Spiced Cranberry Margarita

Spiced Cranberry Margarita

Spiced Cranberry Margaritas are a brilliant way to pack some festive cheer into a classic cocktail. We’ve all enjoyed a Margarita in the sunshine, but how about a winter Margarita?  Honestly, there’s no reason not to winterise your favourite cocktails.

The Spiced Cranberry Margarita is the perfect place to start when it comes to turning summer cocktails into winter delights. There’s no magic involved — you simply add two ingredients to your usual Margarita recipe, and suddenly you have a glass of fiery festive cheer.

While there are plenty of recipes for hot toddies, sometimes all you need is a sprinkling of winter flavours to transform a great summer cocktail into an even better winter one.

This cocktail is essentially a regular Margarita with the addition of two well-loved winter ingredients: nutmeg and cranberry. But the real fun comes from the ‘spice’ element — cinnamon. As cinnamon is a solid rather than a liquid, we use it to create a beautifully fragrant cinnamon simple syrup.

This method was popularised by Tom Macy of the Clover Club in Brooklyn, and thanks to SpruceEats for the original inspiration.

The best thing about the cinnamon syrup is its versatility. Especially at this time of year, you’ll find endless uses for it and wonder how you ever survived without it. Any leftover syrup will keep for up to a month in a sealed container in the fridge.

How to Make Cinnamon Simple Syrup

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup white sugar
• 10 cinnamon sticks

Place everything into a saucepan, cover, and bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat, stir, cover again, and let it cook gently until all the sugar has dissolved. Allow the syrup to cool before using.

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Now we’re ready to make our Spiced Cranberry Margarita. For this recipe, we are using store-bought cranberry juice, as using fresh cranberry juice would be too tart, as would using a concentrate of cranberry juice.

First, gather up all of your ingredients. For this recipe, you will need;

Spiced Cranberry Margarita Ingredients:

• 60 ml Tequila
• 15 ml Triple Sec
• 15 ml fresh lime juice
• 15 ml cranberry juice
• 15 ml Cinnamon Simple Syrup
• 1 cinnamon stick (garnish)
• 1 slice of orange (garnish)

Instructions:

1. Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker and fill with ice.
2. Shake for around 10 seconds.
3. Pour into an old-fashioned glass filled with ice.
4. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and an orange slice.
5. Add a few fresh cranberries if you have them — and enjoy.

A beautifully festive twist on a timeless classic, this Spiced Cranberry Margarita proves that winter cocktails can be every bit as fun, fresh, and vibrant as their summer counterparts.

cover image from thefirstmess.com