YES! Shamrocks are edible, and they make a lovely garnish. So are false shamrocks, better known as sorrel.

Shamrocks have three leaves (not four) and were used by St Patrick to teach the concept of the Holy Trinity to the Irish people.

Like the Irish people themselves, shamrocks are one of those plants that survive under very difficult circumstances, which is why there is a pot of them (shamrocks, not Irish people) thriving on my kitchen windowsill year-round.

Is there an alcohol-free mocktail version of this drink?

No alcohol for you? No worries!

Mix up a kid-friendly version by combining 3 parts orange juice, 1 part lemon lime soda (i.e., Sprite or 7-up), and a few drops of blue food coloring. Easy-peasy!

More St Patrick's Day Recipes

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4.86 from 7 votes

Emerald Sunrise (Cocktail)

Forget the green beer! Celebrate St. Patrick's Day in style with an Emerald Sunrise - a beautiful spin on a Tequila Sunrise.

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Course: Beverage

Cuisine: American

Prep Time:5

Total Time:5

Servings: drink

Calories: 293kcal

Author: Renee

Equipment

1 large straw (for fancy version only)

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

For each drink:

1½ ounces 1800 Tequila
1½ ounces blue Curaçao
5 ounces orange juice

Instructions

Make it Fancy (Layered Version)

First, pour the orange juice and tequila into a glass and stir.
To add the blue Curaçao without messing up the layers, you will need a big straw, like the kind you get with smoothies, or at bubble tea shop. You will also something with a spout.
Put the straw in the tequila-OJ mix, with the bottom of the straw resting on the bottom of the glass.
Slowly pour the blue Curaçao into the straw, allowing it to settle to the bottom. This may sound difficult, but it is actually very easy. Gravity does the work for you!

Keep it Simple (Mixed Version)

If you don't care about the layers, and just want a pretty green drink, just mix everything up together and enjoy!
You can even mix up a party pitcher this way!

Notes

No alcohol for you? No worries!
Mix up a kid-friendly version by combining 3 parts orange juice, 1 part lemon lime soda (i.e., Sprite or 7-up), and a few drops of blue food coloring. Easy-peasy!