Festive Empress Gin Fizz

There is no time like the holidays to enjoy a delicious, hand-crafted cocktail. This Gin Fizz recipe is just that and more, crafted with Empress 1908 Gin and cranberries.

Keith enjoys a good drink while he is cooking. He likes to pour a few cocktails for our guests, and keep one for himself to sip while putting the finishing touches on a meal. We created this Cranberry Gin Cocktail with that idea in mind. It’s a sweet, easy way to start a meal, and it tastes great with a good nibble: green beans, cranberries, cheeses, or anything else you may be preparing. Unlike a Sloe Gin Fizz or a Tom Collins, this gin fizz recipe is sweetened with ginger beer and a sweet cranberry reduction.

Ingredients:

• FRESH CRANBERRIES (2 cups): to use in cocktail mixture and as garnish
• SUGAR (1 cup)
• EMPRESS 19O8 GIN (6 ounces)
• GINGER BEER (16 ounces): we like Reed's Zero Sugar or Trader Joe's brand
• THYME (6-8 fresh sprigs)
• ORANGE (1 whole), for juice mixture and garnish

Empress 1908 is the perfect spirit for this Festive Gin Fizz. Not only for its clean, crisp flavor (made with eight botanicals!), but because of its stunning all-natural indigo hue (from butterfly pea flowers!). We combined it with cranberry juice and ginger beer to create a stunningly sweet sip with a holiday feel.

How to make this recipe:

Prepare the cranberry mixture at least an hour before making the drinks so it has time to cool:

1. In a medium saucepan, add the cranberries and sugar and ¾ cup water.
2. Cut the orange into ¼" slices and add 2 of them to the pan. 
3. Cook over medium heat, stirring often until berries have broken down and mixture thickens to a syrup consistency (about 5-7 minutes).
4. Remove orange slices and refrigerate until cool.

To prepare drinks:

1. Fill a 32 ounce pitcher with ice and add the Empress 1908 Gin, Ginger Beer and cranberry mixture.
2. Serve in glasses and garnish with thyme and fresh cranberries, and orange slices.
3. For a garnish, we sprinkled orange slices with sugar and carmelized them with a torch.

Recipe Notes:

• Prepare the cranberry mixture at least 1 hour before making the drinks so it has time to cool (you can refrigerate it for up to 12 hours before you are ready to make the drinks).
• For the garnish we used fresh thyme and fresh cranberries. We also sprinkled orange slices with sugar and carmelized them with a torch.
• Substitute Ginger Ale, Lemon Lime Soda or Tonic Water for Ginger Beer in a pinch (we do prefer the "punch" that ginger beer gives this drink).

In the days of COVID 19, it is likely that there will be fewer of us at the table than ever, but we still like the idea of enjoying these cocktails together (even sharing them virtually!) as we give thanks for our many blessings.

This post was sponsored by our friends at Empress 1908 Gin. All opinions are are own.

More Holiday Drink Recipes:

Spring Fling Gin Cocktail: a perfectly pretty holiday gin cocktail, this pretty drink relies on the indigo hue of Empress 1908 + Pomegranate juice.

Sparkling Cranberry Cider Cocktail: nothing says "Christmas Cocktail" like this cranberry cider drink. Made with Absolute Apple Juice Vodka & Rosé Hard Cider, this drink will sparkle for the holidays.

Caramel Eggnog Chata: Rum Chata, Eggnog, and a shot of cinnamon whiskey make this one cozy holiday drink recipe! A sugary cinnamon rim takes it over the top.

Red Russian with Rosemary Syrup: this vodka cocktail is the perfect shade of holiday red. Garnish it with a sprig of fresh rosemary.

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