If you’ve been on the hunt for a festive Christmas cocktail this holiday season, look no further than this refreshing Rosemary Cranberry Vodka Spritzer. Lightly sweet and delectably effervescent, this refreshing adult beverage pairs beautifully with all your festive fare.
With its bright pop of red cranberries and fresh sprigs of rosemary, this gorgeous beverage is picture perfect for the holidays. Best of all, this vodka spritz is also light enough that you can enjoy a few cranberry spritzers throughout your holiday parties!
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About the recipe
Made with tart cranberry juice, an herbaceous homemade simple syrup, neutral-flavored vodka and a splash of fizzy mineral water, this rosemary cranberry vodka spritzer is an elevated take on the traditional Cape Codder or Vodka Cranberry cocktails.
Not only are the vibrant colors on point for all of your holiday celebrations, but the flavor combination of bright cranberries and woody rosemary is a classic for a reason. When combined in this light, refreshing vodka cocktail, the resulting elixir is purely intoxicating.
As someone who loves to entertain, I love that this cranberry holiday cocktail is fancy enough to serve to guests dressed to the nines but easy enough for a novice mixologist to make. Using only simple, straightforward ingredients you can find at just about any grocery store, this easy drink is wonderful for last-minute gatherings.
If you’re a planner, the rosemary simple syrup can be made up to a week in advance. You can also batch the majority of the festive holiday cocktail in a pitcher to make for easy service when your guests arrive!
How to Make a Rosemary Cranberry Vodka Spritzer
The best thing about this rosemary cranberry vodka Christmas drink is how dang easy it is to make with simple ingredients. With just about 10 minutes of active time, you’ll have a stunning Christmas cocktail ready to impress a large crowd with delicious seasonal flavors!
Make Rosemary Simple Syrup
The lemony-pine flavor of rosemary is infused into a sugar-water solution aptly known as simple syrup; it’s a cinch to make!
- Pour your measured water and sugar into a saucepan and heat on medium. Cook, stirring the mixture, until your sugar has completely dissolved.
- Add rosemary sprig and continue heating for 30 seconds before removing from heat. Allow syrup to infuse for half an hour as the simple syrup cools completely. Strain syrup into an airtight container and cool in the fridge.
*Make Ahead Tip: Rosemary simple syrup should keep well in the refrigerator for up to a week.
For more info on infusing simple syrups with flavors, check out my guide here or check out my recipe for making Cranberry Simple Syrup!
Assemble Holiday Spritzer
- Fill a highball glass ⅔ full with ice.
- Add vodka, cranberry juice, rosemary simple syrup into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake.
- Strain into your highball glass and top with sparkling water and garnish with fresh cranberries and a sprig of fresh rosemary. Cheers!
Tips and Tricks
- Why you should shake and strain. While you can technically just mix the cranberry spritzer ingredients together in your highball glass, the results will not be nearly as delicious. The act of vigorously shaking a cocktail with ice is akin to creaming your butter with sugar for making cookies; the ice breaks into small shards and helps to aerate the drink, giving it a lovely, light texture. Straining the spritzer onto fresh ice ensures that it won’t get watered down too quickly.
- Batching for party time ease. If you’re playing host, I highly recommend batching together the cranberry juice, vodka and simple syrup and placing it in a large pitcher or “store and pour” before your guests arrive. Have the batched drink on the bar next to an ice bucket, cocktail shaker, jigger, bottle of sparkling water, and your garnishes and assign your friends to the task of serving themselves while you finish up in the kitchen.
- Use pure cranberry juice for the brightest flavor. While it is a bit more expensive than the stuff labelled “cranberry juice cocktail,” pure, unsweetened cranberry juice is far more bright, with tart flavor, and delicious than the “cocktail” that is usually only about 25% real fruit juice.
- Grab a squeeze bottle for easy bartending. If you plan on making your cranberry Christmas spritzer to order, using a squeeze bottle for the simple syrup will make your life a whole lot easier (and less sticky).
