Cranberry Wine & Hibiscus Mint Cocktail

Say hello to our new favorite holiday cocktail creation. I have been thinking about designing a cocktail with a signature and festive holiday flavor. To pull this off, I started with crossing off the list the flavors I knew I didn’t want. Mulled wines and ciders are good and have their place in the long history of seasonal drinks, but they’re so overplayed. Same goes for egg nog. I’m not hating on egg nog, but honestly I can only stomach so much of its viscous consistency. And if you ask anyone, egg nog is perhaps the best known of all holiday drinks. I was stumped. What I needed was a sign. A bit of inspiration to guide me in the right direction. That sign and inspiration came in the form of a slender wine bottle sitting pretty on a shelf. And it screamed holiday flavor. On a recent shopping trip, we stumbled upon a bottle of cranberry wine! Cranberry Wine? Yes, and yes indeed. This was reddish serendipity in a bottle, and we found it at our local Meijer.

Meijer has a nice selection of wines, and when we came upon this pretty bottle of joy, I knew we had found something special. With the Cranberry Wine in hand, I was off to a good start. But what to mix with cranberry wine was a conundrum of epic proportions. I opened the bottle, sniffed the cork. I let it decant for a bit before having a sip. Yup. This cranberry wine alright with tart notes characteristics of cranberries. But I didn’t just want to pour a wineglass of cranberry wine and call it a day. I wanted to take it up a notch. I decided to smooth out the tartness with just a hint of Kinky Liqueur.

But the real fun began when my wife brought home a fantastic find culled from the trove of goodies at Home Goods. What can’t you find at Home Goods? It is one of our guilty pleasures. She surprised me with a bottle of Hibiscus & Mint Cocktail Syrup. The final piece instantly fell into place. Grab a glass and get your mixology on with our new holiday creation: The Cranberry Wine & Hibiscus Mint Cocktail. I know, the name is a mouthful. Maybe you can help come up with a better name. So, what do you think this cupful of joy should be named? We’d love to hear what you have in mind. Cast your lot below. Cheers. And remember to drink responsibly.

Ingredients:

3 ounces Cranberry Wine
o.5 Kinky Liqueur
1.5 teaspoon of Hibiscus & Mint Syrup
Crushed Ice
Fresh Sprig of Mint

Directions:

Into a cocktail shaker add Cranberry Wine, Kinky Liqueur, Hibiscus & Mint Syrup and two ice cubes.
Move sumpin’! (Translation = shake it five times)
Pour into a stemless wine glass over crushed ice.
Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.
Serve.