Cranberry juice and rum are delectable beverages to drink by themselves. But when you combine the delicious goodness of the two, you have an excellent cocktail that would be perfect for a summer sundowner or even a winter brunch.
But does it mean you just mix cranberry juice and rum into a glass? The following are some great ideas to spice up your cocktail recipes with cranberry juice and rum:
Tropical Delight
This is a delightful drink that you can enjoy while you are at a beach destination or even when you want to imagine you are at a beach to take some steam off a busy work schedule. It features the fruity delights of cranberry, orange and pineapple, mixed with the heady zing of dark rum. For this cocktail, you will need:
- Malibu® Red Rum and Cruzan® Mango Rum – 1 ounce each
- Cranberry juice – 1.5 ounces
- Pineapple juice – 1.5 ounces
- Orange juice – 1.5 ounces
- Lots of ice
Put all the ingredients into a shaker and give it a nice jig. Pour it into a cocktail glass, garnish on top with a sprig of mint leaves or a thin orange slice, and voila! If you are feeling especially festive, you can even add an umbrella on top!
It’s Christmas Time!
This is a warm and nostalgic cocktail that will take you back to the smell of your mother’s kitchen on Christmas eve. It has delicious notes of rum, cranberry apple and more.
This is the drink that will come out smelling like that gorgeous fruity pie you may have enjoyed on Christmas at home. If you want to celebrate Christmas a little early, this is a great option. The following are the ingredients you will require:
- Cranberry juice – 2 1/2 cups
- Orange juice – 2 1/2 cups
- Water –1 1/2 cups
- Rum – 1 cup
- Simple syrup – 3 tablespoons
- Lemon – 1
- Apple – 1
- Fresh cranberries – 3-4 ounces
- Grapefruit – 1/2
Combine everything into a large cauldron. It is better to mix it in a large vessel instead of shaking the ingredients, as the recipe calls for several fresh fruits. You will be able to retain their texture if you mix the cocktail in a vessel.
Besides, this also allows you to make a large serving at once. Multiply the recipe accordingly if you want to make it for more people.
Cranberry and Rum Punch
Another great cocktail idea that carries quite a ‘punch’! This is a simple cocktail recipe that is great for intimate events like a bridal shower, birthday brunch or simply a night in with friends. The following are the ingredients you will require for the cocktail:
- Rum – o.5 ounces
- Coconut rum –1 ounce
- Cranberry juice – 2 ounces
- Pineapple juice – 2 ounces
- Banana liqueur – 1 ounce
- Sliced pineapples – a few pieces, depending on how many drinks you are serving
- Fresh mint
This is a drink you can either shake or mix into a large punch bowl. The latter may work out better as guests will be able to serve themselves more easily. You can also dip some glasses in salt and lime, and lay them out in advance for guests to use.
A delightful summery drink! If you are preparing the cocktail for a larger group of people, you can multiply the recipe accordingly.
Sparkly Spritzer
This bright spritzer-based drink will put a bounce in your step as soon as you take the first step. The bubbling of the spritzer adds an even greater element of fun to an already delightful array of flavors.
You also do not need to worry too much about ingredients as you should have most of them in your pantry and bar. If not, you can simply run down to the store. The ingredients are all easily available.
The following are things you will need to make this delicious cocktail:
- Rum (preferably Don Q Gran Anejo if available) – 1.5 ounces
- Cranberry juice – 1 ounce
- Orange juice – 1 ounce
- Soda/Spritzer (you can pick any complementary kind, such as ginger ale or lime) – 1 ounce
Shake the non-fizzy ingredients together in a shaker. Pour them out into glasses (you can add ice if required), but only up to the halfway mark. Top the glass with the soda and stir.
Cranberry Vampire Cocktail
This delicious, scarlet cocktail is right out of a great Halloween party. No, not the kind of Halloween party one may have been to as a college student, where whatever alcohol was available was good enough.
This is a cocktail that belongs at a sophisticated, well-planned and professionally put-together Halloween bash!
It has a deep red color that can pass off as a Vampire’s choice of poison if you are feeling a little wicked, or simply a great cranberry juice-based cocktail if the “undead” theme isn’t sitting well with you. It also combines the delicious flavors of three different types of rums.
The following are the ingredients you will require:
- Cranberry juice – 2 teaspoons
- Dark rum – 0.5 ounces
- Golden rum – 0.5 ounces
- White rum – 0.5 ounces
- Sugar or simple syrup – 1 teaspoon (you can skip this if the juice is already sweetened)
- Lime juice –1 ounce
Shake all the ingredients well together, then pour over a bed of ice cubes in a cocktail glass of your choice!
Final Thoughts
Rum and cranberry juice are two cocktail ingredients that are compatible with a great variety of other ingredients. They are extremely flexible and even if you put just the two together, you would end up with a delicious and potent cocktail.
But it’s always fun to mix it up and play with more flavors, so see how you can experiment with fruit juices, liqueur, herbs and even fresh fruit.
Enjoy a delicious rum and cranberry juice cocktail with friends, or simply reward yourself in the evening after a long and strenuous day of work!