This Christmas Martini is easy to make and perfect for the holiday season! It’s a cranberry cocktail that’s sweet and drinkable.
Looking for a signature drink to remember for the holidays? The Christmas martini here we are: sweet, tasty and beautifully festive cake! For years, the poinsettia has been our favorite for the holidays, but this year we wanted to come up with something new. It turns out that a celebratory martini is the perfect entertainment solution. It blends easily and the color shines beautifully thanks to the cranberry juice. Here’s everything you need to know about this great holiday drink!
Also try: Christmas margarita, Christmas vodka cocktails or Christmas bourbon cocktails
What’s in a Christmas Martini?
The Christmas Martini Recipe is a flavored vodka martini made with cranberry juice. In fact, it looks more like a Cosmo than a martini! The classic martini is made with gin and dry vermouth, although vodka has become a popular substitute for gin. Over time, the vodka version has become a blank slate to add all sorts of fruity variations. In fact, we have many types of martini recipes, from pomegranate to cucumber to ginger!
This Christmas Martini includes:
- Cranberry Juice: 100% unsweetened (see below)
- vodka
- Cointreau
- lemon juice
- simple syrup (or maple syrup)
Use unsweetened cranberry juice! Or skip the plain syrup
This Christmas martini uses 100% unsweetened cranberry juice to give it its beautifully glossy color. But be careful when shopping: sweetened cranberry juice is also easy to find. Here’s what you need to know about the two types:
- Sweetened Cranberry Juice is sometimes referred to as a cranberry juice cocktail. This type of cranberry juice contains added sugar and sometimes high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener. This is the kind used for classic cranberry cocktails of the past, like Cranberry Vodka and others.
- 100% Cranberry Juice is available now at your local grocery store. The advantage of this type? The color is more vivid and you can sweeten your drink as you like. We use this style for all of our cranberry cocktails.
What if all you could find was cute? Use half of the simple syrup in the recipe below—or even add to taste.
How to Make a Christmas Martini (Basic Steps)
The Christmas martini is easy to make. All you need is a cocktail shaker and a martini glass! If you’re doing this for a crowd, you can also mix 2 drinks at once in a shaker. Here are the basic steps (or jump to the recipe):
- Shake: Pour the vodka, cranberry juice, Cointreau, lemon juice and simple syrup into the shaker. Shake for 15 seconds until cool.
- stump: Strain the drink into a glass and serve!
- Garnish: Here comes the fun part! To give it a Christmassy vibe, use fresh cranberries and a sprig of rosemary as a garnish. In these photos we’ve put the cranberries on a cocktail stick, but you can stick them straight into the drink too.
Serving a crowd? Make a mug!
Are you entertaining for the holidays and want to make several Christmas cocktails at once? You can make a pitcher and then pour it into martini glasses. How to prepare 8 drinks:
- In a pitcher, combine 1 cup vodka, 1 cup 100% cranberry juice, ½ cup Cointreau, ½ cup fresh lemon juice, and 5 tablespoons simple syrup.
- Add 3 handfuls of ice and stir until cool. Pour into glasses and serve.
About Cointreau plus replacement
For this Christmas martini you need Cointreau. What is that? Cointreau is an orange liqueur with a lovely orange aroma. It is of higher quality than Triple Sec, with a more robust and balanced flavor. It’s best known for its use in the classic margarita.
If you buy a bottle, you’ll taste all of our best Cointreau drinks! If you don’t have one, you can substitute any orange liqueur like Triple Sec or a more upscale liqueur like Grand Marnier.
More holiday cocktails
Want to make more holiday cocktails? We have what you need. There are so many great Christmas cocktails or Christmas vodka cocktails to try. Here are some of our favourites:
When to serve a Christmas martini
The Christmas Martini is perfect for winter and fall occasions! It works well as:
The description
This Christmas Martini is easy to make and perfect for the holiday season! It’s a cranberry cocktail that’s sweet and drinkable.
- 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) vodka**
- 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) 100% Cranberry Juice (not sweet*)
- ½ ounce (1 tbsp) Cointreau
- ½ ounce (1 tbsp) lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons Plain syrup or maple syrup*
- For the garnish: cranberries, sprig of rosemary
- Combine vodka, cranberry juice, Cointreau, lemon juice and syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake for 15 seconds until cool.
- Strain the drink into a cocktail or martini glass. Garnish with cranberries and rosemary and serve.
Remarks
*If you can only find sweetened cranberry juice, use half the simple syrup (or add to taste).
**To prepare 8 drinks for a crowd: In a pitcher, combine 1 cup vodka, 1 cup 100% cranberry juice, ½ cup Cointreau, ½ cup fresh lemon juice, and 5 tablespoons simple syrup. Add 3 handfuls of ice and stir until cool. Pour into glasses and serve.
- Category: drink
- Method: Shocked
- Kitchen: cocktails
- Diet: vegan
Keywords: Christmas martini
More types of martinis
There are so many delicious vodka martinis to enjoy! Try them all:
