Thanksgiving Cranberry Sauce Mule (with Mocktail)
A Marriage of Two Holiday Favorites
It’s no secret that I looooove cranberry sauce. It’s not a holiday dinner plate without a big scoop of cranberry sauce. The tartness cuts through all the rich foods you pile onto your plate and the flavor on it’s own is so good! Another thing my family loves at the holiday season: a moscow mule. It’s a guarantee that a moscow mule will be served at just about every family gathering. It’s many family member’s favorite cocktail, plus the gingery bite feels so festive and fresh.
This year it dawned on me. Why not marry these two classics together? Cranberry and ginger and citrus are a match made in heaven. And rather than use cranberry juice, why not use a side that’s already on the Thanksgiving buffet? The cranberry sauce is sweet, tart, and sometimes seasoned with additional citrus flavors as it is. Shaking the sauce into some extra citrus juice and booze liquifies the cranberry sauce enough that it strains through a cocktail shaker into a glass beautifully. The result is a perfectly cranberry colored, tart, sweet, refreshing, gingery drink that will kickoff any Thanksgiving get-together.
Tips For Making A Thanksgiving Cranberry Sauce Moscow Mule
If you plan on making this cranberry orange moscow mule, here are a few tips to be extra successful:
- Depending on how textured your cranberry sauce is, you’ll need to shake your shaker vigorously through the strainer to get all of the liquid out. Any chunks of cranberry can potentially block your strainer, trapping the delicious liquid inside.
- If you know you’ll have guests opting for the mocktail, I recommend having two shakers available so you don’t have to worry about cleaning the shaker between making drinks, keeping one for booze and one for without. It’ll save you lots of time and your guests from accidentally getting a hint of alcohol when they least expect it.
- Learn from my mistakes: only use freshly squeezed citrus when making cocktails. The bottled juice can be very tart from oxidizing and if you squeeze it yourself ahead of time it could be too tart or even potentially bitter. You’ll save yourself a lot of heartache by slicing your citrus and squeezing it directly into the shaker when you make each cocktail.
Recipe Details
This recipe is meant for a single cocktail, but you can easily double it if your shaker is large enough and yourself or your guests are looking for the same shot of booze! To create this drink, you’ll start with a base of some tart, fresh citrus with a quarter of a lime and a quarter of an orange. To sweeten this drink up ever so slightly, you’ll add a heaping spoonful of cranberry sauce. Whether fresh or canned, cranberry sauce has the perfect balance of tartness and sweetness to round out this beverage! Last but not least, is the booze! A classic mule is made with vodka, which is how I prefer it, but you can make this drink Kentucky style and switch it out with bourbon. The vodka is a subtle flavor that let’s the cranberry and ginger shine, whereas the bourbon will add a bit of spice to your drink that pairs wonderfully with the holiday season. If making this cocktail non-alcoholic, add a shot of water to the shaker. Water won’t add much flavor, but the liquid is necessary to get the cranberry sauce thinned out during the shaking process.
The cocktail is shaken with ice until it’s really cold and the cranberry sauce has emulsified into the liquids. Strain the cranberry orange mule into a Tom Collins glass or copper mug for a classic mule look. Top with ice and your favorite brand of ginger beer. I like to garnish with a thin slice of orange and a few fresh cranberries to make the drink feel extra festive. I’ll even add a few pomegranate arils to make it even extra festive! Add a straw if desired and serve right away to enjoy!
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A few simple ingredients come together for a festive mule-style cocktail using an ingredient already at your Thanksgiving table: cranberry sauce!
- Juice of ¼ orange
- Juice of ¼ lime
- 2 oz vodka or bourbon (substitute water for mocktail)
- Heaping teaspoon of cranberry sauce
- 1/2 cup ginger beer
- ice
- Orange slices and fresh cranberries for garnish
To a cocktail shaker, add a large scoop of ice. Squeeze ¼ of an orange and ¼ of a lime to add the juice directly into the shaker.
Pour 2 oz of vodka or bourbon (or water to create a mocktail) into the shaker.
Add a heaping teaspoon of cranberry sauce into the shaker. Add the lid and vigorously shake for 30 seconds, until the shaker feels very cold.
Fill a Collins glass or copper mug with fresh ice. Strain the ingredients from the shaker into the glass, shaking the shaker slightly to ensure all of the liquid drains out. Discard the ice and any cranberry sauce chunks from the shaker into a sink.
Pour the ginger beer into the glass and gently stir with a straw to incorporate into the cocktail.
Garnish with an orange slice and fresh cranberries. Add a straw, serve, and enjoy!
