Disclosure: The bourbon for this chai-cranberry bourbon smash was provided by Redwood Empire American Whiskey at no charge for my review. All opinions are my own.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t stop falalalala’ing with the holidays here, so what better way to get into the spirit than with another festive cocktail? As far as I’m concerned, you can never have too many holiday cocktails in your arsenal. With all the fun gatherings, there’s always an excuse to whip up a good drink, and I promise this chai-cranberry bourbon smash will quickly become a new favorite holiday cocktail.

We entertain a lot during the holidays, so I’m always trying to come up with new recipes. Sure, I have my favorite go-to recipes that I always like to make each year, but I don’t want to be a one-trick pony. Creating something new keeps me inspired and I had so much fun dreaming up this chai-cranberry bourbon smash.
As we all know by now, I love bourbon. A little bourbon here. A little bourbon there. Clearly, bourbon is my jam, so I knew I needed a holiday bourbon cocktail in my life. Serendipitously, I also made this brown sugar-chai tea simple syrup for a sangria but didn’t use it because the sangria was perfectly sweet without it. So, hey, those two sound perfect together, right?
From there, I added a couple other seasonal ingredients, and just like that, I had the perfect holiday bourbon smash. If that doesn’t put you in the holiday spirit, I don’t know what will.


How to Make
Now let’s get to mixing. To start, you’ll need the brown sugar-chai tea simple syrup, which you can find here. Grab your cocktail shaker and add the cooled simple syrup with fresh cranberries and rosemary and muddle.
Once the cranberries break down, we add some lime wedges and muddle those as well. I like to add the lime wedges separately because if the cocktail shaker is too full, it makes it hard to effectively muddle the cranberries.

After we muddle, it’s time to add the most important ingredient of all: bourbon. For this chai-cranberry bourbon smash, I used Redwood Empire, which is a blend of 60 percent rye and 40 percent bourbon from Graton Distilling Co., located just west of Sonoma County, California. Graton Distilling ages the blend in port, wine and American oak barrels, making for a bourbon with a slightly spicy character. After the initial spice hits, the bourbon finishes with smooth vanilla and caramel notes. With that delicious flavor profile, I knew Redwood Empire would be perfect for this chai-cranberry bourbon smash.

Now we shake everything together, strain into ice-filled glasses and top with ginger ale for a fizzy kick. I like garnishing with a sprig of rosemary. Not only is this a nod to the drink’s ingredients but rosemary also looks like small Christmas tree branches. And that’s just fun.
Perfect Pairing
With it being the holidays, we need a festive meal to go along with this chai-cranberry bourbon smash, and a roasted duck is perfect. Duck is such a rich meat that it holds up to the bourbon well, and it pairs beautifully with the warm spice.
I hope you get into the holiday spirit and try this chai-cranberry bourbon smash. You will feel oh-so festive sipping on this delicious holiday cocktail. Please let me know how you enjoyed this chai-cranberry bourbon smash recipe in the comment section and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter. You can also catch me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.
Cheers!


Need Some Merry Spirits in Your Life?
- Cranberry-apple cider holiday sangria
- Gingered bourbon-apple cider cocktail
- Sage-fig cocktail
- Sparkling cranberry-ginger margarita
- Thanksgiving mimosa

