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Cocktail History
The Tatooine Sunset is a Star Wars cocktail that was created by Cassandra Reeder and was first published in her book The Geeky Bartender Drinks: Real-Life Recipes for Fantasy Cocktails.
According to the author, it’s an interpretation of what the companion book Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know lists as one of the top five drinks served at Chalmun’s Spaceport Cantina on Mos Eisley. She explains that she intentionally chose tequila as the cocktail’s base and paired it with other ingredients inspired by desert plants that, when carefully layered, would form the colors of a vibrant sunset similar to those seen on Tatooine in the Star Wars movies. She also garnished the recipe with two cherries as a nod to the planet’s two moons.
Cocktail Ingredients
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:
Tequila Blanco: This is the base spirit. It’s a type of tequila made with unaged agave. We used El Jimador Tequila Blanco because it has a light and palatable agave flavor and is affordable. For a mocktail version of this drink, try Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Agave Blanco Spirit in place of the tequila.
Blue Curaçao: This is an orange-flavored liqueur made with citrus, sugar, spices, blue food coloring, and a neutral grain spirit. For a mocktail version of this drink, try Monin Non-Alcoholic Blue Curaçao Syrup in place of the liqueur.
Pomegranate Juice: This adds pomegranate flavor and the deep red color to the bottom layer. The recipe in the book called for pomegranate liqueur, but we were unable to find a bottle of that in our area. Instead, we substituted it for pomegranate juice, and although thinner and less boozy, it still worked.
Grenadine: This is a sweetener made with pomegranate juice and white sugar. We made ours at home using Alex’s stovetop recipe.
Orange Juice: This adds most of the sweet orange flavor and tang. We typically use fresh orange juice instead of the bottled stuff, but you can get away with using Simply Orange Juice. We find this brand to be higher quality and lower in sugar content than some alternatives.
Lemon Juice: This adds sour citrus flavors for balance. We prefer fresh citrus juice because it’s less bitter than the bottled stuff and tastes better.
Cherries: These are the garnishes. We used Luxardo Maraschino cherries because they are high quality and taste delicious.
Tasting Notes
When not mixed, the Tatooine Sunset features the prominent aromas and flavors of tequila and orange at first. Once mixed, the drink is very fruity with flavors that are largely indistinguishable from one another, with mostly just noticeable citrus from the orange juice and curaçao.
Our Opinion of This Cocktail Recipe: Our palates are more developed than the average imbiber’s, so we aren’t likely to whip this one up again because the taste was a bit uninteresting. But it was great layering practice! Just look at those colors.
Recipe
This cocktail recipe was adapted from The Geeky Bartender Drinks: Real-Life Recipes for Fantasy Cocktails by Cassandra Reeder.
AuthorThe Geeky Bartender DrinksPrep Time5 minsAdd grenadine and pomegranate juice to a mixing glass.
Stir for 5-10 seconds.
Slowly pour into a lowball glass filled with ice.
Add orange juice and lemon juice to mixing glass.
Stir for 5-10 seconds.
Slowly pour into lowball glass without stirring.
Add tequila and blue curaçao to mixing glass.
Stir for 5-10 seconds.
Slowly pour into lowball glass without stirring.
Garnish with cherries.
Ingredients
Directions
Add grenadine and pomegranate juice to a mixing glass.
Stir for 5-10 seconds.
Slowly pour into a lowball glass filled with ice.
Add orange juice and lemon juice to mixing glass.
Stir for 5-10 seconds.
Slowly pour into lowball glass without stirring.
Add tequila and blue curaçao to mixing glass.
Stir for 5-10 seconds.
Slowly pour into lowball glass without stirring.
Garnish with cherries.
Tools & Glassware We Recommend
More Cocktails from Movies & TV Shows
If you like this cocktail recipe, here are a few others inspired by movies and shows we’ve tried that you may enjoy:
The Last Variant (Loki): An aquavit cocktail made with honey liqueur, Green Chartreuse, and lime juice
Stick ‘Em in a Stew (The Lord of the Rings): A potato vodka cocktail made with tomato juice or Bloody Mary mix, carry juice, celery bitters, Worcestershire sauce, saline solution, a meat stick, a canned potato, a cocktail onion, a baby carrot, a cherry tomato, thyme sprigs, and celery salt
Spirits Lifted (WandaVision): A peppered gin and vodka cocktail made with vermouth, paprika tincture, smoke & salt bitters, and cocktail onions
The Crown of Gondor (The Lord of the Rings): A stout beer and red wine cocktail made with winter herb syrup, rosemary, and thyme
Butterbeer (Harry Potter): A stout beer and spiced rum cocktail made with evaporated milk, butter, margarine, vanilla extract, brown sugar, whole cloves, whole allspice berries, cinnamon sticks, whipped cream, and nutmeg
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