Cranberry Mocktail

Why We Love This Recipe

• Perfect for fall/winter holidays: this cranberry mocktail is the perfect Christmas or Thanksgiving cocktail. Especially garnished with fresh cranberries and thyme, it's festive and makes for an impressive holiday drink!
• Quick and easy: With only 6 ingredients, this cranberry mocktail is ridiculously easy to make.
• Alcohol free: This cranberry mocktail is perfect for those who are abstaining, including expectant mothers, designated drivers, or anyone who simply prefers to skip the booze. It can also easily be turned into a regular cocktail by adding gin, so it's great for entertaining a crowd. Even without the liquor, it's totally delicious, so nobody is missing out!

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make these cranberry mocktails:

Ingredient Notes

• Non alcoholic gin: We love this zero proof gin from Ritual. It gives you the same bite and depth of flavor that you'd get from regular gin, but without the booze. If you can't find an alcohol free gin alternative, simply leave it out and slightly increase the quantities of the remaining ingredients.
• Cranberry juice: This should be fairly easy to find in your grocery store, likely right next to the apple juice. We typically opt for unsweetened in this mocktail. If you don't like the tartness, you can either just use sweetened cranberry juice, or cut it with a little extra cinnamon simple syrup.
• Cinnamon simple syrup: sure, regular simple syrup is fine, but this cinnamon simple syrup is only 3 ingredients (water, sugar, cinnamon sticks), SO easy to make, and adds so much to this cranberry mocktail. Cinnamon has such a delicious spicy/sweet flavor that really elevates your drink, and you can use leftover syrup in just about any other fall/winter cocktail!
• Ginger beer: Make sure to use ginger beer, not ginger ale here. Bundaberg, Gosling's, and Q Mixers are all good, reliable brands. If you're unfamiliar with ginger beer, it's non-alcoholic and is essentially much more intense than ginger ale. If you're not a fan of ginger beer (or can't find any), you can sub with sparkling water in a pinch.
• Lime juice: Freshly squeezed always tastes best in cocktails.
• Orange juice: Store bought or freshly squeezed – either is fine.

Instructions

(1) Add cranberry juice, orange juice, lime juice, simple syrup, and non-alcoholic gin (if using) to a cocktail shaker half filled with ice. 

(2) Add ice to a cocktail glass and strain the mixture over the top.

(3) Top with 3 fl oz of ginger beer and enjoy garnished with cranberries and sprigs of thyme. 

Tips and FAQs

• Garnishes: Completely optional, but feel free to garnish with some sugared (or regular) cranberries and fresh herbs for that festive holiday look.
• Make ahead: We combine the all of ingredients (except the ginger beer) in a mason jar and store in the fridge. When you're ready to serve, give it a shake, pour the mixture over ice and top with the ginger beer.
• Tip for squeezing citrus: If you store your citrus in the refrigerator, be sure to give it a good roll against your counter for 10-15 seconds, or throw it in the microwave for ten seconds. This will help maximize the amount of juice you'll get out of your lime or orange.
• No cocktail shaker? Just add all the liquids except the ginger beer to a tall glass filled with ice, stir, and then top off with the ginger beer.

More Mocktail Recipes to Enjoy

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