Virgin Sunrise

It is not dense enough. Real pomegranate syrup is heavy with sugar and drops straight through orange juice, while thin watered-down grenadine just clouds the glass. Pour it slowly down the inside wall over the ice rather than dropping it in from above.

Only if you want it even. Left alone, the first mouthfuls are pure orange and the last are sweet and almost syrupy from the grenadine sitting at the base. Some people like that arc. One slow stir from the bottom evens it out without wrecking the color.

Fresh is better, but carton juice is more reliable here. You need the orange sweet rather than sharp, since nothing acidic is coming to balance it, and a decent not-from-concentrate carton is steadier than whatever oranges the shop happened to have this week.

The band softens as the ice melts and the layers begin bleeding into one another. It holds for roughly fifteen minutes in a cold glass packed with ice. Pour it last, carry it straight to the table, and it will be seen at its best.

A classic Virgin Sunrise calls for 120 ml (4 oz) Orange juice, 15 ml (0.5 oz) Grenadine. That single-serve spec scales cleanly — the recipe above converts it to oz and multiplies it for 2–4 drinks.

Nothing — the Virgin Sunrise is completely alcohol-free, which makes it a great mocktail for drivers, kids and anyone skipping alcohol.

Serve a Virgin Sunrise in a highball (tall) glass, over fresh ice cubes.