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This Cranberry Hot Toddy recipe is lightly spiced with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and orange. If you like mulled wine, you will LOVE this delicious toddy recipe.
It’s cocktail time! And since the leaves are turning color and the temperature is dropping, I thought this spiced cranberry hot toddy would be the perfect thing to warm us up. 
This easy hot toddy recipe starts by simmering cranberry juice with wintery spices like cinnamon, cloves, and orange. Then add some bourbon, sit back, put your feet up, and sip your tasty hot toddy.
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS SPICED CRANBERRY HOT TODDY
- Warm, cozy spices.
- Cinnamon laced sugared rim. ? this is as good as it sounds.
- Healthy cranberry juice and no refined sugar puts this firmly in the healthy drink category. Please tell me you think the same.
- Bourbon. ‘Cause bourbon really is the best.
- But if you don’t think so, swap some spiced rum, whiskey, or even vodka.
- It’s super easy to make. If you can put some spices and cranberry juice into a pot then you can make this.
- Bonus: as the cranberry juice and spices simmer, your house will smell AMAZING.
HOW TO MAKE A HOT TODDY
A basic hot toddy recipe is nothing more than whiskey, honey, lemon juice, and hot water. With respect tradition, we think this spiced cranberry hot toddy is much better.
The wintery spices make this version perfect for this chilly season. And since it’s almost as easy to make as the original, there’s no reason not to treat yourself.
1. Add the cranberry juice and spices to a pot.
2. Simmer simmer simmer.
3. Sweeten with some maple syrup.
4. Pour some bourbon into a glass and top with the spiced cranberry juice.
If you want to get fancy, mix a little sugar with some cinnamon and rim your glass before you pour in your cranberry hot toddy.
See those pretty glasses up there? They are part of the Balance Series cocktail glasses that ZENS sells on their website. I love how clean and fresh they look.
They’re doubled walled glasses which means you can serve your cranberry toddy in them and pick them up without worrying about the glass being too hot to hold.
And since they’re glass, they let the beautiful red cranberry color shine.
I know I’ll reach for them again and again this winter. And there’s a pretty darn good chance that someone will be opening a box from ZENS this Christmas. Just sayin’.
I always opt for cocktail glasses that are on the small size as I don’t like too much mix in my drinks. These glasses are the perfect size for a cranberry hot toddy as they’re not too big. They’re a little bigger than an espresso cup which means you can add an ounce of bourbon and top with the spiced cranberry juice without worrying about watering down the bourbon.
If you like your cocktails a little less boozy, ZENS sells the Balance Series Highball Glasses that are taller so you can add more spiced cranberry juice.
The taller version is also a great size if you want to skip the bourbon and turn this into a virgin cranberry hot toddy.
PLUS, they’re giving away a beautiful tea set. Enter below!
HOW TO MAKE CRANBERRY HOT TODDIES FOR A CROWD
This cranberry hot toddy recipe makes 32 small (2-ounce) drinks which makes it perfect for a party. Here’s how to do it:
1. Make the spiced cranberry juice then strain it.
2. Add the bourbon to the pot. Pop in a couple of orange slices to pretty it up.
3. Put a ladle in the pot and let your guests serve themselves.
So easy!
PS. If you love cranberry cocktails, make sure to check out our Christmas Cranberry Margarita!
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Cranberry Hot Toddy
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 32 - 2 ounce cocktails 1x
Ingredients
- 4 cups unsweetened cranberry juice
- 1 mandarin orange (sliced)
- 2 – 3-inch cinnamon sticks
- 1 – 2-inch piece of ginger (thinly sliced)
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon whole cloves
- 5 star anise
- 1/2 – 1 cup maple syrup (more, to taste)
- 2–4 cups of bourbon (depending how strong you like your cocktails)
Instructions
- Pour the cranberry juice into a medium-sized pot. Add the mandarin orange slices, cinnamon sticks, ginger, peppercorns, cloves, and star anise and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Strain the juice to remove the spices.
- Add a 1/2 cup of maple syrup to the pot. Taste and add more maple syrup, to taste.
- Pour 1 ounce of bourbon into your glass and top with 1 ounce of the spiced cranberry juice.
Notes
If you can’t find unsweetened cranberry juice, use cranberry cocktail and omit the maple syrup.
If you’d like, sugar the rim with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon mixed with 1 tablespoon sugar.
Make a big batch by adding 4 cups of bourbon to the spiced cranberry juice and let guests serve themselves.
If you like a less strong cocktail, use 1 ounce of bourbon and 2 ounces of spiced cranberry juice.
The spiced cranberry juice will keep for at least a week in the fridge.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Cocktail
