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 the holidays, 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
Cranberry juice is a very interesting ingredient that adds a zingy bite of sweetness with a little 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 color 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.
More sweet drinks? 10 Cocktails to Satisfy a Sweet Tooth
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
Adore a red cocktail like this Christmas Cranberry Martini recipe? We do too! It’s a treat for the eye, as well as the palate. Here are a few other amber-hued drinks to try if you love looking at life through rose-tinted glasses:
The Negroni cocktail is a beautifully bittersweet, herbaceous cocktail with lingering dark fruit flavors after every sip. Featuring Campari and Cinzano Rosso vermouth, it’s smooth, yet vibrant, with a multi-layered bitter finish.
Combining citrus-infused vodka, orange liqueur, lime, cranberry juice, and an orange peel to garnish, the always popular Cosmopolitan is a refreshing drink that has a little citrusy sweetness balanced by the lovely sharpness of the lime.
Tangy cocktails with blood orange juice feel like a first-class upgrade from classic OJ and its pretty crimson color instantly ups the wow factor. The Blood Orange Vodka cocktail combines SKYY Blood Orange infused vodka, Grand Marnier, fresh blood orange juice, lime juice, and simple syrup with a dash of orange bitters. Quite amazing!
More zesty drinks: 11 Zesty Orange Juice Cocktails for Every Occasion and Season