Chai-Cranberry Bourbon Smash
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 drink 1x
Description
Liven up your holiday party with this chai-cranberry bourbon smash. Full of warm spice, this cocktail will have you feeling the holiday spirit in no time.
Ingredients
1/4 cup whole cranberries
1 ounce brown sugar-chai tea simple syrup
2 rosemary sprigs, divided
1/2 lime, cut into wedges
2 ounces bourbon
Ice
Splash of ginger ale
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, muddle cranberries, simple syrup and one rosemary sprig until the cranberries breakdown. Add the lime wedges and muddle until they also break down.
- Add bourbon and a handful of ice. Place the top on the cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for about 15 seconds. Strain into ice-filled glasses.
- Pour in a splash of ginger ale and gently stir. Garnish with the remaining rosemary sprig. Enjoy!
Notes
- Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
- Category: Cocktail
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 drink
- Calories: 297
- Sugar: 33
- Sodium: 7
- Fat: 0
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 42
- Fiber: 0
- Protein: 0
- Cholesterol: 0
Keywords: bourbon, bourbon smash, cranberry cocktail, chai cocktail
I always love bourbon, too, but the cranberries and the chai flavors make this cocktail absolutely perfect! I’m sure I will be sipping quite a few of these while wrapping presents this holiday season 🙂
★★★★★
I hope you do! I love wrapping presents, but it definitely makes it a bit more fun.
This cocktail looks fantastic! I haven’t had a bourbon drink in a while!
Good time to change that!
Yes!! I love a good holiday cocktail too!! This one looks fabulous and I can’t wait to try it!! You can never have enough pre-Christmas drinks, cheers to that!!
★★★★★
I couldn’t agree more!
I really like the idea of combining chai flavours with bourbon and cranberry! The warming chai spices are perfect for Christmas season, along with a good bourbon hit and that lift of acidity from the berries!
For sure! It really is a great combination.
What a delicious looking drink, the perfect tipple for this festive season for sure!
Thank you!
Wow so many festive flavours happening in this drink. Perfect for the holiday parties. I know my guest would enjoy this. CHEERS!
★★★★★
I hope it’s a hit with your guests! 😀
I have tried bourbon in so many dishes before. And I believe that I tried all kinds of bourbon already. But I have never tried the one from Redwood Empire American Whiskey – need to try it!
★★★★★
You definitely should! It makes for some tasty cocktails.
I love bourbon too, especially during the Winter months of the year. This drink looks and sounds so festive, and I love the aroma of adding rosemary to drinks!
★★★★★
Right? Perfect time of year for a good bourbon cocktail.
What a beautiful and perfectly seasonal cocktail. I love the chi and the cranberry notes in the drink.
★★★★★
Thank you! It really is fun for this time of year.
I love boubon straight up and have never had it in a cocktail, but think that needs to change because this sounds delicious and so festive!
★★★★★
Now is a good time to change that!
Oh yum! These pictures are absolutely beautiful and make me wish I had everything to make a bourbon smash right now. Saving this one for later. Thanks for sharing!
Awww, thank you so much!
This looks crazy good! I love all the flavours – it is so festive! Your photos are stunning by the way!
★★★★★
Thanks for the kind words, Bev!
Oh your photos are SO GORGEOUS!! this looks like such a delicious drink!
★★★★★
Thank you! That’s so nice of you.
First of all, I love your pictures. They are just screaming for me to grab the glass from the screen. This is the type of drink you want to have to either entertain or cuddle on the couch and watch a nice movie. I will be trying this soon. Can’t wait!
★★★★★
Thank you so much! That’s always the goal. 🤗
This chai cranberry bourbon smash looks beautiful. It will be perfect for serving to all my bourbon loving friends this holiday season.
★★★★★
Thank you! I’m sure they’ll love it.
Bourbon with Rosemary looks an awesome combination. A must try for the Christmas party this year. The pics are just mind blowing.
★★★★★
Thank you! I really appreciate that.
I’m loving all of these festive cocktail recipes! There are so many amazing flavors in this one! Rosemary and bourbon are a match made in craft cocktail heaven. You really nailed it with this one!
★★★★★
‘Tis the season as they say! 😀🥃
This sounds lovely, and very festive. My other half is a bourbon fan so I’m sure he’d love to try it!
I hope he does! I’m sure he’ll love it.
This looks like a really fun holiday cocktail! Chai, bourbon and cranberry. Love the colour too. Beautiful photography 😀
Thanks so much! Holiday cocktails are always fun to shoot. 😀
the flavors of chai in anything makes me an instant fan and I am sure I would love this cocktail!
★★★★★
I hope you try it and love it!
This is a gorgeous holiday cocktail for certain! I’d love to try this out for our Christmas party 🙂
Oh, I hope you do! It’d be perfect for the occasion.
Made this tonight with my husband. We will be making these regularly this holiday season! They were soooo good!
★★★★★
I love hearing this, Lauren! So glad you two enjoyed it. Cheers!