Holiday cranberry cocktails
Five cranberry cocktails to add to your holiday menu
As we prepare for Thanksgiving dinner, we know turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and green bean casserole will be on the table. But what will be in our glasses? A cranberry cocktail, of course. These cranberry cocktails will add a pop of color to the table and flavor to your holiday menu.
For the vodka drinker: Cranberry Vodka Spritzers
A little preparation goes into creating this cocktail. To get real cranberry flavor, mix fresh cranberries, water and sugar to create a cranberry simple syrup. From there, this cocktail can be made in two easy steps.
For the bourbon lover: Cranberry Orange Bourbon cocktail (with Brandied Cranberries) 
This fresh take on an old fashioned will wake you up from a post-Thanksgiving food coma. The secret ingredient that adds bursts of tartness throughout the drink: brandied cranberries. Make the brandied cranberries and orange ginger simple syrup in advance so you can easily mix this drink on Thanksgiving.
For the gin drinker: Cranberry Pear Ginger Fizz
This cranberry cocktail is the holiday version of a gin fizz. Fresh cranberries and pears bring out festive flavors and a splash of gin and ginger beer add the fizz to this cocktail. Top the cocktail with some more fresh cranberries and a sprig of rosemary to complete this cocktail.
For the wine lover: Cran-Apple Sangria
Cooking Thankgiving dinner is a long process. Luckily, making this sangria will be the easiest item to whip up on your Thanksgiving menu. Fill a medium pitcher with fresh cranberries and sliced apples. Then pour white wine, cranberry juice, apple cider and seltzer over the fresh fruit. After chilling this holiday sangria feel free to enjoy it before, during and after Thanksgiving dinner.
For the rum drinker: Cranberry Ginger Sparkling Rum Cider
The base of this drink is a thick jam-like cranberry-ginger syrup that is topped with rum and sparkling cider. Unlike other cranberry cocktails this one is strong and spicy with hints of cranberry and apple. Before serving this cocktail garnish it with sugared cranberries.
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Rachel Taylor is a staff writer at Southern Kitchen. She moved to Atlanta earlier this year after graduating college in Maryland, and has been a digital audience specialist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Politically Georgia, as well as a freelance writer for publications such as USA Today and the Delmarva Daily Times on Maryland's Eastern Shore. She has lived in France and Italy, and loves to travel.
