Cranberry French 75

Let’s toast to the holiday season with this cheery cranberry French 75! Prepared with a spiced cranberry simple syrup and squeeze of fresh lemon juice, this recipe adds a festive twist on a classic Champagne cocktail that's perfect for any special occasion. The holiday season is about to get extra fun with this oh-so-smooth, elegant cranberry Champagne cocktail -- now let's start mixing your new favorite holiday signature drink.

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love This Recipe
• Ingredients
• Step-by-Step Instructions
• Recipe FAQs
• Expert Tips
• Perfect Pairing
• Looking for More Holiday Cocktails?
• Cranberry French 75

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Champagne makes for a special sipper. When you hear that sound of a Champagne cork pop, you know it's the holidays, and the perfect way to elevate any holiday event is with a bubbly Champagne cocktail.

Full of cranberry flavor. 'Tis the season for all things cranberry! Like my cranberry-spice Christmas mimosa, sparkling cranberry margarita and chai-cranberry bourbon smash, cranberries are the cocktail star of the holidays, and this recipe is the perfect way to make the most of the season. I'm a big believer in taking advantage of the season's freshest ingredients, and that's what we're doing here.

Great for serving a crowd. We simply add the ingredients to a pitcher with a bottle of Champagne, and we have enough to serve 12 people. Now that's easy entertaining.

Versatile enough to take you from the fall through New Year's. This cranberry French 75 works nicely for a pre-dinner Thanksgiving drink, Christmas brunch cocktail, or toasting New Year's Eve.

Ingredients

And those are all our cranberry French 75 ingredients! Now for a couple notes.

Champagne: While Champagne is traditional, you're also more than welcome to use a sparkling white wine, which is what's pictured. True Champagne is only made in the Champagne region in France, and it does tend to be a bit pricier. These days, you can get some delicious sparkling white wines that are great for cocktails at a variety of price points. Honestly, I prefer to save the real Champagne to drink unadorned.

Cranberry simple syrup: For this, I recommend using my spiced cranberry simple syrup, which calls for water, cranberries, sugar, orange zest, cinnamon sticks, ground nutmeg, ground ginger and ground cloves. Keep in mind, you can also use this syrup for my delicious cranberry old fashioned and cranberry bourbon sour.

Gin: While this cocktail may have its French roots, I recommend a London-style dry gin. Bombay Sapphire and Beefeater are widely available, classic options.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Let’s start by making our spiced cranberry simple syrup. For this, we add the ingredients to a small saucepan, boil and then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes (photos 1-3). After simmering, we let the syrup steep and then strain (photo 4).

Step 2: Now we add the cranberry simple syrup, gin, lemon juice and ice to a cocktail shaker (photo 5).

Step 3: We put on the top and give it a good shake (photo 6). About 15-30 seconds works well.

Step 4: For our last step, we strain the chilled cranberry mixture into a flute (photo 7) and top with Champagne (photo 8).

Now toast to the holidays, sip and enjoy!

Bonus: If you love this cocktail, be sure to also try my sparkling rosé French 75!

Recipe FAQs

Expert Tips

• Once you make the cranberry simple syrup, it should last several weeks as long as you store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
• You can substitute frozen cranberries for fresh. There's no need to thaw -- just add to the saucepan as you would with fresh cranberries.
• The standard quantity of gin for a French 75 is 1 ½ ounces, but if you prefer less of a kick, use 1 ounce.
• For the best flavor, use freshly squeezed lemon juice. Bottled lemon juice isn't nearly as bright.
• Not a fan of gin? You can substitute vodka instead. While it won’t technically be a traditional French 75, it will be your own spin that better suits your tastes.

Perfect Pairing

As a wonderful holiday party cocktail, you can't go wrong serving this cranberry French 75 with my pretzel bites stuffed with cranberry and Brie. Or maybe you'd like to enjoy this drink over dinner -- my Christmas roast duck is perfect. A Champagne cocktail also makes a lovely brunch sipper, so you'll love the cranberry-spice flavor with my gingerbread waffles.

When you need an elegant holiday cocktail, I hope you try this sparkling cranberry French 75. Every bubbly sip is sure to make you feel cheery and festive.

Cheers!

Looking for More Holiday Cocktails?

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