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Perfect Cranberry Champagne Cocktail: Easy Holiday Sparkler

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This perfect cranberry champagne cocktail is the result of a stubborn Friday night spent perfecting the cranberry syrup. It’s the drink I now bring to every holiday gathering, the one people ask for by name, and it’s so simple once you know the trick.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup (100g) fresh or frozen cranberries
  • 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) water
  • 1 strip of orange zest
  • 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice (optional but recommended)
  • 1 1/2 to 2 ounces (45-60ml) cranberry syrup
  • 4 to 5 ounces (120-150ml) chilled brut champagne or sparkling wine
  • Ice (optional)
  • Garnish: fresh cranberries, a sprig of rosemary, or a thin orange slice

Instructions

  1. In a small saucepan, combine the cranberries, sugar, and water. Add the strip of orange zest.
  2. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to help the sugar dissolve.
  3. Once it’s boiling, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer gently for 10 to 12 minutes. You’ll hear the cranberries start to pop.
  4. After about 10 minutes, the cranberries will have burst and the liquid will be a deep, gorgeous ruby red. The mixture should have thickened slightly—it should coat the back of a spoon but still be pourable.
  5. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Let it cool for 5 minutes.
  6. Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a glass measuring cup or bowl. Press gently on the solids with the back of a spoon to extract all the liquid. Don’t press too hard, or you’ll get bitter bits from the seeds.
  7. Discard the solids. Stir in the fresh orange juice if you’re using it. Let the syrup cool completely before using.
  8. Make sure your champagne is well-chilled. Chill your glasses too, if you have room.
  9. Pour 1 1/2 to 2 ounces of the cooled cranberry syrup into a chilled champagne flute or coupe glass.
  10. Slowly top with chilled brut champagne, pouring gently down the side of the glass to preserve the bubbles. Fill almost to the top, leaving about half an inch of space.
  11. Give it one very gentle stir with a bar spoon—just a couple of turns to integrate the syrup slightly.
  12. Add your garnish: a few fresh cranberries, a sprig of rosemary, or a thin orange slice.
  13. Serve immediately.

Notes

Don’t rush the syrup. A gentle simmer for 10 minutes is all it needs. Let the syrup cool completely before using to avoid flat champagne. Over-stirring will kill the bubbles—a gentle half-stir is all you need. The syrup keeps in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Nutrition

Keywords: cranberry champagne cocktail, holiday cocktail, easy cocktail, cranberry syrup, sparkling wine cocktail, Christmas cocktail, New Year's Eve cocktail

Find it online: https://lemonydrinks.com/perfect-cranberry-champagne-cocktail-easy-holiday-sparkler/