PREP TIME 5 min
We love this Cranberry Martini recipe for two important reasons – it looks very fancy, and it’s very easy to make. After all, who doesn’t adore a showstopper drink that’s simple to shake up?
So, if you are on the lookout for a festive drink to pretty up your tablescapes over Christmas, here is our tried and tested recipe for a Cranberry Martini that tastes as delicious as it looks.
Rim the serving glass with sugar
Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice, and shake until cold
Strain into the sugar-rimmed glass, garnish with cranberries and a lemon wedge, and serve
As great cocktails tend to do, the Cranberry Martini recipe has inspired quite a few spin-offs in its time. Here are a few you can try if you feel like taking the road less travelled:
Vodka is a classic choice when it comes to a Martini, but if you are a gin lover, you should definitely try switching out the vodka for a London Dry Gin like Bulldog. It adds a lovely green note to the drink that draws the zest from the Grand Marnier into firm focus.
More gin vibes: The Best Gin Cocktails Ever Invented
The Spiced Cranberry Martini is a very popular batch drink around the festive season. You’ll need 200g cranberries, the juice of two limes and one orang, 100g caster sugar, 1 wine-mulling spice bag, a few slices of root ginger, 1 cinnamon stick, a squeeze of lime for the glass rims, 6 tablespoons of chilled vermouth, 180ml vodka (or gin), chilled soda water and cranberries to garnish.
Add the cranberries, lime and orange juices, sugar, wine-mulling spice bag, root ginger, cinnamon stick, and 300ml water to a pan, and simmer for 15 minutes. Sieve it over a pan, leave it to cool, and put it in the fridge to chill. Serve up in 6 sugar-rimmed glasses. Add one teaspoon of vermouth and two tablespoons of vodka (or) gin to each. Top with chilled soda water and garnish with cranberries.
Another zesty classic: Slide Over Here and Meet Our Sidecar Cocktail
Adding a sugar rim is one way to up the ante on this Cranberry Vodka Martini recipe in one simple step. It’s also very easy to achieve. Add sugar to a saucer – we like using the super fine kind – and cut a notch in a lemon wedge.
Run the lemon wedge around the rim of the glass and then tilt the glass and roll its outer rim in the sugar. The goal here is to only get the sugar on the outside of the glass so none of it drops into the drink itself.
Deck the halls! Bring the Festive Cheer with Our Edible Gifts for Christmas
Cranberry juice is a very interesting ingredient that adds a zingy bite of sweetness with a slight bitter edge to any drink. Since this recipe already contains simple syrup, we like to use unsweetened cranberry juice because it’s purer and the colour is more vibrant.
However, if you have a sweet tooth, or only have sweetened cranberry juice at hand, feel free to use it, and only add half of the recommended simple syrup instead.
Keen to go healthier? Are Mocktails Healthy? Here’s the Skinny!
