Thirsting for a sublime holiday cocktail to serve your family and friends before Christmas dinner? Our amaretto-cranberry kiss, inspired by James & Everett, is a festive holiday drink that will have your thirsty guests sipping and celebrating.
Amaretto is a luscious and sweet Italian liqueur that exudes a distinctly divine almond flavor. Made from almonds or apricot pits, it can be served by itself (try it on the rocks!) or used to craft lip-smacking good cocktails. If you love the flavor of almonds, amaretto is the cordial for you!
ALSO TRY: The Dublintini cocktail is an easy holiday twist to the classic martini
Our amaretto-cranberry kiss lives up to its name by delighting your taste buds with a lovely balance of sweet and tart flavors. This holiday cocktail features cranberry juice tartness, orange juice sweetness, the clear flavor of vodka, and the coveted almond flavor of amaretto. We beautifully garnish this festive drink with orange segments and a sprig of fresh rosemary. It’s like a Christmas gift in a glass.
Make-ahead amazing
You can save yourself time and effort at Christmas dinner or on the day of your party by making the cranberry juice cocktail mixture up to two days in advance. Mix in a pitcher, cover, and keep refrigerated until its party time.
Leftover amaretto?
Once you’ve made your holiday cocktails, it would be a shame to set your bottle of amaretto on the shelf until next year. Let it update your everyday drinks and eats: stir a couple of tablespoons into your mug of hot coffee or glass of iced coffee or add it as a secret ingredient to your favorite desserts that have an affinity for almond flavor. Think amaretto brownies, almond cookies, cannoli, or cheesecake
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Let’s drink!
Making this Christmas drink is quick and easy. In a pitcher, stir together cranberry juice cocktail, vodka, amaretto and orange juice. Cover the pitcher and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve and sip.
Shake, shake, shake
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice cubes and pour about 8 ounces of the cranberry juice cocktail mixture into the shaker. Cover the shaker with its lid and shake, shake, shake it up. Make sure you shake it in front of your holiday guests. A cocktail shaker always gets attention and unleashes celebration anticipation. Strain the cocktail into four martini glasses.
Make it pretty
As if the vigorous shaking wasn’t enough to bring family and friends to the bar, festively decorating your drink will certainly catch their eye. Garnish each martini glass with a clementine segment and a sprig of fresh rosemary. Your amaretto-cranberry kiss is ready to be served.
Amaretto-cranberry kiss
Yield 4 servings
Ingredients
- 16 ounces cranberry juice cocktail
- 8 ounces vodka
- 4 ounces amaretto
- 3 ounces fresh orange juice
- Ice
- Clementines, peeled and separated into segments, for garnish
- Rosemary sprig, for garnish
Instructions
- Mix cranberry juice, vodka, amaretto and orange juice into a pitcher.
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill until ready to serve.
- Fill cocktail shaker with ice cubes.
- Pour eight ounces of cranberry juice cocktail mixture into a shaker.
- Cover with lid and shake vigorously.
- Strain into martini glasses.
- Garnish each glass with a clementine segment and sprig of fresh rosemary.
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