Holiday Cranberry Mojito Recipe

When I think of Winter drinks, I tend to think of cozy, hot drinks, like spiced mulled wine or maybe some nutella hot chocolate. But sometimes, a drink like this mojito cocktail hits the spot during the colder months!

The bright and fresh flavors are a true pick-me-up, and the cranberries are easy to find this time of year.

Of course, you can serve this cranberry mojito up year-round if you’d like, it’s a really versatile drink recipe!

There are plenty of ways to change this recipe up if you’d like, and I’ve included a large batch version in the “chef tips” right below the recipe instructions, in case you’re having a party and don’t want to make just 2 cocktails at a time.

How to make a cranberry mojito?

This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.

1. Make the syrup. It may sound complicated, but I promise it’s not. You just boil water, sugar, and cranberries until the cranberries burst and the sugar is dissolved. Make sure to let it cool afterwards though.
2. Muddle the mint. Muddling the mint with sugar takes away any potential bitterness that can be released from smashing the mint leaves.
3. Layer. Start with lime juice, then add cranberry syrup, rum, ice cubes, and club soda!

Variations of this recipe

• Cranberries – this recipe will work well with fresh or frozen cranberries, so feel free to use whichever type you have available. If using frozen, thaw them in the refrigerator before using.
• Lime juice – in recipes like this, with minimal ingredients, use the best you can… and in this case, juicing fresh limes will give you the best flavor. In a pinch, you can use bottled lime juice, however the flavor won’t be as delicious.
• Rum – this recipe calls for white rum, but you may see this type of rum called other things. Silver, clear, or light rum are all essentially the same thing; a rum that has nearly no color, isn’t aged long at all, is filtered many times, and has a light flavor. Bacardi Superior is a good example of this type of rum.
• Club soda – feel free to use your favorite flavorless sparkling soda/water for this recipe. Seltzer or sparkling mineral water are two great alternatives.
• Shaken – if you’d prefer to use a cocktail shaker, add the cranberry syrup, lime juice, and rum to the shaker with some ice. Muddle the mint leaves with the sugar, then strain in the contents of the shaker. Top it off with the club soda, garnish, and serve. This isn’t traditional, and won’t have as much of a layered appearance, but will still taste delicious.
• Alcohol-free – if you would like to make this into a “mocktail”, replace the white rum with an equal amount of additional club soda, or try adding some lime or cranberry flavored seltzer water.

Making mojitos ahead of time

Mojitos are a drink that’s best made fresh right before serving, however you can make parts of this ahead of time, which means it’ll come together super quickly!

How to prep ahead for this recipe:

• Cranberry syrup – the cranberry syrup can be made, cooled completely, then stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several days, up to a week.
• Lime juice – the fresh lime juice (and I do highly recommend using fresh) can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few days.

Storage

Any leftover cocktails should be stored in the refrigerator and consumed within 1-2 days.