Corona And Tequila Are The Stars Of This Refreshing 4-Ingredient Cocktail

Summer is a time for clean, bright, and fun drinks. For some, that's a tall bottle of Corona cerveza topped with a lime wedge. For others, it's tequila in a salt-rimmed glass. It turns out, thanks to the Corona sunrise, you can have both! A Corona sunrise is what you get when you take a Corona and add in a tequila sunrise cocktail without the ice. Building this cocktail is simple. It's just four ingredients (not counting the lime), and you build it right in the bottle. It's also fun because to start, you have to drink to make room for the other ingredients.

When your beer lines up with the top of the Corona label, stop drinking — at least for now. Replace the missing beer with two ounces of your favorite tequila. A solid option is Cazcanes Blanco, which also happens to be one of the best tequilas for making margaritas. After the tequila, you'll drop in your orange juice, a splash of grenadine, and a lime wedge. The result is a Mexican lager that goes down like a cocktail. The nose remains Corona, but when you take a sip, the grenadine adds sweetness without overpowering it, thanks to the beer's tartness. It fits well in any cookout, and if you're not usually into beer, it makes it palatable while you walk around with a burger plate in your other hand.

The calendar says summer starts at the end of June, but that's nonsense. Once April showers are behind us, the days get longer, and 5 o'clock on Fridays can't come quickly enough. And when Cinco de Mayo comes around, it's time for fun in the sun and happy hours. Summer is all about taking it easy, and nothing beats a drink where you can just pop off the bottle cap and enjoy. You may prefer pilsner-style lagers such as Pacifico or Modelo, but Corona's crispness gives it a stronger edge for certain light, citrusy drinks. However, Corona can be bland on its own, even with the lime wedge. That's where tequila comes through to liven things up.

Tequila, from the agave plant grown in Mexico, is a light distilled beverage with citrus notes and a tart bite. This is why most tequila cocktails lean on the orange notes of triple sec and the acidity of lime, orange, and grapefruit juices. You're bound to see plenty of tequila shots with lime wedge chasers on any summer night out. And then there's the classic margarita, the famous tequila cocktail that makes people think that's just what you do with tequila. That's why the Corona sunrise is such a welcome and refreshing drink. It takes two respected stars and combines them to make one blockbuster cocktail that will cool you off on those hot, sunny days.