Cranberry Cosmopolitan Mocktail

I love making special drinks for the kids over the holidays and especially for New Year's eve. When the adults are celebrating with wine or cocktails, it's nice to have a non-alcoholic drink option. This Cranberry Cosmopolitan Mocktail is perfect for kids or anyone looking for a holiday drink without alcohol.

But this cosmo mocktail is also very easily spiked for those who would prefer it with alcohol by simply adding vodka. You can exchange the orange extract for Triple Sec or Cointreau (orange liqueur) but you don't have to. Either way, it's a fun, festive and delicious classic drink!

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The Cosmopolitan aka Cosmo was all the rage in the 90's, really shooting to stardom with the popularity of the television show "Sex and the City," which I have to admit, I was never a huge fan of. But, it totally popularized the Cranberry Cosmo, of which I am a HUGE fan! Interestingly, the Cosmopolitan drink made a significant impact on how we approach drinking and cocktail culture in general. Much of the high-end cocktail culture we encounter today with drinks so complex only a mixologist can recreate them, can be attributed to the simplicity of the Cosmo era.

Then bartenders began to hate the Cosmopolitan for the same reasons they loved it when it was first created; it was too simple. They wanted to challenge people with flavors and textures, not simply make them a drink that was easy swill or worse yet... easy to make at home! You can read more about the birth of craft cocktail culture HERE.

🔪 Instructions

It really is as simple as pouring a few things into a glass and mixing! You can use a cocktail shaker, but you don't have to. The fun part is sugaring the rim of the glass to make it look fancy (kids really love that and it's festive for the holidays)! I have step-by-step photo instructions in the recipe card NOTES, demonstrating how to do this.

💭 Top tip

The most important part is that you sugar the rim before you pour liquid into the glass. Then you need to pour carefully, so you don't spill any liquid on your rim (you can use a measuring cup with a spout or a funnel if you don't feel confident in your pouring skills 🙂 )

📖 Variations

The cosmopolitan is not only a famous mocktail recipe, it's a really great drink for celebrating the holidays.

Spike it: This mocktail is also very easily spiked for those who would prefer it with alcohol by simply adding vodka. You can exchange the orange extract for Triple Sec or Cointreau but you don't have to. Either way, it's a fun, festive and delicious drink!

Lime juice - you can use fresh lime juice instead of lime juice from concentrate, but you'll need double the amount.

Cranberries: you can use fresh cranberries and ice instead of frozen cranberries

For little kids: Even if you have smaller children and are worried about them choking on the frozen cranberries or ice, just use a straw, skip the ice/frozen cranberries and put the drink in a fancy plastic glass like the one in the photo (see NOTES for my Amazon recommendations) and your little ones are ready to P-A-R-T-Y! Heck, I used to put mocktails in a sippy cup when my kids were small and they would be absolutely thrilled.

Cranberry Cosmo Mocktail in a plastic glass for smaller children

💭 Storing

You can make this non alcoholic cosmopolitan in advance and store it in the fridge for up to a week. You can also store it in the fridge for up to a week after making it. I store it in a sealed juice jug. *Just be sure to check that the expiry dates on your ingredients coincide with your storage dates! Sugar the rim just prior to serving.

Mocktails are a great way to enjoy a special drink with your kids, if you don't drink, are avoiding alcohol or just want to enjoy a refreshing non alcoholic beverage. It's also the perfect drink for bridal showers, baby showers or simply for happy hour!

⭐ Reviews

Did you make this virgin cosmopolitan? Please RATE THE RECIPE below!

Here's what others are saying:

"I took a month off of drinking for my diet and these are fabulous. So similar to the real deal. Thank you!"⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📋 Cranberry Cosmopolitan Mocktail Recipe

This non alcoholic Cranberry Cosmopolitan Mocktail with cranberry juice, is really fun, festive and the perfect holiday drink for adults or kids!

Course drink

Cuisine American

Keyword cosmo, cosmopolitan, cranberry, mocktail

Special Diet Vegetarian

Prep Time 5

Total Time 5

Servings drinks

Calories 121kcal

Author Terri Gilson

Ingredients

1 ¾ cup cranberry juice (cranberry cocktail)
¼ cup sparkling water
¾ teaspoon orange extract
1 tablespoon lime juice from concentrate

Garnish

lime wheel (fresh lime slice)
sparkling sugar and edible glitter
frozen cranberries and or ice, as desired

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Wet the rim of the glass. You can do this by running a slice of lime along the rim, dipping the glass in water or lime juice (SEE VIDEO in NOTES)
Pour some sparkling sugar and edible glitter onto a plate
Place the glass upside down, on the plate and turn/spin the glass to coat it with sugar and glitter
Turn glass upright.
Then carefully add cranberry juice, sparkling water, lime juice and orange extract to glass, dividing ingredients between 2 drinks. (*you can use a measuring cup with a spout or a funnel, if you don't feel confident in your pouring skills 🙂 )