Trick your taste buds with these cinnamon apples! You’ll feel like you’re eating a sweet,…
sparkling rosemary, cinnamon & cranberry cocktail
No holidays are complete without these festive sparkling rosemary, cinnamon & cranberry cocktails!
On your stove, you’ll have cranberries crackling, orange rind spraying their sweet scent, and notes of rosemary and cinnamon fill the air.
This creates the most full-flavored syrup which you add to sparkling, bubbly water or seltzer with a spritz of lime or orange, and it’s game on!
I love me a good mocktail
When I stopped drinking, I started to have a “cocktail” every night during happy hour which includes pouring a sparkling water in a wine glass with fresh fruit.
I really missed the cocktail experience but quickly realized that I could continue it – I just needed to redefine it.
Redefining experiences are key, especially during the holidays, both with eating and drinking.
We do NOT have to miss out.
There are far too many scrumptious foods and drinks to be had!
how to make rosemary, cinnamon & cranberry cocktail
First you make the syrup. This can be done days ahead of time and kept in the fridge (convenient!).
Remove the orange rinds with a knife and juice the orange. You can use a juicer or even a lemon press.
Reserve the juice in the fridge (you’ll use later when you make the drinks). It won’t make a lot but you won’t need much.
Add the orange rinds, cranberries, ginger, cinnamon, rosemary sprigs, sweetener and water to a pot. Bring to a boil and then let simmer on the stove for about 10 minutes.
Your house will smell amazing!
For the sweetener, I used Erythritol (Swerve granular) and I did not use a lot. It was fairly sweet on its own. You could use regular sugar or honey would work too.
After it’s been on the stove for about 5 minutes, check and see if it needs something else. If you really like orange, you could always throw in a second one. Or double up on any of the other ingredients if you prefer one flavor over another.
Bottom line, you can’t really mess this up – feel free to play around!
After 10 minutes, turn off the stove and let the syrup sit until it is cool. Strain the syrup through a fine-mesh strainer, pressing down and scraping back and forth with a spatula to extract as much of the juice as possible.
Discard solids. Place in fridge until you’re ready to use.
When you’re ready to make, grab a festive glass and pour 3 parts of the syrup and 1 part squeezed lime or the reserved orange juice.
Fill the rest of the glass up with sparkling water or seltzer.
Garnish with cinnamon sticks, cranberries, rosemary springs, orange slices, all of the above!
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PinDescription
No holidays are complete without these festive rosemary, cinnamon & cranberry cocktail. Enjoy cranberries crackling on the stove, orange rind oils spraying their sweet scents, and rosemary and cinnamon permeating notes of Christmas trees in a bubbly festive mocktail!
Scale
Ingredients
Cranberry-rosemary syrup
- 1 orange
- 1 cup cranberries (fresh or frozen)
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or a couple of cinnamon sticks)
- 2 leafy rosemary sprigs, each about 7 to 8 inches long
- 1–2 tablespoons of sweetener (I use Swerve Granular). You could use regular sugar.
- 1 cup water
Soda
- Freshly squeezed lime or orange juice, for finishing
- Sparkling water (or cava), for finishing
- Frozen cranberries for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- To get started: Remove rind from orange in long strips using a sharp vegetable peeler, taking care to avoid white pith. Juice the orange. You should have about ½ cup of juice.
- To make syrup: Combine orange rind, juice, cranberries, ginger, cinnamon, rosemary, sweetener and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the sweetener. Lower heat and maintain a gentle simmer for about 10 minutes; you want the cranberries to pop and release their juice. Take off heat and let cool to room temperature; leave rosemary sprigs in so they’ll impart more flavor. Strain the syrup through a fine-mesh strainer, pressing down and scraping back and forth with a spatula to extract as much of the juice as possible. Discard solids. Store in a tightly-sealed glass jar or measuring cup in the refrigerator for one week.
- To make soda: Combine 3 parts syrup with 1 part lime (or orange) juice. Add sparkling water or selzer until you get the dilution you prefer. Frozen cranberries, cinnamon sticks or rosemary springs make a nice garnish
Notes
- Test and add more sweetener if you find it necessary. I thought it was pretty sweet on it’s own but if not, simply add more sweetener.
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