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Home » Recipes » Cocktails

Mistletoe Margarita

Published: Dec 4, 2022 by Lexi

32 shares
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Front view of mistletoe margarita with sugared cranberries and rosemary garnish.
Overhead view of finished mistletoe margaritas.

Our Mistletoe Margarita combines cranberry, orange and lime juice with orange liqueur and tequila for a festive cocktail that's brimming with holiday flavors. This cocktail is the perfect drink for your next holiday get-together!

Front view of mistletoe margarita garnished with rosemary and sugared cranberries.
This is the perfect cocktail for your next holiday occasion!

Holiday foods can often be super rich and filling. Luckily, your cocktail doesn't have to be!

With cranberry juice, orange juice, and lime juice, this festive mistletoe margarita has plenty of acidity to balance out a sugared rim, while orange liqueur and tequila provide a classic margarita flavor profile. We think it's the perfect complement to any filling holiday dinner.

Jump to:
  • Why We Love This Recipe
  • Ingredients
  • Ingredient Notes
  • How to Make a Mistletoe Margarita
  • Tips and FAQs
  • More Holiday Cocktail Recipes
  • 📖 Recipe
  • 💬 Reviews

Why We Love This Recipe

  • Balanced: With cranberry juice and blood orange juice, this isn't your typical overly-sweet holiday cocktail. It has a well-balanced sweet and sour flavor, with plenty of freshness from freshly squeezed citrus juice.
  • Holiday twist on a classic: We kept the tequila, orange liqueur, and lime juice that are typical of a classic margarita, but added cranberry juice and blood orange juice to give this mistletoe margarita a fun holiday twist.
  • Festive look: With the optional sugared cranberries and sprig of rosemary, this mistletoe margarita looks like a holiday in a glass!
  • Quick and easy: This mistletoe margarita recipe comes together in just a few minutes with only six essential ingredients. You can also make a big batch ahead of time to serve for a large crowd.
Front view of mistletoe margarita with sugared cranberries and rosemary garnish.
Sweet, sour, and completely delicious, we think this is the perfect holiday cocktail.

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make this mistletoe margarita:

Overhead view of mistletoe margarita ingredients.
You only need 6 ingredients for this mistletoe margarita!

Ingredient Notes

  • Silver tequila: Also known as blanco tequila, we recommend using a quality brand to ensure the best taste. Here's a list of some of the most reputable brands. You could also use mezcal for a smokier cocktail. If you're not a fan of tequila, vodka would be a great substitute.
  • Orange liqueur: Alongside the tequila, this is helps to create the classic margarita flavor profile. You can use Grand Marnier, Cointreau, or Triple Sec.
  • Agave or simple syrup: Agave is classic in a margarita, but if you don't have any on hand, feel free to use simple syrup, which is just a 1:1 combination of sugar and water. For a classic option, try our brown sugar simple syrup. For a slightly spicy kick, try our jalapeño simple syrup!
  • Cranberry juice: Since we're adding agave to the drink, be sure to use an unsweetened / no sugar added cranberry juice, or your cocktail may be too sweet.
  • Orange juice: We used blood oranges because we think they have a more holiday-appropriate flavor and color, but you can also use regular orange juice if you can't get ahold of any blood oranges.
  • Lime juice: Freshly squeezed is always best for cocktails!

How to Make a Mistletoe Margarita

(1) Add cranberry juice, orange juice, agave or simple syrup, lime juice, tequila, and orange liqueur to a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice and shake well for at least 10 seconds.

Adding ingredients to cocktail shaker.

(2) To rim glasses: cut a slit in a lime or orange slice and run it around the edge of the glass. Add salt and sugar (or one or the other) to a small plate and stir well. Dip the edge of the glass in the salt mixture to coat. 

Lining rim of a glass with sugar.

(3) Strain the cocktail into the glass (ice optional).

Garnish with sugared cranberries, a rosemary sprig and/or orange slices.

Pouring cocktail into a sugar rimmed glass.

