The Story

So there I was, late August, sitting on the beach at Madaket watching the sun go down. If you've never seen a Madaket sunset, I genuinely don't know how to explain it. The whole sky turns these impossible colors—orange bleeding into pink bleeding into purple, the water reflecting it all back like a mirror made of light.

I was on my day off. I'd brought a cooler with some beer and a book I wasn't reading because I couldn't stop staring at the sky. And somewhere around the time the orange hit peak intensity, I thought: "That should be a drink."

Not metaphorically. Literally. I wanted to put those colors in a glass.

I went home that night and started experimenting. The challenge was the gradient—how do you get layers of color that stay distinct but also work together as a cocktail? You can't just pour different colored liquids and hope they sort themselves out. Physics doesn't work that way.

Unless... you use different densities.

Rum at the bottom—the amber sunset base. Rosé in the middle—the pink. A float of créme de violette on top—the purple just before the sky goes dark. The trick is pouring slowly, over the back of a spoon, so the layers stay separate long enough to admire before you stir and drink.

It took me three weeks and about forty failed attempts. Some of them were delicious but looked wrong. Some looked perfect but tasted like chemistry experiments. But finally, version forty-one: I held it up to the window, and it looked exactly like what I'd seen at Madaket.

I almost didn't want to drink it.

Almost.

Layered sunset cocktail with orange gradient
Photo: Shutter Shoalwater / AI Generated

The Recipe

Glass Wine Glass
Prep Time 5 min
Difficulty Advanced

Ingredients

  • Aged rum 1 1/2 oz
  • Nantucket Vineyard Sea Blush (rosé) 2 oz
  • Fresh orange juice 1 oz
  • Grenadine (real, not the neon stuff) 1/2 oz
  • Créme de violette 1/4 oz
  • Orange wheel for garnish

Instructions

  1. Build the base. Add rum, orange juice, and grenadine to a shaker with ice. Shake briefly—just to chill and combine.
  2. Strain into glass. Use a wine glass for maximum sunset viewing. The amber-orange base layer is your foundation.
  3. Float the rosé. Pour the Sea Blush slowly over the back of a bar spoon, letting it layer on top of the rum mixture. Don't rush this.
  4. Float the violet. Same technique with the créme de violette. Just a quarter ounce, drizzled gently over the spoon. It should pool at the very top.
  5. Admire. Seriously. Take a photo. Send it to someone you love. You've earned this moment.
  6. Garnish and stir. Add the orange wheel, give it a gentle stir to marry the layers, and drink.

Porter's Notes

The layering is the hardest part. Go too fast and everything mixes immediately. Go too slow and you'll drive yourself crazy. The trick is steady, consistent pouring over the back of a spoon—the liquid should barely be moving when it leaves the spoon.

Use real grenadine, not the artificially colored stuff. Real grenadine is made from pomegranates and adds actual flavor. The neon red stuff is just corn syrup with attitude.

The violet is optional if you can't find it, but you'll lose the purple top layer. At that point, you're making a Madaket Afternoon instead of a Madaket Sunset. Still good. Not quite the same.

The Cisco Connection

Nantucket Vineyard Sea Blush is their rosé—dry enough to work in a cocktail, pink enough to sell the sunset theme. It's not just a color choice; the wine adds acidity and body that balance the sweetness of the rum and grenadine.

Could you use another rosé? Sure. But you'd lose the "entirely Nantucket" angle, which is half the point of ordering this drink and then explaining it to whoever's sitting next to you.

Serve This When...

  • You want to impress someone (yourself counts)
  • It's golden hour and you need a drink to match
  • Someone says cocktails can't be art
  • You're hosting and want people to take photos of your bartending

The Honest Truth

This is not a beginner cocktail. The layering technique takes practice, and even experienced bartenders mess it up sometimes. If your first attempt looks like muddy water, that's normal. Make yourself drink it anyway (it still tastes good), then try again.

If you're making these for a group, build them one at a time. Don't try to batch the layering. It doesn't work. Trust me—I tried.