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The perfect Christmas cocktail for the holiday season, this cranberry gin cocktail is an easy recipe for entertaining or simply for creating your own holiday cheer.
Festive cocktails for holiday parties and Christmas dinner can be over the top. Many include rich liqueurs, egg yolks, egg white, heavy cream, or festive spices. This drink has none of those ingredients. Simple and delicious, this cranberry gin cocktail is a great choice for the holidays but with only 4 ingredients, it's also an easy choice.
Orange bitters impart citrus flavor while taking the place of more tart mixers like lime juice, fresh lemon juice, or other citrus juices. The rosemary simple syrup gives this refreshing drink an unexpected twist and pairs perfectly with herbaceous gin. The flavor of juniper berries in the gin pairs well with rosemary and pure cranberry juice to create a drink that's not too sweet. Serve this Christmas gin cocktail at your next holiday party!
This time of year, ingredients like cinnamon stick, star anise, and even ginger beer are common in festive gin cocktails, but they tend to overwhelm the other ingredients in your drink. By using only 4 ingredients - one of which being good gin - this delicious cocktail is a great sip for the gin lover in your life because you can actually taste the gin!
What You Need
- Cranberry juice
- Gin (I love New Holland Knickerbocker)
- Rosemary simple syrup
- Orange bitters
How to Make a Cranberry Gin Cocktail
Put all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
Shake it up and strain into a glass filled with fresh ice.
Garnish with a sprig of rosemary and/or some frozen cranberries
Enjoy!
How to Make Rosemary Simple Syrup
Homemade rosemary simple syrup is quick and easy to make using fresh rosemary and pantry ingredients. Just follow my recipe for easy rosemary syrup.
Recipe Tips
Make your rosemary syrup in advance. When you’re making homemade simple syrup, it needs time to cool. Using warm syrup will cause the ice to melt too fast when you shake up your drink, leading to a watered down cocktail.
Use 100% juice! Be sure to choose pure cranberry juice instead of cranberry juice cocktail, which is mostly sugar. Using anything besides 100% cranberry juice will change the flavor of your drink and make it overly sweet.
Since you’re pouring it over ice, choose a rocks glass or brandy snifter for serving this drink.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you don't have rosemary on hand, you can substitute simple syrup or honey syrup.
Choose a gin with lots of herb flavor in it. I love Knickerbocker Gin by New Holland Distillery here in West Michigan. Beefeater Gin or Bombay Gin would also be delicious in this cocktail.
Frozen cranberries, fresh cranberries, a big sprig of rosemary, and/or a twist of orange peel are all fun garnishes to give this drink a festive finish. (And even though they're green and festive, skip the slice of lime or mint leaves. The flavors will clash with the rosemary and overwhelm the drink.)
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Print the Recipe
PrintCranberry Gin Cocktail
Simple, delicious, and festive, this cranberry gin cocktail is perfect for the holidays. The rosemary syrup gives it an unexpected twist.
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 0 min
- Total Time: 5 min
- Yield: 1 cocktail 1x
- Category: Cocktails
- Method: Cocktail Shaker
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 oz cranberry juice
- 2 oz gin
- 1 oz rosemary simple syrup
- 3 dashes orange bitters
Instructions
Put all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
Shake it up and strain into a glass filled with fresh ice.
Garnish with a sprig of rosemary and/or some frozen cranberries.
Enjoy!
Keywords: cranberry, gin, gin cocktail, rosemary simple syrup, holiday drinks, Christmas drinks
Trish
I have to admit, I was skeptical of this one, since I’m not a big cranberry fan. My husband is, so we gave it a shot. It’s wonderful! The orange bitters make all the difference I think.
★★★★★
MittenGirl
I'm so glad you liked it!! 🙂
Betsey Ingraham
Making the rosemary syrup was super easy. We didn't have fresh rosemary, but the dried worked well as a substitute.
We enjoyed cranberry gin cocktails as part of our New Year celebration. They are almost too good!! Not too much cranberry or gin. Just the right balance.
★★★★★
MittenGirl
Good to know that dried rosemary worked great for the syrup! So glad you liked the cocktail. 🙂