Tips and FAQs

  • Use a high quality tequila like Patrón to make sure your cocktail tastes as good as it looks.
  • The blood orange juice is totally optional. If you can find it, we wholeheartedly recommend it, but regular orange juice will also work. Just note that your cocktail will be a more orange color instead or red.
  • Be sure to use an unsweetened cranberry juice to prevent your cocktail from being overly sweet. We're adding agave to the cocktail, so any additional sugar may throw off the balance. If you don't have any unsweetened cranberry juice, you may want to leave out the agave or simple syrup.
  • Make it frozen: add everything to the blender with 1 cup of ice and blend to make a frozen mistletoe margarita.
  • Garnish ideas:
    • Salty/sweet rim: We recommend dipping the rim of each glass into simple syrup (or use a lime wedge), and then into a mixture of salt and sugar for a unique margarita rim. For a more classic option, you can just use salt.
    • For an extra flavorful rim, zest some orange peel into the sugar/salt mixture.
    • Sugared cranberries: To make sugared cranberries, dip fresh cranberries in simple syrup and roll them in sugar. Place on a cooling rack to set. It's that easy!
    • Rosemary or thyme sprigs
    • Orange or lime slices
  • Make it alcohol free (mocktail version): Substitute the tequila with a zero proof alternative, like this one from Ritual. We like to use a zero proof alternative instead of subbing the tequila for more juice, as it will still give you that "bite" and depth of flavor that you would get from regular tequila. To make this alcohol free, you'll also need to leave out the orange liqueur. To keep that flavor in the cocktail, try grating some orange zest into the cocktail shaker.
Can I make this cocktail ahead of time?

Yes, just mix up all the liquids and keep them in the fridge. When you're ready to serve, just pour over ice.

Can I make this cocktail for a crowd?

To make this cocktail for a crowd, multiply the stated quantities by however many servings you need, and pour everything into a pitcher. Serve by pouring into individual glasses filled with ice.

Overhead view of finished mistletoe margaritas.
Garnish with sugared cranberries and rosemary for the ultimate holiday cocktail.

More Holiday Cocktail Recipes

  • Santa Baby Cocktail
  • Cranberry Mimosa
  • Christmas Old Fashioned
  • Peppermint White Russian

Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with us through social media by following us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or by subscribing to our newsletter.

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Front view of mistletoe margarita with sugared cranberries and rosemary garnish.

Mistletoe Margarita


★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

  • Author: Lexi
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 1 cocktail 1x
  • Diet: Vegan
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Description

Our Mistletoe Margarita combines cranberry, orange and lime juice with orange liqueur and tequila for a festive cocktail that's brimming with holiday flavors. This cocktail is the perfect drink for your next holiday get-together!


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 ounces cranberry juice (no sugar added)
  • 1 ounce orange juice (freshly squeezed or store bought)
  • ½ ounce agave or simple syrup
  • ½ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1 ½ ounces silver (blanco) tequila
  • ½ ounce Grand Marnier or Cointreau
  • For rim: 1 teaspoon kosher salt + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • For garnish (optional): sugared cranberries and rosemary sprig

Instructions

  1. To rim glasses: cut a slit in a lime or orange slice and run it around the edge of the glass. Add salt and sugar (or one or the other) to a small plate and stir well. Dip the edge of the glass in the salt mixture to coat. 
  2. Add cranberry juice, orange juice, agave or simple syrup, lime juice, tequila, and orange liqueur to a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice and shake well for at least 10 seconds.
  3. Strain the cocktail into the glass (ice optional).
  4. Garnish with sugared cranberries, a rosemary sprig and/or orange slices.

Notes

Make it alcohol free (mocktail version): Substitute the tequila with a zero proof alternative, like this one from Ritual. We like to use a zero proof alternative instead of subbing the tequila for more juice, as it will still give you that "bite" and depth of flavor that you would get from regular tequila. To make this alcohol free, you'll also need to leave out the orange liqueur. To keep that flavor in the cocktail, try grating some orange zest into the cocktail shaker. 

Make ahead: Just mix up all the liquids and keep them in the fridge. When you're ready to serve, just pour over ice.

Make a pitcher: To make this cocktail for a crowd, multiply the stated quantities by however many servings you need, and pour everything into a pitcher. Serve by pouring into individual glasses filled with ice.

Agave or simple syrup: Agave is classic in a margarita, but if you don't have any on hand, feel free to use simple syrup, which is just a 1:1 combination of sugar and water. For a classic option, try our brown sugar simple syrup. For a slightly spicy kick, try our jalapeño simple syrup!

Cranberry juice: Be sure to use unsweetened/no sugar added. If using sweetened cranberry juice, you may want to cut back on the amount of agave. 

  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 minutes
  • Category: Cocktails
  • Method: Shaker
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 cocktail
  • Calories: 207
  • Sugar: 36.2 g
  • Sodium: 1.2 mg
  • Fat: 0.1 g
  • Carbohydrates: 37 g
  • Fiber: 0.1 g
  • Protein: 0.1 g

Keywords: mistletoe margarita

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    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

  1. Brent

    December 04, 2022 at 1:41 pm

    One of my favorite crowded kitchen cocktails to date.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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Lexi and Beth toasting with wine.

Hi, we're Lexi and Beth, a mother-daughter team from Michigan. The recipes you'll find here are a reflection of how we bring our family together around the dinner table despite various dietary differences.

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