Mix up a champagne and tequila cocktail with cranberry sauce. Top with sparkling champagne for an easy holiday cocktail.
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A decadent champagne cocktail is just what you need for the holidays.
For this cocktail, you'll mix together tequila, cranberry sauce, orange juice, and champagne. These four ingredients make the most magical and delicious cocktail.
This sparkling champagne and tequila drink would be perfect for a holiday cocktail party or paired with your Thanksgiving dinner menu.
What You'll Learn In This Recipe
- How to make homemade cranberry sauce.
- The best type of tequila to use for mixed drinks.
- How to make this drink ahead of time for Thanksgiving or holiday dinners.
Be sure to sign up for my free bartender cheat sheet to receive even more cocktail recipes in your email. This guide includes 45 classic cocktail recipes that you can mix up at your home bar.
Ingredients You Need
Here are the ingredients you'll need to make the cranberry tequila cocktail:
- Cranberries: Fresh cranberries are essential for homemade cranberry sauce. Select berries that are firm and plump. You'll be able to find the best cranberries when they're in season from September through January.
- Granulated sugar: You'll need granulated sugar to sweeten the cranberry sauce.
- Oranges: We're using all parts of the orange including the orange peel and juice. You're welcome to substitute freshly squeezed orange juice with bottled.
- Water: This ingredient is used to thin out the cranberry sauce.
- Blanco tequila: I love using a blanco (silver) tequila for mixed drinks. When purchasing a bottle of tequila, check that the bottle says 100% agave to ensure you're purchasing a high-quality bottle of tequila.
- Champagne: Chilled champagne or prosecco will work for this recipe.
How To Make This Recipe
Here's how to make the sparkling tequila and champagne cocktail.
Make The Cranberry Sauce
1. First, add cranberries, sugar, orange peel, orange juice, and water to a saucepan. Cook over medium heat while stirring often.
2. Once they're done cooking, the cranberries will burst, and a dark, syrupy juice forms. This process takes about 5 minutes.
Transfer the cranberry sauce to a small bowl to allow it to cool down. You can prepare the cranberry sauce up to 3 days ahead of making the cocktail. Store the sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it.
Mix The Cocktail
3. To four champagne flutes add 1 ½ tablespoons of cooled cranberry sauce into each glass.
4. Top each of the glasses with ½ ounce of freshly squeezed orange juice.
5. Add ½ ounce of your favorite blanco tequila to the champagne flutes.
6. Finally, top off each flute with chilled champagne. Mix the cocktails with a bar spoon.
Optionally, garnish with some cranberries and an orange wedge.
Expert Tips
- Need to make this cocktail for a large group? Double or triple the amount of cranberry sauce you make. This is perfect if you're making the drink for a large Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.
- You can prepare part of this cocktail ahead of time. Simply make and cool the cranberry sauce ahead of time, then store it in the refrigerator up to three days in advance.
- Try using reposado tequila for a twist on this sparkling cranberry cocktail.
- If you don't have champagne flutes, this cocktail can also be served in a wine glass.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, champagne and tequila mixes together beautifully. The subtle champagne flavor allows the notes of tequila to shine through. Champagne and tequila can be a great combination for mimosas or holiday cocktails.
You can absolutely substitute champagne for prosecco.
Yes, this is the perfect cocktail to make with leftover cranberry sauce. Just skip the instructions for making the cranberry sauce and use what you already have.
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Sparkling Cranberry Champagne and Tequila Cocktail
Ingredients
For the Cranberry Sauce
- ½ cup fresh cranberries
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons orange peel
- juice of 1 orange
- 2 tablespoons water
For the Cocktail
- 2 ounces freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1 - 2 oranges)
- 2 ounces blanco tequila
- chilled champagne for topping
- fresh cranberries for garnish
- orange wedges for garnish
Instructions
For the Cranberry Sauce
- Add cranberries, sugar, orange peel, orange juice, and water to a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often. Reduce the heat as needed to avoid scorching until cranberries begin to burst and a dark red, syrupy juice forms (about 5 minutes).
- Transfer to a small bowl, and allow the mixture to cool for 15 minutes.
For the Cocktail
- To four champagne flutes add 1 ½ tablespoons of the cooled cranberry sauce into each glass. Add ½ ounce of orange juice and ½ ounce blanco tequila to each flute. Top off each glass until full with chilled champagne. Carefully mix each glass with a bar spoon.
- Optionally, garnish each glass with a few fresh cranberries and orange wedges.
Tom
I made these for my wife with our leftover Thanksgiving cranberry sauce. I can definitely say this is the best way to use up cranberry sauce!