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 and easy cocktail recipe, this cranberry juice is the perfect base!
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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 a 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!
Can You Heat Cranberry Juice Up?
YES!
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'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!
How to Make Spiced Cranberry Juice
It's SO easy! And once you make this, you have it for a while!
Ingredients
- 1 64 oz. Cranberry Juice
- 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into chunks
- 3 cinnamon sticks, cracked
- 3/4 tsp fresh nutmeg
My favorite way to peel ginger is to use a spoon. It works so well! But you could use a vegetable peeler too.
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!
I couldn't find whole nutmeg on Amazon but it's really easy to find in most grocery stores.
Under ingredients, 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.
Directions
- Add cranberry juice, ginger, cinnamon sticks and nutmeg to a saucepan.
- Simmer, on low, for approximately 45 minutes.
- Allow to cool completely.
- 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!
Printable Spiced Cranberry Juice Recipe
Spiced Cranberry Juice
Infusing cranberry juice with holiday spices is a great way to create a tasty base for Christmas drinks and cocktails!
Ingredients
- 1 64 oz. Cranberry Juice
- 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into chunks
- 3 cinnamon sticks, cracked
- 3/4 tsp fresh nutmeg
Instructions
- Add cranberry juice, ginger, cinnamon sticks and nutmeg to a saucepan.
- Simmer low, on the stove for approximately 45 minutes.
- Allow to cool completely.
- Use cheesecloth in a funnel to strain into an air-tight container.
- Store in the fridge.
Notes
This may reduce a little but will not get syrupy.
Also, I noted that it makes 24 servings, but I really have no idea how many servings this is. It is just under 64 ounces (due to some evaporation) so it depends on what you plan on making with it! You can get several cocktails or drinks out of it. Or one big punch.
Nutrition Information
Yield
24Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 37 Total Fat 0g Saturated Fat 0g Trans Fat 0g Unsaturated Fat 0g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 5mg Carbohydrates 9g Net Carbohydrates 0g Fiber 0g Sugar 8g Sugar Alcohols 0g Protein 0g
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?
More 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.
Pin This Spiced Cranberry Juice for Later
I keep this Spiced Cranberry Juice ready all holiday season long!
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