Cranberry in a Can (Batched Rye-Cranberry Shrub Cocktail) Recipe

By
Maggie Hoffman
Maggie Hoffman is a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Maggie Hoffman
Maggie Hoffman is a longtime food and drink expert whose recipes and cocktail-making tips can be found on her newsletters What to Drink and The Dinner Plan. She is the author of  The One-Bottle Cocktail and Batch Cocktails, both published by Ten Speed Press.
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Updated May 28, 2019
Rye-Cranberry Shrub Cocktail
Photograph: © Kelly Puleio 2018, resized for publication

Why It Works

  • Unsweetened 100% cranberry juice, such as R. W. Knudsen, adds bold flavor and brightness to the drink when paired with delicately tangy champagne vinegar.
  • Crushed ice provides quick dilution and chills the drink in the glass.
  • Batching 12 servings in advance means there's no last-minute fuss and guests can serve themselves.

Dee Ann Quinones dreamed up this warming and festive single-spirit drink recipe for the holiday menu at Grace Gaelic Hospitality in New York. It's perfect for wintertime entertaining because you can make the easy cinnamon-spiced cranberry mixer far ahead of the last-minute chaos, add booze, and offer the drink in a pitcher for guests to serve themselves. Don't be afraid of the vinegar: It slips in just enough tartness to balance the warm cinnamon and whiskey flavors.

Crushed ice is essential here to give the drink adequate dilution and chill. If you don't have a Lewis bag and mallet, fill a zipper-lock plastic bag with ice, wrap it in a dish towel, and give it a few wallops with a meat tenderizer or rolling pin.

Reprinted with permission from The One-Bottle Cocktail: More Than 80 Recipes With Fresh Ingredients and a Single Spirit by Maggie Hoffman, copyright © 2018. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Recipe Details

Cranberry in a Can (Batched Rye-Cranberry Shrub Cocktail) Recipe

Active 10 mins
Total 100 mins
Makes 12 drinks
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • For the Quick Cranberry-Cinnamon Shrub:
  • 1 cup sugar (7 ounces; 200g)
  • 4 ounces (120ml) unsweetened 100% cranberry juice
  • 4 ounces (120ml) champagne vinegar
  • 5 cinnamon sticks
  • For the Pitcher Cocktail:
  • 24 ounces (720ml) rye whiskey (see note)
  • 12 ounces (180ml) Quick Cranberry-Cinnamon Shrub
  • Garnish: 12 cinnamon sticks (optional), 12 fresh mint springs, 35 fresh cranberries or red currants

Directions

  1. For the Quick Shrub: Combine sugar, cranberry juice, and vinegar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and stir well to mix. Break up cinnamon sticks and add to the syrup. Stir constantly for about 5 minutes to dissolve sugar and bring mixture to a bare simmer, then remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 30 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer set over a resealable container and discard cinnamon sticks. Refrigerate shrub for at least 1 hour and up to 1 week.

  2. For the Pitcher Cocktail: Combine rye and 12 ounces shrub together in a 1 1/2– or 2-quart pitcher and stir well to mix. Pour about 3 ounces (90ml) into each julep cup or rocks glass. Fill with crushed ice. Garnish each glass with a mint sprig (and cinnamon stick, if desired) plus 3 cranberries or red currants, and a straw.

Special equipment

Saucepan, fine-mesh strainer, 1 1/2– or 2-quart pitcher, straws for serving

Notes

If you're not a fan of rye, try cognac; it makes a satiny-smooth, easy-drinking version of the punch. If you'd prefer to mix drinks individually, just combine two parts rye to one part shrub and mix well together before adding crushed ice.

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