Passion fruit, pineapple, and pomegranate make this fiery Southern Autumn Sunrise Cocktail as welcome on a cool day as it is on a hot day!
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Have you ever seen a Southern sunrise?
I mean, I’m sure sunrises in all the other quadrants of the compass are purty too, but there’s just something about the feel of your toes in the sand as that big ball of fire comes up over the horizon, painting the sky with beautiful colors just like this. And when those elusive autumn breezes come blowing across that wide ocean…
You almost forget about how miserably hot and humid the previous week was.
I’m not gonna lie – I had a really hard time coming up with the name for this drink.
After asking some blogging friends and my hubby (all of whom were oddly no help,) I finally decided a play on a tequila/vodka sunrise recipe title made the most sense. It’s definitely a loose play on the classic Sunrise, but with the star being a bit more of an exotic flavor profile was totally needed.
If you know me, you know that vodka is definitely not my liquor of choice, not even in cocktails. At least, not the standard kind. (It just tastes like rubbing alcohol, I don’t get it.)
But when premium French Vodka is blended with unique flavors and presented in a fun, colorful way, I am so game. And Alizé makes for a great cocktail mixer, which is good considering I went through half a bottle before landing on this final recipe.
And when I say “went through” what I mean is not a drop of the failures went to waste. I’m glad it ended up being a two-day development.
If you love fizzy & fruity drinks, you’ll love this Southern Autumn Sunrise Cocktail.
Shake up the passion fruit vodka with some ice, pineapple juice, (the canned variety is my fave – not from concentrate!) and freshly squeezed lime. Don’t cheat yourself and use the squeezey kind, fresh is best. Very gently drizzle in the grenadine (I made my own!) over the back of a spoon, and I mean gently. You want the layers, don’t you? Just watch it fall to the bottom and collect in a lovely ruby red puddle.
At this point, the drink is pretty sweet, but I found toping it off with some sparkling water mellowed out the sugar content just enough. If you’re looking to up the alcohol in these lovely drinks, a prosecco or brut champagne would work just as well.
The pomegranate arils are optional, mainly just for looks – I love how they sort of suspend themselves inside. They’re also very seasonal, so if you’re making this in April, you might have to opt for some halved raspberries instead. Thyme is also up to you. It’s a milder herb flavor than rosemary or basil, so it doesn’t affect the flavor much since there’s no muddling.
Looking at it now, it kind of reminds me of seaweed in the ocean. Appropriate.
Just make sure you mix it all up with the thyme (or a cocktail stick) before drinking it up! As pretty as it looks in layers, it tastes much better combined into one blood-red mass of grenadine-kissed love.
Southern Autumn Sunrise Cocktail
Ingredients
- 2 ounces Alizé passion fruit vodka
- 2 ounces pineapple juice
- ½ lime juiced
- 1 ounce grenadine
- Sparkling water
- Pomegranate arils for garnish
- Fresh thyme for garnish
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker half filled with ice, combine Alizé vodka, pineapple juice, and lime juice. Shake, then strain into a champagne glass.
- Slowly pour the grenadine into the glass over the back of a spoon or by drizzling it down the side of the glass, allowing it to settle at the bottom. Fill glass near to the top with sparkling water, then drop in some pomegranate arils and fresh thyme sprigs.
Nutrition
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