Spiced Cranberry Margarita

This Spiced Cranberry Margarita is easy to make, holiday-inspired, and delicious. It has a beautifully bright and vibrant red color, making it the perfect Christmas and New Year’s drink. This margarita is subtly spiced and refreshing and has the perfect balance of sweet and tart, and we think you all will love this festive cocktail this holiday season!

🥃  Ingredients

This cranberry margarita recipe calls for simple ingredients. It’s a festive spin on our classic margarita, except we used a spiced cranberry simple syrup and an orange liqueur, like Cointreau. To serve, we rimmed the glass with cinnamon sugar and garnished it with sugared cranberries and rosemary sprigs.

• Tequila. The best tequila for this delicious drink is Añejo or Reposado Tequila. We prefer Añejo Tequila as it has a robust flavor with vanilla notes, which pair very nicely with the sweet and tart cranberries.

• Cointreau. Don’t skip it; it adds nice orange notes that pair nicely with the cranberry flavor. You can also use triple sec too.

• Fresh lime juice. Be sure to use freshly squeezed lime juice rather than bottled ones when making homemade margaritas.

• Spiced Cranberry Simple Syrup. We use fresh whole cranberries, orange juice, and spices (ginger and cinnamon) to make a simple, flavorful cranberry syrup. It’s easy to make, and you can use the simple syrup for more holiday cocktails. Alternatively, you could also use cranberry juice, but if you do, we recommend adding simple syrup to help balance the tartness of the cranberries.

📃  Instructions

This margarita is easy to make, and the simple syrup can also be made days in advance. Here’s how to make it.

• Make the Spiced Cranberry Simple Syrup. This syrup is simple to make and requires minimal ingredients, which you probably have in your pantry. Just be sure to have frozen or fresh cranberries.

• Add ingredients and ice to a shaker. Add tequila, orange-flavored liqueur, fresh lime juice, cranberry-flavored simple syrup, and ice to a cocktail shaker.

• Rim the glass. On a plate, toss cinnamon and sugar with a pinch of margarita salt or coarse salt. Rub the rim and the side of the glass with an orange or lime wedge. Tilt the glass into the mixture so that it sticks to the glass.

• Shake and Strain. Shake vigorously and strain the drink into the prepared glass filled with ice.

• Garnish and Serve. Add sugared cranberries or rosemary sprigs. Make it festive and enjoy.

How to garnish a holiday margarita?

To make this holiday drink stand out at that next Christmas party you are hosting, here are some of our go-to tips:

• Rim the glass. Since this recipe has sweet and tart notes, we love to rim the glass with cinnamon sugar with a pinch of salt. Another great option is adding a bit of orange zest to the edge.

• Garnish the drink. Instead of using a wedge of lime, add sugared cranberries, fresh berries, or a sprig of rosemary. This adds a nice festive touch.

• Add a Cinnamon Stick. To add a slight smokiness flavor, carefully light one end of a cinnamon stick and blow it out before adding it to the drink.

FAQs

This Cranberry Margarita is subtly spiced and refreshing and has the perfect balance of sweet and tart. It’s the perfect festive drink for the holidays, and we hope you all love it. Enjoy! ♡

More holiday cocktails

Here are some of our favorites holiday drinks to try next: 

• Chocolate Almond Martini
• Raspberry Champagne Cocktail
• Ginger Margarita
• Cranberry Old Fashioned