cinnamon simple syrup - Girl & Tonic

Spiced Cranberry Mai Tai | A Delicious Holiday Tiki Cocktail

by corrie.pennington / December 17, 2020

This Spiced Cranberry Mai Tai is a delightful combination of tiki flavors and holiday vibes. If you’ve been looking for the perfect holiday tiki cocktail to keep you feeling warm on the inside this season, look no further!

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Like many other cocktail bloggers, I’m constantly scrolling through my Instagram feed looking for inspiration from my #drinkstagram fam. Some of my favorites, like the Mezcal in Maui and the Summer Sipper, are recipes made by my friends that I’ve tweaked just a tad. I’ve got drink recipe after drink recipe saved on my IG but I don’t think I could ever get through all of them at this point!

Every now and then I see a drink recipe that not only stands out but that I also happen to have all the ingredients for. I didn’t waste much time before making this one. I hope you won’t either.

Sarah over at theboozyginger.com shared this Spiced Cranberry Mai Tai recipe on her Instagram a few days ago. I knew immediately that I had to recreate it. Tropical flavors with a hint of holiday flair? Sign. Me. Up. Sarah’s recipe originally called for dark rum but I used spiced rum to give it a little extra warmth.

I love the holiday and Christmas seasons. But I’m a warm-weather girl to the core. Don’t mishear me, though– I do want it to be cold on Christmas Day. And maybe New Years. But after that, I’m done with the cold. Bring back the sun. Blessedly, I live in Texas so I don’t have to put up with low temperatures for too long. But for those days when I wanna embrace the holiday season while dreaming of warmer weather, I’ll be drinking this holiday tiki cocktail.

If you’ve never had a traditional, classic Mai Tai, you should definitely make one. The original recipe is worlds different than most of the Mai Tais you’ll ever find at a restaurant. The only difference in ingredients between a classic Mai Tai and this Spiced Cranberry Mai Tai is the cranberry juice (go figure) and the cinnamon syrup. And pleeasse don’t be intimidated by the cinnamon syrup– you can make your own with just 3 ingredients: cinnamon sticks, sugar, and water. Yup. This post walks you through the easy steps.

If you make this Spiced Cranberry Mai Tai, be sure to comment below and tag me on Instagram. Seeing y’all reshake these recipes makes me so happy!

Ingredients for a Spiced Cranberry Mai Tai

1 oz white rum
1/2 oz dark rum (I used spiced rum for extra warmth)
1/2 oz orange curaçao or orange liqueur
1/2 oz lime juice
1 oz cranberry juice
1/2 oz orgeat (if you want to make your own, here’s a recipe)
1/2 oz cinnamon syrup (find the easy recipe here)

How to Make a Spiced Cranberry Mai Tai

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into a glass* filled with ice. Garnish with a lime wheel and fresh cranberries if you have them.

*I used a lowball because I really wanted to show off my vintage Christmas glass but I had an ounce or so of the cocktail left in the shaker. You may want to use a highball or Collins glass instead.

Spiced Cranberry Mai Tai

This Spiced Cranberry Mai Tai is a delightful combination of tiki flavors and holiday vibes. If you've been looking for the perfect holiday tiki cocktail to keep you feeling warm on the inside this season, look no further!

Print Recipe

Prep Time 3 mins

Course Drinks

Servings 1

Equipment

cocktail shaker

Ingredients

1 oz white rum
½ oz dark rum (I used spiced rum)
½ oz orange curaçao or orange liqueur
1 oz cranberry juice
½ oz lime juice, fresh
½ oz orgeat
½ oz cinnamon simple syrup*

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
Shake well and strain into a glass** filled with ice.
Garnish with a lime wheel and fresh cranberries if you have them.

Notes

*Make your own cinnamon simple syrup with only water, sugar, and cinnamon sticks. Find the recipe here.

**Use a highball or Collins glass. If you use a lowball glass, you’ll have some cocktail left in your shaker.

Keyword cinnamon, cinnamon simple syrup, cranberry juice, dark rum, lime, lime juice, mai tai, orange liqueur, orgeat, rum, spiced cranberry mai tai, spiced rum, white rum

Looking for other tiki and tropical cocktail recipes? Check out the Jungle Bird, Mezcal in Maui, the Daiquiri, and my Easy Colada.

Spiced Pear Cocktail | The Best Fall Cocktail Recipe with 5 Simple Ingredients

by corrie.pennington / November 17, 2020

This simple spiced pear cocktail is an easy fall cocktail made with vodka, fresh pear, cinnamon simple syrup, and a splash of ginger beer.

This simple spiced pear cocktail is made with vodka, fresh pear, cinnamon simple syrup, and a splash of ginger beer. It’s sweet and warming–the perfect cocktail to sip on a crisp autumn evening.

More days than not, it’s feeling like fall here in Texas. Finally. I mean, we’re already halfway through season and I wore boots for the first time this morning. Granted, it’ll be too warm for me to wear this afternoon when I do my grocery pick-up but it was a momentous occasion nonetheless.

Few things embody the flavor of fall to me the way cinnamon does. I recently made some cinnamon simple syrup to put in a spiced pomegranate cocktail and I’ve been itching to use it in another cocktail recipe ever since. Pears and cinnamon are a match made in heaven. After making this spiced pear cocktail I can’t stop thinking about how it tastes like a spiced poached pear in liquid form. I think I’ll be making this easy recipe soon because now I’m dying to have one in, well, edible form.

This spiced pear cocktail recipe would be a great cocktail to serve on Thanksgiving. It’s also easy to make ahead of time so you can spend less time mixing drinks and more time mixing it up with your guests (see what I did there?). Simply multiply the ingredients by the number of guests you’ll be serving and add all of the ingredients except for the ginger beer to a large pitcher. When you’re ready to serve the cocktail, pour into a lowball glass and add about an inch of ginger beer into each glass.

Alternatively, you can serve this cocktail on a coupe glass without ice and add only a splash of ginger beer. This cocktail is honestly delicious both ways!

If you make this spiced pear cocktail, be sure to tag me on Instagram and let me know in a comment down below!

Cheers!

Ingredients for a Spiced Pear Cocktail

1 1/2 oz vodka
3/4 oz fresh pear juice*
1/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz cinnamon simple syrup
splash of ginger beer

*If you don’t have a juicer, store-bought will work. If it’s not in your store’s juice aisle, check the baby section. If you can’t find it, apple cider will taste great, too!

How to Make a Spiced Pear Cocktail

Add the vodka, pear juice, lemon juice, and cinnamon simple syrup to a cocktail shaker that’s filled with ice. Shake well, about 15-20 seconds. Strain the cocktail into a coupe glass. Add a splash of ginger beer. Garnish with a dehydrated pear.