Frequently Asked Questions
There are a TON of vodkas on the market nowadays, so I’d recommend going with the best option you can find in your price range. Also, you should note if any of your guests have corn and/or wheat allergies, as many vodkas are made with these two grains. If they do, opt for a potato-based vodka like Chopin. If you’re on a very tight budget (I’ve been there!), you can make cheap, plastic bottle vodka taste a whole lot better by straining it through coffee filters multiple times.
Honestly, that’s more of a personal preference. Club soda has added sodium, which some people prefer. Others are dedicated to their favorite mineral waters like Pellegrino or Topo Chico. If you’re hosting a holiday party and want to have non-alcoholic options for your guests, I’d recommend splurging on glass bottles of mineral water so the DD’s don’t have to feel left out of the celebration.
If cranberries aren’t your thing, I think this would be just as yummy (and seasonally appropriate) using pomegranate juice and pomegranate arils instead.
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If you tried my delicious recipe for this Rosemary Vodka Cranberry Cocktail, please be sure to rate and review it below, under the recipe card!
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Christmas Cocktail: Rosemary Cranberry Vodka Spritzer
Equipment
- Cocktail Glass
Ingredients
Rosemary Simple Syrup
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
- 2 sprigs rosemary
Cranberry Vodka Spritzer
- ice
- 1.5 oz vodka
- 3 oz cranberry juice
- ½ oz rosemary simple syrup
- sparkling/soda water
- fresh cranberries and rosemary to garnish
Instructions
Rosemary Simple Syrup
- Pour your measured water and sugar into a saucepan and heat on medium½ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup water
- Cook, stirring the mixture, until your sugar has completely dissolved.
- Add rosemary and continue heating for 30 seconds before removing from heat2 sprigs rosemary
- Allow syrup to infuse for half an hour as the simple syrup cools completely
- Strain syrup into an airtight container and cool in the fridge
Cranberry Vodka Spritzer
- Fill a highball glass ⅔ full with ice.ice
- Add vodka, cranberry juice, rosemary simple syrup into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake.1.5 oz vodka, 3 oz cranberry juice, ½ oz rosemary simple syrup
- Strain into your highball glass and top with sparkling water and garnish with fresh cranberries and a sprig of rosemarysparkling/soda water, fresh cranberries and rosemary to garnish
Notes
- Why you should shake and strain. While you can technically just mix the cranberry spritzer ingredients together in your highball glass, the results will not be nearly as delicious. The act of vigorously shaking a cocktail with ice is akin to creaming your butter with sugar for making cookies; the ice breaks into small shards and helps to aerate the drink, giving it a lovely, light texture. Straining the spritzer onto fresh ice ensures that it won’t get watered down too quickly.
- Batching for party time ease. If you’re playing host, I highly recommend batching together the cranberry juice, vodka and simple syrup and placing it in a pitcher or “store and pour” before your guests arrive. Have the batched drink on the bar next to an ice bucket, cocktail shaker, jigger, bottle of sparkling water, and your garnishes and assign your friends to the task of serving themselves while you finish playing elf in the kitchen.
- Use pure cranberry juice for the brightest flavor. While it is a bit more expensive than the stuff labeled “cranberry juice cocktail,” pure cranberry juice is far more bright, tart, and delicious than the “cocktail” that is usually only about 25% real fruit juice.
- Grab a squeeze bottle for easy bartending. If you plan on making drinks to order, using a squeeze bottle for the simple syrup will make your life a whole lot easier (and less sticky).
- What can I use in place of cranberry juice? If cranberries aren’t your thing, I think this would be just as yummy (and seasonally appropriate) using pomegranate juice and pomegranate arils instead.
CAROL
THIS IS SO GOOD. YOU MUST HAVE THE SIMPLE SYRUP. IT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE.
Emily
So glad you enjoyed Carol! I agree, the rosemary simple syrup adds so much - cheers!
Kristin
If you batch ahead of time, do you shake before the pitcher and that’s enough? Or should each guest pour into a shaker before they make their own drink? Thanks!
Emily
I would actually pour the base (cranberry juice, simple syrup, vodka) into a pitcher and mix/whisk intensely to combine the ingredients well. Then place the pitcher in the fridge to chill - when your guests arrive the batched base should amount to 5 oz or about 2/3 cup per serving so perhaps adding a measuring cup or a jigger nearby will help them measure accurately with ease!