Our delicious Cranberry Moscow Mule is a fun twist on a traditional moscow mule! This delicious holiday cocktail is so easy to make with only 5 simple ingredients. Perfect for sipping while watching your favorite holiday movie or serve at your next holiday parties!
The Best Cranberry Moscow Mule Recipe
This amazing holiday cocktail is the perfect combination of sweet and tart flavor. It is bubbly and adds just that extra something to the mule mug. It would be a delicious cocktail to feature as a signature cocktail at your next gathering this holiday season! Plus, we don’t use cranberry juice cocktail in our recipe – too sweet!
It is so simple to just make your own smashed cranberries right on the stovetop. This cranberry mule is one of our favorite cocktails to make at this time of year and can’t wait for you to try them too!
Looking for another fun holiday cocktail? Try our Christmas Sangria!
What You Will Need
- cranberries – love their sweet tart flavor! We like to keep a bag on hand in the freezer to make this cocktail recipe anytime we want.
- water – just a little bit in a saucepan to help cook the cranberries.
- vodka – pick-up your favorite vodka brand from the local liquor store or omit to make a cranberry moscow mule mocktail.
- fresh lime juice – this bit of acidity is so light & refreshing!
- favorite ginger beer – a traditional ingredient when making any variety of simple drink.
- festive garnishes – wedge of lime, sugared cranberries, or fresh rosemary.
How To Make A Cranberry Moscow Mule
The first steps to making this classic drink are to gather the cranberry moscow mule ingredients.
Pour the cranberries and water into a small saucepan and bring it to a medium high heat. As the water starts to boil the cranberries with crack and burst. Once most of them have started to do this, turn off the heat, and carefully use a fork to smash the cranberries.
Now grab your trusty cold copper mug and toss in some ice cubes. Divide the remaining ingredients listed in the recipe card between two mugs or cocktail glasses.
Add two tablespoons of the smashed cranberries to each drink, give it a mix, and garnish any way you want.
Love cranberries – try our Cranberry Bars for a fun holiday dessert!
Recipe FAQ
Nope! We actually highly recommend that you do NOT use a cocktail shaker. Ginger beer is carbonated and if you shake it up, it will lose quite a bit of fizz.
Yes, you can always adjust any of the ingredients to your personal preference! We like to keep the cranberry flavor subtle, but feel free to add a splash of pure cranberry juice or unsweetened cranberry juice to make a sweeter cocktail.
Absolutely! This festive cocktail can easily be scaled to make a larger batch. We like to make a big batch of smashed cranberries and store them in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days so that we can just mix up a cocktail when we want to. It is best to wait on adding the ginger beer to each glass until serving, because of the bubbles and not wanting it to go flat.
Made this delicious recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
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Other Cocktail Recipes You Might Like
Cranberry Moscow Mule
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 drinks 1x
- Category: Drink
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Description
A delicious and festive cranberry moscow mule recipe that is perfect holiday drink at your next dinner party this holiday season!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup fresh cranberries
- 1/4 cup water
- 4 oz vodka
- 2 oz lime juice
- 8 oz ginger beer
- Garnish: cranberries, sprig of rosemary, lime wedge, and cinnamon stick.
Instructions
- Place cranberries in a small saucepan with the water and bring to a boil until cranberries burst.
- Smash cranberries with a fork. Reduce to medium-low heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Let cool.
- Add ice to two small glasses or copper moscow mule mugs. In each glass add 2oz vodka, 1oz lime juice, 4oz ginger beer, and 2 tablespoons of smashed cranberries.
- Garnish as desired.
Notes
- Mocktail: option to leave out the vodka and check the label of the ginger beer. Most ginger beers don’t have any alcohol in them.
- Serve a Crowd: option to make a larger batch of smashed cranberries to store in the fridge as use as needed at your next holiday party. Boil 1 cup of cranberries in 3/4 cup of water to make up to 7 drinks.
Originally published November 15, 2017. Recipe has been retested and new photos added.
Georige | The Home Cook's Kitchen says
love love LOVE this! your photos are so pretty, crisp and clean! so festive 🙂
Erin says
Thank you so much, Georgie!! Means a lot!! ❤️
Whitney says
I am so excited to make this for Christmas dinner. Have you ever made a pitcher of them – or is it better to make them one at a time? Thanks
Erin says
I have always made them one at a time!
Kylie M. says
This looks right up my alley! Can’t wait to try!