Ready within two minutes, this fizzy Cranberry Mocktail makes the perfect fancy holiday drink. With it's refreshing taste it could be enjoyed during summer but taste especially good during the festive season as a non-alcoholic winter mocktail. It could also easily be turned into a traditional cocktail.
If you're looking for more drinks without alcohol check out Almond Milk Eggnog or Watermelon Mojito Mocktail.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- It makes a delicious festive drink that's best enjoyed Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's Eve.
- It's alcohol-free- suitable for kids and during pregnancy.
- This sparkling mocktail is super simple to make and mixed together within a few minutes!
- It could also be enjoyed as a cocktail- simply add a shot of liquor.
What is a Mocktail?
A mocktail is a cocktail without the liquor. Hence it's a festive, non-alcoholic drink that usually combines a couple of different non-alcoholic ingredients. Mocktails are perfect for everyone who doesn't want to consume alcohol but still wants to enjoy a fun beverage.
Ingredients & Substitution Notes
- Cranberry Juice: what gives this mocktail its distinct cranberry flavour. If you can't find any regular juice, you could try replacing it with cranberry syrup instead but the amount needed will change of course.
- Blood Orange: We use freshly squeezed blood orange juice- it's much more flavourful than store-bought one. Could be prepared in bigger batches to save even more time. If you can't find any blood oranges, you could swap them for regular oranges, but the taste might change slightly.
- Maple Syrup: to balance out the citrusy flavours. It also adds some additional sweetness as well as delicious maple taste. You could use any sweetener of choice such as agave syrup, honey or regular granulated sugar. If you prefer a drink with no added sugar, feel free to omit it all together.
- Bitter Lemon: blends perfectly well with the cranberry and blood orange juices and turns this winter mocktail into a refreshing, fizzy drink. If you're not a fan of bitter lemon, you could try tonic water, ginger ale or ginger beer. Note that the taste will be different then though.
How to Make A Cranberry Mocktail
Step 1: Prepare blood orange juice
Slice a blood orange and squeeze it to get the juice. Keep an additional wedge on the side for garnish.
Step 2: Assemble
To a large glass add cranberry juice, maple syrup, freshly squeezed blood orange juice. Gently stir so that the maple syrup is fully dissolved. Pour in bitter lemon and ice cubes. Use a measuring cup to ensure the correct ratios. Garnish with an orange slice, fresh (or frozen) cranberries or some fresh rosemary.
Expert Tips
- Chill: For this mocktail to be refreshing and cold, work with chilled juices! Put them in the fridge for a couple of hours before prepaing the mocktail. That way they stay cold for longer!
- Freshly Squeezed: For some extra flavour we highly recommend using freshly squeezed (blood) orange juice over store-bought one.
- Make it in advance: To save even more time, you could prepare the squeezed blood orange juice in advance. Keep it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. All of the other inredients should be mixed together shortly before serving to ensure that you end up with a fizzy, sparkling beverage!
- Glass size: Choose a glass that's neither too big nor too small (one in the photo was a 9oz/ 260ml cocktail glass).
- Garnish: To serve a pretty mocktail make sure to add some garnish such as a slice of orange (see photo), some mint leaves, fresh rosemary or fresh cranberries.
Storage
If you want to serve this mocktail to a large group of people, you could make the freshly squeezed orange juice in a batch.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. I wouldn't advise making anything else in advance as the bitter lemon will go flat.
FAQs
Yes, this cranberry mocktail could be turned into a festive cocktail. Simply add a shot of vodka or rum (or whichever booze you prefer).
Since this mocktail doesn't contain any alcohol, it could also be served to kids.
You could prepare the freshly squeezed blood orange juice in advance but everything else I would recommend preparing shortly before serving.
It's a typical holiday flavour combination that's usually enjoyed during the festive season. In this recipe it's used to create a delicious holiday mocktail.
This very much depends on the individual recipe, most mocktail recipes are quite high in sugar though. On a positive note, blood oranges are also high in antioxidants and flavonoids.
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Recipe
Sparkling Blood Orange & Cranberry Mocktail
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup cranberry juice
- 3 tablespoon freshly squeezed blood orange juice (juice from ~½ a blood orange)
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup *or sweetener of choice
- ½ cup bitter lemon
- ½ cup ice cubes
Instructions
- Add cranberry juice, maple syrup, blood orange juice and bitter lemon to a cocktail glass.
- Stir well with a small spoon or straw so that the maple syrup is dissolved and everything is fully combined.
- Add ice cubes/ crushed ice and garnish with some orange slices.
Video
Notes
- Glass size: Choose a glass that's neither too big nor too small (one in the photo was a 9oz/ 260ml cocktail glass).
- Chilled juices: For this mocktail to be refreshing and cold, use cold juices! Put them in the fridge for a couple of hours before prepaing the mocktail.
- Make it in advance: To save even more time, you could prepare the squeezed blood orange juice in advance. Keep it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. All of the other inredients should be mixed together shortly before serving to ensure that you end up with a fizzy, sparkling beverage!
- Alcoholic drink: Could easily be turned into an alcoholic drink- simply add a shot of vodka, rum or your liquor or choice.
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