Cranberry Apple Juice Mocktail
This is as much about presentation as it is about ingredients.
It helps if you have some festive stemware, but any large wine glass would do. Don't skip the garnish. It really makes the drink. This could easily be turned into a cocktail with the addition of Absolut Currant Flavored Vodka. But this occasion was intended as a weekday holiday brunch for people who didn't have the luxury of going home to take a nap after the meal.
The quantities in the ingredients are just to ensure you have enough, but make as much or as little as you need. Don't be surprised, however, if your guests are wanting several refills of this refreshing beverage. There were five of us for a brunch lasting about two and a half hours and we went through two large pitchers!
Cranberry Apple Juice Mocktail
Ingredients
- 64 oz bottle sugar-free cranberry juice (like, Ocean Spray)
- 64 oz bottle no sugar added apple juice (like, Mott's)
- 1 liter bottle club soda (like, Canada Dry)
- 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced with peel on
- 1 naval orange
- handful fresh cranberries
Instructions
- Fill a large pitcher with hard ice. In more or less even thirds, add the cranberry juice, apple juice and club soda and stir lightly to mix it all together. Leave a little room at the top.
- Throw in a few cranberries, and a few slices of apple.
- Using a sharp paring knife, slice off 1-2 inches of orange peel for as many glasses as you will be serving and set aside.
- Peel the rest of the orange and cut into slices. Put 2-3 slices of orange in your pitcher. Give the pitcher another stir to incorporate the garnishes.
- Fill each glass with ice. Add 1-2 cranberries and a slice of apple.
- Twist each slice of orange peel to release the oils and run the peel around the rim of each glass.
- Pour some mocktail into the glass and add the orange peel garnish on top. Serve immediately as your guests arrive.
Notes
- The beverage will be better if you first refrigerate the club soda and both juices. The chilled liquids won't melt the ice as much than if they were at room temperature, and therefore dilution of the mocktail won't be as severe.
- The term "hard ice" is an old bartender term from the days when a mixologist would use an ice pick on a large block of ice to pick off large chunks of ice to make a cocktail. Today, the term "hard ice" is to distinguish it from "crushed ice" or "shaved ice."
