Five Festive Cider Cocktails to Make Your Holiday Party Merry and Bright
‘Tis the season to be jolly, as the song says, and with friends and families coming together to celebrate in the darkest days of the year, there are countless ways to toast in style. Cider cocktails are a great way to add a little sparkle to your favorite wintertime beverages, and we’ve got some great recipes to help make your holiday gatherings a little more spirited while you #PickCider this season. Cheers!
Cran-Fire Old Fashioned
This spiced twist on a longtime favorite Old Fashioned cocktail features Wildfire Cinnamon Rum from our friends at 503 Distilling in Southeast Portland. This is a cheery, strong, cinnamon-forward beverage that will warm you from the inside out–equally perfect for après-ski or just after a wet, rainy walk home from the bus stop.
Ingredients (Makes 2 Cocktails)
2 ounces 503 Distilling Wildfire Rum
1 tsp orange zest
1 tsp granulated sugar
5 dashes Angostura bitters
1 oz fresh-squeezed orange juice
1 1/2 oz Crangerine Cider (chilled)
2 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
Garnishes (optional): 2 strips orange zest, 2 cinnamon sticks, 4 whole cranberries
Directions:
Add rum, orange zest, sugar, and bitters to a shaker. Muddle the ingredients until the sugar dissolves.
Add the orange juice, cloves, and cinnamon sticks to the shaker. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Allow the mixture to rest for an additional minute to allow the cloves and cinnamon to infuse the rum. Add ice cubes and shake for an additional 10 seconds, then top with Crangerine Cider, stir gently, and strain over large ice cubes into rocks glass. Add as many garnishes as you like, and enjoy!
Truly Brut-iful Punch
Our classic cider punch is designed to scale up! Whether you’re toasting with a small group or filling a punch bowl, Just aim for a 2:1 ratio of cider to ginger ale. Our True Brut cider offsets the sweetness of the ginger ale, resulting in a nicely balanced, very sparkly cocktail!
Ingredients (Makes 4)
1 Proper Pint True Brut Cider (19.2 oz)
10 oz. Ginger Ale (We like the ginger spice in Portland-made HOTLIPS Soda)
5 oz. Frozen Marionberries, strawberries or blackberries
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a pitcher, stir gently, and serve into glasses. Garnish with 2-3 berries per glass.
Sweater Weather
The name says it all. Sweater Weather is the perfect cocktail for curling up with the pet of your choice in front of a crackling fireplace while the icy rain pours down outside.
Ingredients (Makes 1)
2 oz. Irish Whiskey
.75 oz. Crangerine Cider
Angostura bitters
Cinnamon stick
Directions:
Pour whiskey over ice in a rocks glass, and top with cider and two dashes of angostura bitters. Stir gently with cinnamon stick, and leave it in as a garnish.
Sauced-up Santa
A crowd-pleaser of a festive holiday cocktail that’s easy to scale up for a crowd! Made with our spiced apple cider, this is the cocktail version of your favorite apple pie.
Ingredients For One
8 oz Santa’s Sauce Cider
2 oz fresh apple juice*
1.5 oz Burnside Bourbon
Ingredients For Eight
64 oz Santa’s Sauce Cider [aka, a growler fill or one of our new 4-packs]
16 oz fresh apple juice*
12 oz Burnside Bourbon
Garnishes:
Apple slices
Directions:
Stir all the ingredients together and serve over ice in pint-sized glasses. Garnish with an orange twist and a couple of apple slices in each glass.
*We suggest unfermented, fresh-pressed Northwest apple cider!
Hot Mulled Cider
There’s nothing quite as wintry and cozy as a hot beverage. This classic hot cider recipe is meant for a group, and it can be kept warm on the stove or in a crockpot set on the lowest temperature. Just make sure you keep the lid on!
Ingredients:
1 6-pack of Kinda Dry Cider (12 oz cans or 3-19.2oz Proper Pint cans)
12 whole cloves
4 3-inch sticks of cinnamon
15 allspice berries
1 - 2 oranges - sliced
6 orange peel strips – thinly shaved
2 oz bourbon or whiskey
Garnishes:
Apple slices
Orange wedges
Cinnamon sticks
Directions:
Place all ingredients except bourbon or whiskey in a pot and bring it to a simmer for 5-10 minutes. Remove the solids with a strainer.
To serve: Add your choice of bourbon or whiskey to a mug, and top off with mulled cider. Garnish with an apple slice, orange wedge, and a cinnamon stick. Serve hot!
Slow cooker optional: Mull your cider in the slow cooker for a party! Keep the heat on low so you don’t cook off the alcohol. Low for 6-8 hours ahead of serving, add bourbon or whiskey afterwards.
