This simple cider cocktail combines apple cider, ginger beer, and fresh cranberries for a ridiculously easy happy hour!
This week, things started to click.
I wasn’t a Tasmanian devil trying to get myself and Kai out the door in the morning. Things got accomplished at work. Things got accomplished at home. Kai didn’t cry when I dropped him off at daycare for the first time ever.
We are finally settling some sort of routine now that I’m back at work/school after a whole year of maternity leave. What a relief!
Given that it’s Friday and I’m starting to feel like maybe I can do this whole mom/PhD/food blog thing, I’m in the mood to put my feet up and have a cold and bubbly cider cocktail.
The truth is that this cider cocktail barely counts as a recipe. It takes 2 minutes flat to make, if that.
Translation: something that real people in the real world might make. I do love fancy margaritas, but things that involve homemade simple syrups send me running on Friday afternoons. Sometimes even the thought of digging out the blender {and cleaning it after} is also enough to send me running.
So now you guys know how I feel about being in the kitchen on a Friday. Gimme easy. Sunday is the day for complicated in my house 😉
So. This cider cocktail.
Easy, yes. Delicious? Yesss. It is cool and bubbly, yet spicy {gingery} and comforting somehow. It just tastes like fall.
Hard {sparkling} apple cider with a spicy edge from ginger beer…you can’t go wrong with apple and ginger flavors! I used non-alcoholic ginger beer, but you could also use alcoholic.
Fresh cranberries are muddled in the bottom of the glass before adding the cider and ginger beer. Really, they don’t lend much cranberry flavor to the drink, and feel free to add more if you want a stronger cranberry taste.
I also added a pinch of cinnamon and a squeeze of lemon to the cocktail, but it was also good without.
TGIF!! Have a great week-end!
MORE COCKTAILS!!
- How about a Spiced Bailey’s Ice Cream Float?
- or a BIG batch of Apple, Pear & Pomegranate Sangria!
- or a SUPER simple Pear & Ginger Champagne Cocktail?
CRANBERRY GINGER CIDER COCKTAIL
Hard apple cider is spiced up with ginger beer and fresh cranberries in this simple and easy fall cocktail.
Ingredients
- 5 fresh cranberries
- 4 ice cubes
- 1/2 cup hard {sparkling} apple cider
- 1/4 cup ginger beer {alcoholic or non-alcoholic}
- squeeze of lemon {1/2 tsp or so}
- pinch of ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Muddle cranberries in the bottom of glass.
- Fill with ice.
- Add remaining drink ingredients.
- Serve immediately
Recipe Notes
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Yay to things working out and yay to cocktails! Lovely pictures, Denise, and you’re rocking the gif! I want one of these right now.
Thanks, Geraldine! GIFs are just fun…and cocktails too 🙂
What a perfect cocktail! I’m so with ya on the easy ones. Sometimes I just don’t want to clean a blender and get all fancy. Glad your routine is going so well. Cheers lady!
Thanks, Leah! I am pretty useless on Friday afternoons…I just need easy!
How great that your new routine is starting to pick up! I’m still waiting for any kind of routine 🙂 What a great drink recipe! Love the gif!
Thanks, Nora! We didn’t actually have a routine until he was like 8 months old…the first 8 months was pretty much me trying to figure out what the heck was going on! To this day, I still don’t really know what’s going on LOL! But it gets a lot easier when they are older.
Yay, so glad to hear that your new work routine is going well 🙂 This is such a great cocktail! Love that it’s easy too 🙂
Aw, thanks, Kelly! I’m all about easy recipes these days!
Denise, this drink sounds fantastic! I must add cider to my grocery list. I’m so glad you are getting a routine established and juggling everything so well.
Thanks, Andrea! I don’t drink cider very often, but it is so nice and bubbly, I will have to have it more often 😉
This sounds awesome! Light and crisp yet sooo perfect for the holidays! Sometimes the festive drinks are too sweet and heavy for me, but this sounds perfect!
your food photography is absolutely amazing! I just stumbled upon your blog, and am so glad I did! Really looking forward to reading more of your posts! 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
Wow, thank-you, Nicole! You just made my night 🙂 Hope you enjoy my blog!