This Cranberry Old-Fashioned Recipe is a classic cocktail, reinvented. Made with homemade cranberry simple syrup instead of a sugar cube, this unique cocktail is perfect for your holiday party!
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Note: This recipe was originally published in November 2019, but has been improved and re-photographed. We hope you enjoy the new look!
This drink is elegant, beautiful, and the perfect festive twist on the classic! Bourbon drinkers will love this delightful riff on the old fashioned!
Looking for more bourbon cocktails for the holiday season? Be sure to try some of our favorite cocktails, including this apple whiskey sour, this bourbon whiskey sangria, or this slow cooker mulled wine with bourbon!
You may also like this pomegranate gin cocktail, this Aperol sour, this poinsettia cocktail, and this pear martini!
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❤️Why we love this recipe
- Perfect for the holiday season - Need something special for your Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas, or New Year's? This recipe is a festive twist on a simple old fashioned cocktail. It's full of cranberry flavor and perfect for bourbon lovers.
- Flavorful - Bourbon, orange, and delicious cranberry. Delight your taste buds, and mix up a delicious cocktail! It's an easy sipper, perfect for happy hour or any gathering in the holiday time of year.
- Simple ingredients - You only need a few staple ingredients to bring this drink together.
- Quick and easy - You will love this easy recipe. The cranberry simple syrup is made in about 20 minutes, but can be made up to 10 days in advance. When it comes time to mixing drinks, just like other old-fashioned recipes, you can skip the mixing glass. This drink is made in a rocks glass in just a few minutes. Guests can even mix them up themselves.
🍊Ingredients
Here are the ingredients we used for this cranberry old fashioned. You can find more information for substitutions below.
- Bourbon of choice - Use your favorite, we opted for Woodford Reserve. Traditionally, rye whiskey is used in an old fashioned, but any bourbon will do. Make sure you actually enjoy the taste of it on its own.
- Cranberry simple syrup - Homemade.
- Orange bitters - To complement the cranberry flavor.
- Orange peel - To make a simple orange twist.
- Large ice cube
- Fresh rosemary - Garnish with a sprig of rosemary.
Visit the recipe card for the full quantities and nutritional information.
✨Substitutions & variations
Here's a few suggestions on additional flavors to try, or simple variations to this sauce.
- Swap orange bitters for angostura bitters - Choose your favorite aromatic bitters. Angostura bitters are traditional, however.
- Use leftover cranberry sauce in place of cranberry simple syrup. You may need to mix it with a bit of hot water so that it can combine well in the drink.
- Use a splash of cranberry juice with plain simple syrup in place of cranberry simple syrup. If you don't want to make simple syrup at all, you can use sweetened cranberry juice to sweeten the drink. You may need more than
- Add fun garnishes - Add pretty garnishes like sugared cranberries, an orange wedge or orange slice, thyme sprigs, cinnamon sticks, or even a cocktail cherry!
🔪Prep work
- Prepare the cranberry simple syrup up to 10 days in advance and store it in the fridge. Don't add to the cocktail until it cooled off completely.
- Using a vegetable peeler, prep the orange twist.
- Measure out all ingredients.
📋Instructions
To the bottom of a rocks glass, add a big ice cube. (Image 1) Pour the cranberry simple syrup over the ice. (Image 2)
Pour in bourbon, (Image 3) followed by a few dashes of bitters. (Image 4)
Give the drink a good stir with a bar spoon. (Image 5)
Garnish with an orange twist, cranberries, and fresh rosemary.
✨Tips & tricks
- If making this cocktail for the first time, add simple syrup to taste. Start out with less, then add more as needed.
- Using a large ice cube will keep your drink cold without melting too much water into it.
- Don't shake this cocktail in a shaker, it's meant to be stirred in a glass.
- Use high quality bourbon! An old-fashioned is a very strong, bourbon forward cocktail. Opt for something high quality that you would enjoy drinking on its own.
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💭Frequently Asked Questions
We recommend making this and drinking it fresh. We don't recommend making it in advance, refrigerating, or freezing the leftovers.
More Recipes To Consider
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📖 Recipe
Cranberry Old Fashioned
Equipment
- rocks glass
- bar spoon
Ingredients
- large ice cube
- ½ - 1 ounce homemade cranberry simple syrup (to taste)
- 2 ounces bourbon
- 3 dashes orange bitters
- Garnish with an orange twist, cranberries, and a rosemary sprig
Instructions
- Add a large cube of ice to a rocks glass. Pour in cranberry simple syrup, bourbon, and orange bitters.
- Stir with a bar spoon, then garnish with an orange twist, cranberries, and rosemary. Enjoy!
- This drink is best enjoyed right away. We don't recommend making it ahead of time or freezing it.
Save This Recipe! 💌
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Notes
- If making this cocktail for the first time, add simple syrup to taste. Start out with less, then add more as needed.
- Using a large ice cube will keep your drink cold without melting too much water into it.
- Don't shake this cocktail in a shaker, it's meant to be stirred in a glass.
- Use high quality bourbon! An old-fashioned is a very strong, bourbon forward cocktail. Opt for something high quality that you would enjoy drinking on its own.
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