15 Orange Juice Cocktails to Try

Here's a famous and beautiful orange juice cocktail: the tequila sunrise! It’s beautiful and vibrant, with layered colors of a summer sunset. Even better: it’s so easy to make! All you need is 3 ingredients: and no special techniques or equipment. Of course, use fresh squeezed orange juice for the best effect. The flavor is refreshingly sweet, with just a hint of tequila. Try it with our homemade grenadine!

Ingredients: Orange juice, grenadine, tequila

Of course the most popular orange juice cocktail of them all: the mimosa! How to make a perfect mimosa? We like to use Prosecco instead of champagne for a sweeter, nuanced flavor: but you could use either! Pour the bubbles with a heavy hand, and add a dash of orange liqueur. It’s tart, just sweet enough, and bubbly as all get out. Here’s how to make this beautiful and bright mimosa!

Ingredients: Orange juice, Prosecco or champagne, Cointreau

Here’s a refreshing, citrus-forward spin that we like almost even better than the original: try the Orange Margarita! Add fresh squeezed orange juice to this classic cocktail and you get a zingy, sweetly perfumed drink that’s absolutely irresistible.

Ingredients: Orange juice, tequila, lime juice, triple sec or Cointreau

Got OJ? Got vodka? Let’s make a Screwdriver! The Screwdriver is one of the easiest cocktails there is, ideal for afternoon drinks or brunch. Cocktail connoisseurs might call it low brow…and let’s be honest: it is. But there are lots of legit two-ingredient drinks! We’ll show you how to make a traditional Screwdriver: then share a few ideas on how to make a more interesting spin on this drink.

Also try: Tequila Screwdriver

Ingredients: Orange juice, vodka

Here’s a unique orange juice cocktail: the Garibaldi! This Italian cocktail has so much going for it, it’s hard to know where to start. Orange juice is the perfect sweet balance to bitter Campari. There’s a little textural little flair with a foamy topping. It comes out ultra refreshing with bitter, sweet and tangy notes all intermingling in the perfect sip. Use fresh orange juice for this one: standard or blood orange (pictured).

Looking for a quick and easy orange juice cocktail? Make a Madras! This vibrant pink vodka drink is zingy and refreshing, pairing orange with cranberry juice for tartness and color. It takes no time at all to make: just mix it right in the glass and serve on ice!

Ingredients: Cranberry juice, vodka, and orange juice

The Fuzzy Navel has a reputation that precedes it, right? This fruity party drink is a child of the 1980’s, a marriage of peach schnapps and orange juice. Like so many drinks of that era, it’s too sweet and uses a trendy ingredient that was novel at the time. But guess what? This drink isn’t all that bad. In fact, you can make a classy Fuzzy Navel drink to rival any Screwdriver or Harvey Wallbanger! We were surprisingly won over by this one and its “pleasantly peachy” aroma.

Ingredients: Orange juice, peach schnapps

Here's a refreshing, well balanced orange juice cocktail: the Amaretto Stone Sour! Of course you know the Amaretto Sour, that classic boozy sour cocktail with the retro egg white foam. Well, the stone sour is a sour made with orange juice! It’s light and refreshing, perfect for sipping at brunch or on a lazy afternoon with a book. It’s sweet tart with just right right finish of nutty amaretto.

It’s fruity and extra boozy: meet the Hurricane! The Hurricane is a classic New Orleans cocktail made with light and dark rum and passion fruit syrup. The passion fruit gives it a tropical nuance, the orange a citrus spin, and a hint of grenadine gives it extra sweetness and a rosy-golden color. It’s a unique rum cocktail that’s festive and fun!

Ingredients: Light rum, dark rum, passion fruit syrup, orange juice, lime juice, grenadine

Here’s a classic orange juice cocktail that flies under the radar: the Ward 8! This riff on the whiskey sour needs reviving, in our opinion. Where the whiskey sour can be on the sweet side, the Ward 8 is perfectly balanced and tart. It features rye whiskey, but it’s not overpowering: there’s just a hint of spice on the finish. Add sweet orange juice and bright red grenadine for sweetness and color, and it’s a super balanced and intriguing drink! 

Ingredients: Rye whiskey, lemon juice, orange juice, grenadine

Here’s a creamy orange cocktail you need in your life: the Golden Dream! This classy drink was popular in the 1960’s and 70’s, and we think it’s time for a reprieve. One sip and you’ll be instantly intrigued: in fact, it tastes like a boozy Creamsicle! It’s creamy with a strong orange flavor: and the finish isn’t too sweet, with subtle notes of herbs, licorice and vanilla.

Here’s a 1970’s orange juice cocktail that deserves a new look: the Alabama Slammer. It’s known as a lowbrow college drink made with trendy low quality liquor. But step up the liquor quality and you’ve got yourself a first-rate highball cocktail! It’s bold, fruity and balanced: great for sipping on the patio, at the lake, or just on a lazy afternoon. Here we’ve given a few little tweaks to the Alabama Slammer to take it up a notch and give it a new and improved vibe.

Ingredients: Orange juice, amaretto, bourbon, sloe gin

Here's a classic orange juice cocktail that uses blood orange juice instead...the Blood and Sand! It’s similar to a Manhattan or Martinez, but with with blood orange juice and cherry liqueur. It’s light and semi-sweet, with a balanced and cherry-forward flavor. This one will please even people who are on the fence about Scotch.

Ingredients: Scotch, cherry liqueur, vermouth, blood orange juice

It’s time for another 1970’s orange juice cocktail: make way for the Harvey Wallbanger! This easy highball cocktail is the Screwdriver‘s more sophisticated cousin. It might sound low-brow, but this drink stars Galliano, an herbal Italian liqueur invented in the 1890’s. It gives this otherwise boring brunch drink a complex, funky herbal finish. One sip and we gave this one a stamp of approval.

Want a great rum mixer? Look no further than good old OJ! Rum and Orange Juice is the way to do it. Sure, you can mix them straight up, which tastes pretty good. But we’ve got two secrets that give it a sweetness and a zing, making it an irresistibly delicious cocktail. Another classic rum and orange juice combo? The Brass Monkey.

Want a simple makeover for your margarita? Try the Italian margarita! This orange juice cocktail is a fusion of the best of Italian and Mexican cuisines. This spin on the classic cocktail swaps out orange liqueur for amaretto, and the almond essence adds a distinctly Italian vibe. Blood orange juice brings in a brilliant color, but you can also use straight orange juice too!