Cranberry Moscow Mule

The Cranberry Moscow Mule is the perfect holiday cocktail recipe, be it Thanksgiving, Christmas or 4th of July! Easy to put together, easy to tweak, fun to drink and so delicious and festive! You can even make it non-alcoholic.

Moscow Mule is one of my favorite cocktails and what I like the most about it is that it uses ginger beer and cranberries, two of my favorite things!

Besides, it’s so easy to customize and to make it non-alcoholic for the kids that makes it perfect for holiday entertaining.

This is my top Christmas Moscow Mule for sure!

Ingredients

This festive cocktail combines a few seasonal ingredients that make it special. Here they are:

• ice
• ginger beer
• lime juice
• cranberry juice
• vodka
• cranberries, lime slices, rosemary stalks to decorate

There is always a room for experiment. I explain how you can customize it to your needs and tastes below.

Ginger Beer for Moscow Mule

The base of this cocktail is ginger beer. While you can buy ginger beer in your local grocery store, it’s not at all hard to make it yourself (and it’s good for you, too!).

I really recommend you to try my homemade ginger beer recipe. Unlike store-bought ginger beer, homemade one doesn’t contain any additives, sweeteners or preservatives. You’re in control of what you put in it and can be sure that it’s healthy.

If you are in a hurry and can’t afford to spend time on homemade ginger ale, of course you can use store-bought. It’s holiday season after all, so there’s nothing wrong with a treat.

Cranberries vs. Lingonberries

This holiday Moscow Mule works both with cranberries and lingonberries.

Although it is delicious with cranberries, I urge you to try it with lingonberries.

You can find them in your local Russian/Polish shop (frozen or juiced) or at IKEA. You can also buy lingonberry powder on Amazon and combine it with water.

Lingonberries add an extra bit of flavor to the cocktail that is both sweet and tart.

Cranberries are totally fine if you already have them or can’t easily get lingonberries in your area, too, though so don’t worry.

How to Make A Cranberry Moscow Mule

To start with, make your ginger beer. It’s very easy, but it’ll take you 48 hours to ferment, so you can use store bought if you’re out of time or just want to keep it simple (no judgement; I totally get it!).

Squeeze the juice out of your limes and cranberries or use store-bought juice.

I found that the most effective way to do this if you don’t have a juicer is to mash them and drain the juice through a sieve covered with a layer of cheesecloth. Then be sure to squeeze the cheesecloth and get all the juice out of it.

Another option would be to mash them in a mug. That way there will still be juice but the mashed berries will sink to the bottom.

Fill your copper mug with ice. Pour ginger beer until the mug is half full (about 1/2 cup or 120 ml).

Add 1 tablespoon lime juice, 3-4 tablespoons cranberry or lingonberry juice and 1 oz (30 ml) vodka or any other spirit of your choice. 

Stir and garnish with lime slices, rosemary stalks and cranberries or lingonberries. Enjoy!

You can check the quick instructions in this Cranberry Moscow Mule Story.

Customizing Your Perfect Cranberry Moscow Mule

How do you make the perfect Cranberry Moscow Mule? Simple! You make it to your tastes.

The Cranberry Moscow Mule is incredibly simple. Plus, you can improvise with it quite a bit and make it perfect for whomever you are serving. It’s holidays after all, so use ingredients you and your family really like.

Want to serve it to kids/pregnant/breastfeeding women?

Skip the alcohol. It’s so delicious this way! In fact, we recently made it with apple cider instead of vodka and it was absolutely delicious. 

Don’t like vodka?

Use gin, tequila, rum, or any other spirit you have on hand. The different spirits will add different flavors. You can also go for cranberry-flavored vodka if you wish.

Have ginger ale instead of ginger beer?

Go right ahead and use what you have.

Have other fruit on hand?

Go ahead and use what you’ve got. It’s great with strawberries and lime in the summer, or even cranberry and orange instead of lime in the winter.

Copper Mugs

If you don’t have these pretty Moscow Mule copper mugs yet, you have to buy them.

Not only do they look awesome and make the drink special, they also keep it cool longer. So you can enjoy it in summer too 😉 Somehow the mugs just magically make the Moscow Mule taste better! Don’t ask me why 🙂

Besides, they make such a great Christmas gift! I included them on my ultimate holiday gift guide for foodies last year and they were a hit!

Cook’s Tips

• This Cranberry Moscow Mule is the perfect holiday cocktail recipe that is easy to put together, easy to customize, fun to drink and so delicious!
• For this cocktail you can use fresh or frozen cranberries or lingonberries, as well as cranberry juice or even lingonberry powder combined with water.
• Use store-bought or homemade ginger beer. Ginger ale would work as well.
• The most effective way to squeeze the juice out of your cranberries if you don’t have a juicer is to mash them and drain the juice through a sieve covered with a layer of cheesecloth. Then be sure to squeeze the cheesecloth and get all the juice out of it. Another option would be to mash them in a mug. That way there will still be juice but the mashed berries will sink to the bottom.
• Serve this cocktail in Moscow Mule Copper Mugs to make the drink special and keep it cool longer. Besides, they make such a great Christmas gift!
• For another great festive drink recipe, check my German mulled wine (Gluhwein). It’s amazingly delicious and serves a crowd! Serve it with German Christmas cookies Lebkuchen or salted caramel candied walnuts for an extra burst of flavor.
• Make sure to check other vegan Thanksgiving menu ideas like best vegan appetizers, soups, salads, main dishes, sides and desserts, as well as 50 best vegan Christmas recipes.