This winter mocktail is the perfect pour in your glass for those Christmas and New Year parties you’ll be attending. For the designated driver or those not interested in the spiked punch, this is for you. Cool, crisp, refreshing, and non-alcoholic, this winter mocktail beverage tastes as delicious as it is beautiful.
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What is a winter mocktail?
A winter mocktail is like a cocktail without the alcohol. A virgin cocktail, if you will.
What makes it wintry are the ingredients that are most popular during this season. Fruits such as pomegranate, oranges, and cranberries. Adding a sprig of green rosemary adds just the perfect pop of color to your festive glass.
A winter mocktail option is great for Christmas or New Years gatherings or winter weddings for those who prefer a non-alcoholic beverage.
Merry Berry Mocktail Recipe
This wintry beverage boasts fruity flavors and fresh rosemary without a sugar overload. You can enjoy several glasses of this beverage without the calorie guilt. You may make this winter mocktail in small or large batches.
A great option for punch at a winter wedding, Christmas or New Year party, or any other festive wintry gathering.
Ingredients
1 bag organic cranberries, rinsed
16 ounces pomegranate juice
1 orange, washed
1 liter club soda
1/2 cup organic sugar or local raw honey
8-10 sprigs rosemary, washed
Instructions
Rinse and strain cranberries in a colander then add to a small sauce pot. Allow cranberries to cook down on medium low heat, stirring occasionally. Mash the berries as they are cooking down to release juices. Then add in sugar and stir well. Remove the sauce pot from heat and allow mixture to cool down.
While cranberries are cooling down, wash orange and rosemary and let rosemary sit to dry.
Next slice orange thinly and add to a pitcher along with pomegranate juice and 3 sprigs of rosemary.
Once cranberry mixture has significantly cooled down, use a colander or strainer to strain juice from the puree into the pitcher. Some puree is fine to add to the pitcher too for more cranberry flavor. Then stir the pitcher’s contents well.
This beverage is best served with fresh carbonation so add the club soda per glass instead of into the pitcher at one time. If serving this mocktail in a large party setting, consider leaving instruction to add ice, fill half the glass with Merry Berry juice, then top off with club soda and add a sprig of rosemary for fun.
Enjoy!
If you’d prefer this winter mocktail be sweeter, consider swapping club soda for Sprite, Starry, or 7UP. You may also skip the bottled club soda and use your own Soda Stream and filtered water.
Keep your winter mocktail colder longer
Chilling your ingredients before preparing your mocktail will keep it colder longer and not needing as much ice which, as it melts, waters down the mocktail’s flavor.
Can I make this winter mocktail a cocktail instead?
Of course you can spike this punch!
Simply add whatever alcohol of choice you prefer into this recipe. Give it a good stir and serve.
Drink responsibly!
Other options for Merry Berry Mocktail
This is a versatile recipe for sure.
- Feel free to substitute out the navel oranges for blood oranges or even grapefruit for an extra pop of tang!
- Fresh sage instead of rosemary is an option as well.
- Really surprise your guests with long leaf or loblolly pine needles instead of rosemary. Yes, indeed conifer pine needles are edible. A great source of Vitamin C. (See my disclosure statement).
- Pomegranate Cherry juice by POM was on sale once so I snagged that to try in this recipe and it did not disappoint.
- Not a fan of sugar? No problem. Swap sugar for honey. NOTE: add in honey when the cooked mixture has cooled down to a slightly warm so they honey can dissolve but the heat won’t steal all the good benefits honey brings to this mocktail.
If you liked this winter mocktail, you may also like these beverages:
If you like this beverage idea, give Christmas Coffee (good all fall and winter long) or homemade ginger ale a try.
Pin this one to come back to during STRAWBERRY SEASON! Pro tip: use those fresh strawberry TOPS (yes, with the leaves!) to create a scrumptiously refreshing strawberry syrup to add to fresh squeezed lemonade next spring:
STRAWBERRY SYRUP for strawberry lemonade
Winter mocktail pairings: baking ideas
Since you’re gonna tote this Merry Berry mocktail to your next Christmas party, you may as well bake something too.
Can’t go wrong with the crowd pleasing BROWNIES or CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (who has ever heard of a cookie recipe WITHOUT vanilla extract??!!). Perhaps consider this sweet and savory GRILLED CHEESE ON CINNAMON BREAD.
Because we all know CINNAMON ROLLS are thing all year round, you’ll want this small batch CREAM CHEESE FROSTING too.
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Merry Berry Mocktail
Ingredients
- 1 bag organic cranberries rinsed
- 16 ounces pomegranate juice
- 1 orange washed
- 1 liter club soda
- 1/2 cup organic sugar or local raw honey
- 8-10 sprigs rosemary washed
Instructions
- Rinse and strain cranberries in a colander then add to a small sauce pot. Allow cranberries to cook down on medium low heat, stirring occasionally. Mash the berries as they are cooking down to release juices. Then add in sugar and stir well. Remove the sauce pot from heat and allow mixture to cool down.
- While cranberries are cooling down, wash orange and rosemary and let rosemary sit to dry.
- Next slice orange thinly and add to a pitcher along with pomegranate juice and 3 sprigs of rosemary.
- Once cranberry mixture has significantly cooled down, use a colander or strainer to strain juice from the puree into the pitcher. Some puree is fine to add to the pitcher too for more cranberry flavor. Then stir the pitcher’s contents well.
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