Our Mistletoe Margarita with cranberry juice and rosemary is festive and so pretty! Everyone loves this tart-sweet cocktail during the holidays. Cointreau adds a subtle orange flavor, while fresh lime and cranberry juices add tartness. Garnish with rosemary for fragrance, and dip the rim in sugar. This is the perfect Christmas cocktail, and it’s so easy to make.
My husband loves to make cocktails, and his bar is pretty elaborate. I had to create an Airtable database for him to keep up with all his liquor and mixes!
This cranberry margarita recipe is one of our favorites to serve during the holidays. It’s got traditional red and green colors, and the flavor is a perfectly balanced blend of tart and slightly sweet. I do not like sweet cocktails at all, so he reduces any simple syrup in mine.
Testing results for
- We’ve used 100% cranberry juice, which is unsweetened, and also tested with a typical cranberry juice cocktail (a blend of several juices and not much cranberry). We prefer this drink with the 100% unsweetened cranberry juice. If you like it less tart, you can add simple syrup to your taste.
- Some folks have an aversion to tequila, bless their hearts, and for them you can substitute vodka.
I hope you make this recipe. I think you’ll love it!
Ingredient notes
Here are a few things to know about the ingredients in this recipe.
➡️➡️➡️ The full ingredient amounts and instructions are listed below on the printable recipe card. Scroll below the recipe card for frequently asked questions and tips for success.
Tequila: Use good-quality tequila. Look for ones that use 100% Blue Weber Agave, as that indicates higher quality. We like Cimarron Tequila or Gran Centenario Tequila.
Cointreau: This is a high-quality brand of triple sec, an orange liqueur.
Lime juice: Please, please, squeeze your own limes. Fresh lime juice is essential! I love this citrus squeezer and use it weekly.
Cranberry juice: We prefer 100% unsweetened cranberry juice.
If you make this recipe, please leave a comment and ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below!
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Mistletoe Margarita
Ingredients
- Sea salt (to rim the glass)
- Ice
- 2 ounces Tequila
- ½ ounce Cointreau or Gran Marnier
- 1 ounce Fresh lime juice
- 3 ounces Cranberry juice
- Simple syrup (optional, to taste)
Garnish
- Lime wheels
- Cranberries (fresh or frozen)
- Sprig of fresh rosemary
Instructions
- First, rub a wedge of lime around the rim of a cocktail glass then dip the glass into sea salt turning it so that the salt sticks to the rim.Sea salt (to rim the glass)
- Fill a cocktail shaker with Ice. Add 2 ounces Tequila, 1/2 ounce Cointreau or Gran Marnier, 1 ounce Fresh lime juice, and 3 ounces Cranberry juice.
- Shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker feels very cold.
- Fill the salt-rimmed cocktail glass with ice and pour over the shaken cocktail. Stir in simple syrup to taste if needed.
- Garish with Lime wheels, a few Cranberries (fresh or frozen) and a Sprig of fresh rosemary.
Notes
- This recipe can be easily scaled up to pitcher size for a gathering. Christmas just got merrier, cheers!
- Salting the rim is not for everyone; you can skip this step or use sugar instead.
- Cranberries make an excellent festive garnish for this cocktail. Frozen ones work really well as they act as extra “ice,” but fresh ones will work just fine too.
- If you would like to make this into a blended cocktail, add all the ingredients with plenty of ice to a blender rather than a cocktail shaker, and blend until slushy.
Nutrition
Questions and tips
Storage
If you want to mix up a batch of this Mistletoe Margarita in advance, store it in the refrigerator. Give it a good shake with ice in the shaker, then pour into individual glasses.
Of course! Sugared cranberries are easy to make: toss fresh cranberries in simple syrup then let them dry an hour or so on parchment paper. They’ll be sticky at this point. Then, take the cranberries and gently roll them in a bowl of granulated sugar. Remove and place on parchment paper. Let them dry uncovered for at least an hour. Store the sugared cranberries in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
