This is BY FAR my favorite holiday cocktail recipe. It’s colorful, festive and it is absolutely mouth-watering, delicious….which can be dangerous for a cocktail.
I think the magic is in the simple syrup I put together, it just encompasses what the holidays should taste like; sweet, spicy, flavorful.
I guarantee a homerun when you start your party off with a pitcher of these. And the simple syrup can be made a day ahead, so no last minute rushing!!
Enjoy!
In a large saucepan combine the water, cranberry juice cocktail, sugar, cinnamon sticks, star anise and whole cloves; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove the spices and cool completely. This may be made up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerated, which is perfect since it can get nice and cold.
Dip the rim of your glasses in some extra cranberry juice and then in red sanding sugar for a decorative touch. Put cranberries on festive toothpicks and freeze for garnish.
To a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice, add ½ cup of spiced-cranberry simple syrup, ¼ cup vodka and a splash of orange juice. Shake and strain into martini glasses and garnish with frozen cranberry skewers.
Cranberry-Spiced Martini’s
3 cups cranberry juice cocktail
3 cups water
1-½ cups vodka, divided
1 cup granulated sugar
12 whole cloves
4 cinnamon sticks
1 star anise pod
Fresh cranberries
Red sanding sugar
Orange juice
In a large saucepan combine the water, cranberry juice cocktail, sugar, cinnamon sticks, star anise and whole cloves; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove the spices and cool completely. This may be made up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerated, which is perfect since it can get nice and cold.
Dip the rim of your glasses in some extra cranberry juice and then in red sanding sugar for a decorative touch. Put cranberries on festive toothpicks and freeze for garnish.
To a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice, add ½ cup of spiced-cranberry simple syrup, ¼ cup vodka and a splash of orange juice. Shake and strain into martini glasses and garnish with frozen cranberry skewers.
Other Cocktail Recipes that Will Make Your Holiday Party…M-E-R-R-Y
Happy Elk Cocktail
Glowing Geckoes
Pumpkin Pie Martini’s
Fuzzy Melba’s
Limoncello Lemonade
Hpnotiq Breeze
Two Years Ago: Italian Cookies
By the time December arives we are Turkeyed out so we do BEEF,Prime rib fancy dinner all the fixings. My daughter (26) will Love this drink
These cocktails looks so festive … and def tasty! Like New Year’s Eve ordered up! Happy Holidays! Salut!
Mmmmmmm I love the cranberry and spice! I will have to make this – yum!
YUMMY!!! This drink not only sounds delicious they are beautiful too!
Gorgeous. We tried a Cranberry Margarita…not worth the effort…at least with the recipe we had. We all thought we would love them since we love cranberry limeades. But this looks amazing.
Yum! This is like the best kind of homemade cranberry sauce made into a cocktail!
I love cranberries and who could turn down a martini? Not I. This looks mouth watering!
Wow this looks amazing! I love the idea of a spiced winter drink that is served cold. Not a big fan of hot drinks with booze.
These look so good! Where did you get the cool festive picks?
How many people does this recipe serve?
About eight but that will vary with the size of your glasses.
Sounds wonderful! Can’t wait to try it. I second on Judys question, where did you get those fabulous martini picks?
I have no doubt those taste delicious, but it is their stunning beauty that has me drooling!
These look gorgeous and I love cranberries so I can’t wait to try them. I have to ask, who makes those beautiful olive (or in this case,cranberry) picks? Love them! So much prettier than the everyday plastic pick. Have a happy holiday!!
OMG I might have the biggest girl crush on you right now! I LOVE martinis and this looks awesome!
The red color is magnificent as is the holder of the cranberries. I could drink a few of these for sure.
I made this last night for a holiday get together and it is wonderful! Everyone LOVED it, and I am sharing your website w/ them. The star anise, whole cloves, and cinnamon sticks impart such a wonderful flavor. Many thanks, Cathy, this is a definite repeat for my household during future holiday gatherings. I have some left over and am thinking about warming it up and trying it as a hot toddy. I feel a cold coming on!
I just made a small batch of this to sample as a possibility for our NYE party: absolutely perfect. The spices add warmth for a cold night and adds great flavor. I did infuse the vodka with Thai chili’s and used diet cranberry juice to cut the sweetness. Really glad I found this recipe.
I like your substitutions/additions. I’m going to try them next time I make this.
Hosting book club of 15 for a “cookies & cocktails” and this recipe looks perfect. But how do I make 15 drinks to serve at once? Do they sell shakers that large? I do like how your recipe is for 8 and not less. Thanks. Cheers.