Tasty Spiced Cranberry Juice for Holiday Drinks and Cocktails

This Spiced Cranberry Juice is the secret weapon for quickly creating delicious holiday drinks and cocktails! 

It’s super simple to make and has all the seasonal flavors that we love! 

Whether you want to create a nonalcoholic drink for your kids or pour an easy cocktail recipe, this cranberry juice is the perfect base! 

This post was originally published on December 6, 2019 and has been updated with tips to make it perfect every time.

Why this Recipe Works

Spiced Cranberry Juice is Everything!

I’m not a fan of overly sweet simple syrups. But I do love how they give a condensed flavor to drinks. 

Using fruit juice is a great way to get a lot of flavor without all the extra sugar. 

Don’t get me wrong, juice has tons of sugar. But it tends to be more balanced than simple syrup. 

I knew that adding yummy holiday spices to pear juice made cocktail magic in this Pear Bellini.

So I knew it would probably work for cranberry juice too. And I was right! 

I came up with this idea after I had a glorious Cranberry Bourbon Cocktail at a local restaurant. I wanted to recreate it at home and threw some spices in a pan with cranberry juice. 

It’s a great thing to make during the Christmas season. It has seasonal flavors that feel festive.

It’s super versatile and you can use it to make drinks for the kids (just add ginger ale!) but you can also make tasty cocktails! 

It’s SO easy! And once you make this, you have it for a while! 

I use it as a base in my Vodka Cranberry Slush cocktail and Cranberry Mule and it can be used pretty much anywhere you use regular cranberry juice.

Ingredient Notes

You can choose your favorite Cranberry Juice to make this cocktail base. It’s a delicious mix of sweet and tart.

Fresh ginger, peeled and cut into chunks, and freshly grated nutmeg add warm spice to the cranberry juice. Fresh is best because you’ll get the most bang for your buck, but use whatever you have.

And there is nothing better than freshly grated nutmeg.

I used this zester (it also works really well for zesting lemons and grating hard cheeses and chocolate!) with the whole spice to get enough for this recipe.

I grate fresh nutmeg on top of everything this time of year! 

You can find whole nutmeg on Amazon but it’s really easy to find in most grocery stores. 

Instructions

Earlier, I mentioned “cracked”  cinnamon sticks. It’s a great way to ensure that as much cinnamon flavor as possible can be infused in the juice.

And this is how you do it. 

Lay a cinnamon stick as flat as you can on a cutting board (one side typically has where the two sides roll into each other (more stable) and the back is the curved part (less stable).

Lay the side of a chef’s knife flat on the cinnamon stick on the cutting board blade facing away from you (which I am doing the opposite of in this photo. Oops. 

In my defense, I was really trying to figure out how to photograph this so that you understood what you’re supposed to do.

With the heel of your hand, give the flat side of the knife a good whack. 

It should easily break the cinnamon stick into pieces like pictured above. 

Be careful! I take no responsibility for you cutting yourself. I have never cut myself and I always do it this way.

You could probably slam an empty pan down on tip of it too. Or a rolling pin. Or a hammer. 

1. Add cranberry juice, ginger, cinnamon sticks and nutmeg to a saucepan.
2. Simmer, on low, for approximately 45 minutes.
3. Allow to cool completely.
4. Use cheesecloth in a funnel to strain into an air-tight container (I use a mason jar with a lid).

Store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. 

The flavor is so vibrant! You get all that great cranberry goodness (perfectly sweet but not overly sweet) with the holiday spices.

Fresh ginger helps to cut through the sugar and cinnamon and nutmeg make everything feel like Christmas.

I use this Spice Infused Cranberry Juice for a Cranberry Bourbon cocktail, Cranberry Vodka Slush, and Cranberry Mule! 

This would also be tasty with a little champagne or, for the kids, some sparkling apple cider! 

Tips and Tricks

• My favorite way to peel ginger is to use a spoon. It works so well! But you could use a vegetable peeler too.
• Be careful when cracking the cinnamon. If you’re concerned about cutting your hand, use a rolling pin instead.
• If you had to, you could use ground cinnamon. Just note it won’t mix in well but will seperate and float on top.

Frequently Asked Questions

This easy Cranberry Juice with Holiday Spices would be perfect for a holiday party bar cart! You could set it out, with several types of liquor and let everyone make their own drinks! 

And this would be super easy to make several batches of should you need it for a large batch of punch or want to make it for multiple events! 

Do you love cranberry during the holiday? I keep this Mulled Spice Cranberry Juice ready all holiday season long! 

Related Holiday Drink Ideas

• Champagne Punch is a great festive recipe! 
• This Cinnamon Whiskey Moscow Mule is perfect for this time of year.
• A Spiced Winter Daiquiri is unexpected and totally delicious.