Name: Cranberry Bourbon Fizz
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 cup water; 1 cup granulated sugar; 1 cup whole cranberries (fresh or frozen); 2 ounces bourbon; 1 to 2 ounces cranberry simple syrup; 4 ounces ginger ale

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Made with smooth bourbon, tart cranberry simple syrup, and ginger ale, this cranberry bourbon fizz is a delicious and festive cocktail for the holiday season.

A hand pours ginger ale from a can into a glass with ice and red liquid for a cranberry bourbon smash recipe. Another glass, cranberries, and rosemary sprigs sit on the marble surface. Both glasses feature a gold geometric pattern.

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Several years ago, we started a fun family tradition: The Rotko Family Christmas Cocktail Competition. We don’t get to do it every single year, but it’s so much fun on the years we’re all able to get together in one place.

Each family member does their own research and brings ingredients for a signature cocktail to enter into the competition on Christmas Day.

We also do any needed prep (making any special simple syrups, etc) a few days before Christmas. Then, in the late afternoon/early evening on Christmas Day, we all start making our creations!

Then we get to our favorite part…the tasting! We each sample all the cocktails and judge them based on appearance, flavor, creativity, and overall taste.

If your family decides to take on this family tradition, might I suggest making this cranberry bourbon fizz as your entry? It’s seasonal, delicious, and so pretty.

Looking for more seasonal cocktails? Try my Christmas White Russian or pumpkin old fashioned!

A glass of pink-red cocktail with ice, garnished with a sprig of rosemary. Fresh cranberries and extra rosemary sprigs are scattered on the marble surface—a stunning presentation for a cranberry bourbon smash recipe. Another similar drink is partially visible.

What is a fizz cocktail?

A fizz cocktail is a simple, refreshing cocktail that’s a variation on a sour. The two things that really define a fizz are acidic juice and carbonation.

Lemon or lime juice and carbonated water are the most famous fizz ingredients and are usually paired with gin or rum. But there are lots of ways you can make a fizz that step outside of that box.

For example, a French 75 is a version of a fizz that uses sparkling wine as the carbonated component. My blackberry basil gin fizz adds some herbs and honey into the mix!

In the case of this cranberry fizz, we get the acidity from cranberry syrup and the “fizz” comes from ginger ale.

This cocktail is festive, refreshing, and so easy to drink. And even better, it’s easy to make!

A glass of pink cocktail garnished with rosemary and ice sits on a marble surface surrounded by cranberries, rosemary sprigs, and a can of craft ginger ale—perfect for serving a cranberry bourbon smash recipe.

What are good mixers for bourbon?

There are a lot of different flavors that pair well with bourbon and whiskey (you can get the full list in my Basic Cocktail Recipes guide), but one of my absolute favorites is ginger.

Bourbon has a complex depth and flavor…it can be sweet, smoky, or even savory, and ginger is the perfect pairing to help bourbon’s flavors shine. After all, a whiskey ginger isn’t a classic for nothing! Bourbon and whiskey drinks are often very spirit-forward, such as old fashioneds and manhattans. But pairing bourbon with the cranberry syrup and ginger ale in this cranberry fizz mellows it out and makes for a more light and refreshing cocktail.

Two glasses of pink cranberry bourbon smash are filled with ice and garnished with rosemary sprigs. The gold geometric pattern on the glasses shines, while fresh cranberries and rosemary sprigs are scattered on the white marble surface.

What you’ll need for this recipe

I like to make my cranberry fizz with my homemade cranberry simple syrup. The syrup recipe makes enough to make several of these cranberry fizzes, and you can use it in other cocktails too, such as a cranberry mule.

Once you’ve made your cranberry simple syrup, you only need a couple of things to make this cocktail:

2 ounces bourbon
1 to 2 ounces cranberry simple syrup
4 ounces ginger ale

You can easily use ginger beer in place of the ginger ale if you’d like. Depending on the ginger beer, it may give the drink more of a spicy ginger note, so keep that in mind.

You’ll also need some ice and a rocks glass. See? Easy!

A hand pours ginger ale from a can labeled Craft Ginger Ale into a glass of red drink with ice. Nearby are cranberries and sprigs of rosemary on marble, hinting at a refreshing cranberry bourbon smash recipe. Another filled glass sits beside it.

Making cranberry simple syrup

One of the easiest ways you can up your at-home cocktail game is by using fruits, herbs or spices to make a simple syrup to flavor your drinks.

Traditional simple syrup is made by combining one part water and one part sugar; just a one-to-one ratio.

Normally, white granulated sugar is used as the sweetener in a simple syrup, but you can also use brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, or other sweeteners.

You can also make a rich simple syrup, which is a two-to-one sugar-to-water ratio, which will give you a thicker, sweeter syrup.

To make simple syrup, measure one cup sugar with a dry measuring cup and one cup water with a liquid measuring cup. Pour the water into a small saucepan and heat. Once the water is warm, add the sugar and stir or whisk to dissolve.

The water does not have to come to a boil, it just needs to be warm enough to dissolve the sugar.

Once the sugar is dissolved, remove the saucepan from heat and let the syrup cool. Transfer the syrup to a glass bottle, mason jar or other container and store in the fridge up to 3 weeks.

To make the cranberry syrup for this cranberry fizz, you just need to add one thing to your simple syrup: Cranberries!

Heat the water and sugar, whisking together to make the sugar dissolve into the water. Then, add whole fresh or frozen cranberries.

Bring the mixture to a quick boil (the cranberries will start to pop) and then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the cranberry simple syrup to cool.

Once cooled, strain the fruit before storing the simple syrup in a mason jar or other container.

I love having a mason jar of cranberry simple syrup in our fridge to make drinks with all season long. You can use it in this cranberry fizz recipe, but also for cranberry mules or cranberry margaritas, too!

A glass of pink cocktail, inspired by a cranberry bourbon smash recipe, sits on a marble surface, garnished with rosemary and surrounded by cranberries. A can of ginger ale is in the background.

How to make my cranberry bourbon fizz

To make your cranberry fizz, fill a rocks glass with ice. Add the bourbon and the cranberry syrup. You can use anywhere from 2-3 ounces of the syrup, depending on how sweet you like your cocktails.

Top the mixture with your ginger ale and give it a stir. And that’s it!

If you’d like to add a garnish, you can add a sprig of fresh herbs, such as rosemary or thyme, a few fresh cranberries, or a lime wedge.

Two glasses with geometric gold patterns filled with a red and clear layered drink, inspired by a cranberry bourbon smash recipe, garnished with rosemary sprigs and surrounded by fresh cranberries on a light surface with a soft blue background.

Can I use cranberry juice instead of simple syrup?

Yes!

If you do not want to go through the hassle of making simple syrup (but again, as the name says, simple syrup is simple!), you could use a few ounces of store-bought cranberry juice to make this cranberry bourbon fizz.

A note when it comes to cranberry juice: not all cranberry juice is created equal. I would recommend using unsweetened cranberry juice as opposed to cranberry juice cocktail (which could make this drink too sweet).

Using cranberry juice will make the drink slightly less sweet, but it’ll be perfect if you prefer a more tart flavor!