My Homemade Cranberry Vanilla Vodka makes a great hostess gift, but it’s also a colorful and tasty thing to keep around your home bar during the holidays. It’s made with cranberries, vanilla bean and just a touch of sugar to highlight those elements – and it has a beautiful red color that translates very well into cocktails.
The cosmopolitan is probably the most famous cranberry cocktail out there – and this Cranberry Vanilla Cosmopolitan is not your average cosmo. The drink is usually made with regular vodka and has a touch of cranberry juice added in for color and flavor, so it was a natural fit for the cranberry vodka. I used my homemade vodka, Cointreau and a little bit of fresh lime juice and came out with a drink where you could taste the cranberry and vanilla right alongside a nice dose of citrus. It’s not too sweet (because the vodka only has a very small amount of sugar), but it is just sweet enough that all of those individual flavors come through.
You could enjoy this any time of year, but it is a great drink for holiday parties when you want to serve something a little extra festive. And if you want to give the vodka alone as a hostess gift, you can simply tie a ribbon around the bottle with a recipe for this cocktail attached!
Cranberry Vanilla Cosmopolitan
1 1/2 oz Homemade Cranberry Vanilla Vodka
1 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
In a shaker with ice, combine vodka, Cointreau and lime juice. Close the shaker and shake vigorously for 60 seconds, until drink is very cold. Strain into a martini glass.
Serves 1.
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie
November 26, 2013I don’t normally like cosmos, but this sounds great!
Nicole
November 26, 2013Erin – This is definitely not your average cosmo – and the vodka is fun to make!
Lady Drinksalot
February 13, 2014When I first mixed up the syrup & cranberries & vanilla, and tasted it after it had cooled, I was horrified that I’d just wasted some good vodka as it was way too sweet. But when I mixed this drink & served it to my foodie group, it was absolutely perfect! I even used Triple Sec instead of Cointreau, and the “Cointreau or Die” dude couldn’t tell the difference. There were even a couple of people who say they “hate vodka drinks” who absolutely loved this. This is going to be a staple on our drinks night!
I used my go-to vodka, Sobieski, instead of the cheap stuff the author recommends. But I’m gonna try it with a cheap like Popov and see if anyone notices….hee
I discovered this recipe two days before I had to deliver the drinks to our group, so the cranberry syrup only steeped for 24 hours. It was still wonderful!