Naughty and Nice Cocktail

This holiday cocktail has my name written all over it and maybe yours too? This Naughty and Nice Cocktail is sweet and tangy and a delicious blend of winter flavors perfect for holiday get-togethers or holiday parties! Made with whiskey, cranberry, orange, and grapefruit juices this holiday cocktail is the perfect flavor collaboration!

Ingredients for Naughty & Nice Cocktail

• Whiskey – Use quality whiskey or bourbon. If you want your cocktail to be sweeter use a bourbon or a sweetened whiskey such as one with honey.
• Ginger Syrup – You can purchase this pre-made or you can make it yourself. The recipe is included below. You will need to allow some time for the syrup to cool if you make it yourself.
• Cranberry Juice – again, if you prefer it on the sweeter side, use a cranberry juice cocktail. Cranberry juice is straight cranberry whereas the cranberry juice cocktail has other fruit flavors mixed to balance the tartness of the cranberry juice.
• Orange Juice – fresh or bottled works great!
• Grapefruit Juice – same as the orange, fresh or bottled works great.
• Garnish – You can use any festive garnish you prefer. Some options are grapefruit wedge, orange wedge, fresh cranberries, rosemary sprig, cinnamon stick, and colored sugars to rim the glass. The colored sugars you use to decorate cookies work great!

What is Ginger Syrup?

Ginger Syrup is simply ginger-infused simple syrup. You can purchase it in stores or you can easily make it yourself. If you make it yourself allow, for some extra time for the syrup to cool before mixing your cocktail.

To make Ginger Syrup, combine equal parts water and granulated sugar in a small saucepan. I used 1 cup of each. I like to have some extra for spiced old fashions! Heat that mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved. This usually occurs just before boiling.

Remove from the heat and add in about 1/2 a cup of fresh ginger that has been peeled and roughly chopped. Cover and let the ginger steep in the simple syrup for about 20-30 minutes. Strain/remove all the ginger and allow it to cool. This stores nicely in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

How to Make a Naughty and Nice Cocktail

Step 1: Start out by preparing your glasses. You can use any glasses you wish! I like to rim the glasses with a bit of sugar. Here I mixed granulated sugar with a bit of red sugar. The same red sugar you decorate sugar cookies with. I placed both sugars on a shallow plate, mixed and then wet the rim of the glass and dipped them into the sugar. Fill the glass with ice.

Step 2: Now we will mix our cocktail, start by adding ice to a cocktail shaker. If you don’t have a cocktail shaker no problem, just use two glasses to shake or simply use a large glass that you can mix in.

Into the cocktail shaker, add the whiskey, ginger syrup, cranberry juice, and grapefruit juice. I measure with an alcohol jigger, you can also use a shot glass. Shake until the outside of the shaker is frosty! (usually a minute or two). Pour into our prepared glass. Top with orange juice!

The simple syrup has a higher viscosity than the orange juice so it separates into a delightful visually appealing cocktail!

Step 3: Garnish with your choice of fresh cranberries, orange wedge, grapefruit wedge, rosemary sprig or cinnamon stick.

Naughty & Nice Cocktail Recipe