Name: Spiced Cranberry Cordial
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 250 g cranberries (frozen); 250 ml hot water; 500 g caster sugar; 2 cinnamon sticks; 4 whole cloves; 4 all spice berries (crushed); 1 swath of orange peel; 1 pinch salt; 30 ml alcohol of choice (optional); 2 tbsp spiced cranberry cordial; 1 dash angostura bitters; 150 ml chilled Champagne or other sparkling wine; lemon peel (to garnish); 50 ml spiced cranberry cordial; 15 ml lemon juice (freshly squeezed); soda water or ginger ale; lemon slice (to garnish)

Packed with festive spices & celebrating the fruit of the season, this spiced cranberry cordial is essential to any Christmas drinks trolley!

Jump To Recipe

servings

total time

20 mins

great for

gifting

suitable for

GF / vegan

Proudly introducing our cousin, Ronan Keilthy, Head Bartender of 28 HongKong Street. He is an encyclopaedia of cocktail and spirits knowledge. Just 24 years young, Ronan has already competed in and won the Clairin World Championship 2019 in Haiti and was named “The Rising Star” at Singapore Bar Awards 2018. We are absolutely delighted that Ronan has generously created a set of Christmas cocktails and mocktails just for us! Hope you enjoy and cheers to the season!

behind the scenes

Celebrate the Season with Spiced Cranberry Cordial

Cranberries are a fantastic seasonal fruit that are usually relegated to a supporting role on the Christmas table. Here we will give them the time in the spotlight that they sorely deserve with a winter spiced cranberry cordial perfect for spicing up (pun very much intended) classic cocktails or non-alcoholic drinks.

This spiced cranberry cordial is based on whole cranberries rather than cranberry juice as most available cranberry juices just do not have the intensely tart flavour needed to make this cordial work.

If you have access to fresh, in season cranberries, you are very much in luck. However, fresh cranberries can be hard to find, expensive, and sometimes pretty flavourless.

For easy, consistent results, we recommend using frozen cranberries as they are picked at the peak of ripeness and then flash frozen, so they do not lose any of their flavour.

Jolly Festive's Easy Mulled Wine Cordial

Looking for other make ahead drink ideas? Look no further than this easy mulled wine cordial, ensuring you’re never more than a minute or two away from a delicious cup of Christmas cheer!

Cranberry Cooler with spiced cranberry cordial

behind the scenes

Spice it up with this Cranberry Cordial

Making this spiced cranberry cordial is a pretty straightforward process!

The cranberries are cooked down with water, sugar, and some festive spices and hey presto, you are good to go!

That being said, feel free to mix it up a little if you like –some great additions would be fresh rosemary, star anise, cardamom, or fresh thyme.

Adding a splash of booze is also welcome. Orange liqueurs such as Cointreau or Grand Marnier are classic pairings, but if you feel like it, splurge and add a dash of Green Chartreuse (an intensely herbal French liqueur) or vodka. Just be sure to wait to add the booze until the end after the cordial has cooled as you do not want to cook off any of the flavour of the alcohol!

behind the scenes

1 Cordial, 2 Drinks!

Once the cordial is made, the fun part begins!

Cranberries naturally pair with a wide range of spirits from bright light ones such as gin, vodka, or aquavit, to heavier ones such as bourbon, brandy, or amaro.

But our favourite suggestion for this spiced cranberry cordial is our Kir-istmas Royale! Just pour some cranberry cordial in to the bottom of a glass and top it up with some dry sparkling wine to create a unique wintertime spritz.

If you are going sans-alcohol then we’ve got you covered there too! A measure of this cordial along with a squeeze of lemon topped up with soda water or ginger ale makes for a very refreshing cooler or soda that everyone can enjoy.

Let’s Talk Sterilising Jars!

Preheat the oven to 100C.
Wash jars and lids by hand or using dishwasher; ensure they are dried thoroughly.
Place jars face down, and lid face up, onto a clean baking sheet.
Cook jars until you are ready to fill them (at least 20 minutes).
When you’re ready to fill them, remove from the oven and jars will be sterilised!

Note: Ensure you are putting hot mixture into a hot jar to prevent the jars from cracking!

Want More?

Looking for more festive food & drink inspiration? We’ve got everything from sweet treats and main events to delicious tipples and edible gifts guaranteed to wow your family & friends.

Click Here To Explore