This cranberry orange spritz with rosemary brings together cranberry juice cocktail, fresh orange juice, orange liqueur, dry prosecco and club soda. A gently pressed rosemary sprig adds fragrance as you sip. Its ruby color suits a fall dinner or Thanksgiving gathering, and there is no syrup to cook before mixing.
Choose cranberry juice cocktail, not pure cranberry juice
The amounts are designed for a sweetened cranberry juice cocktail rather than unsweetened 100% cranberry juice, which is much tarter. A drink with roughly 10–12 g carbohydrate per 100 ml is a useful starting point. Orange liqueur contributes sweetness too, so the base recipe does not need added syrup.
Useful tools for this recipe
Advertisement: The following links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
At a glance
Cranberry Orange Spritz with Rosemary for a Sparkling Fall Toast
- Prep time
- 5 min
- Cook time
- 0 min
- Total time
- 5 min
- Yield
- 2 drinks
Ingredients for 2 drinks
Use two large wine glasses, about 17 fl oz (500 ml) each. Prep and total time: about 5 minutes, plus chilling the bottles. No cooking required. Each glass contains about 7¾ fl oz (230 ml) of liquid before ice melts. Milliliter measurements give the closest match to the recipe.
Ingredient links marked * are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
| Amount | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 120 ml | chilled sweetened cranberry juice cocktail* (about 4 US fl oz), not unsweetened pure cranberry juice |
| 40 ml | freshly squeezed orange juice, fine-strained (about 1⅓ US fl oz) |
| 60 ml | orange liqueur*, such as Cointreau* at 40% ABV (about 2 US fl oz) |
| 180 ml | chilled prosecco brut, about 11% ABV (about 6 US fl oz) |
| 60 ml | chilled unsweetened club soda* (about 2 US fl oz) |
| About 250 g | large ice cubes |
| 2 | thin orange half-wheels, from a washed orange with peel suitable for eating, for garnish |
| 2 | small fresh rosemary sprigs, washed and patted dry, for garnish |
Instructions
- Stir the cranberry juice cocktail, freshly squeezed orange juice and orange liqueur together in a small measuring jug. Taste a little with a clean spoon; the base will be concentrated before topping up. If unusually sweet, plan to soften it with a little extra club soda. If too tart, choose a milder cranberry juice cocktail next time rather than automatically adding more liqueur.
- Fill two large wine glasses with the ice cubes. Divide the juice-and-liqueur base equally between them: each glass gets 60 ml cranberry juice cocktail, 20 ml orange juice and 30 ml orange liqueur.
- Slowly add 90 ml prosecco to each glass, then top each with 30 ml club soda. Give one gentle lift from the bottom with a long spoon to combine without unnecessarily losing bubbles. Do not shake carbonated ingredients.
- Add one orange half-wheel to each glass. Gently press each rosemary sprig once between your palms and place at the rim; do not crush the needles or muddle into the drink. Serve immediately. Add a small extra splash of club soda after tasting if needed; nutrition is calculated from the base quantities.
Mix the cranberry orange spritz
Let rosemary add fragrance, not overpower the drink
One small fresh sprig per glass is enough. A light press releases aroma; vigorous muddling spreads needles and can make the flavor too strong. Dried rosemary is not a direct substitute here. The sprigs are a garnish, not intended to be eaten.
Prepare a base for guests
Combine the cranberry juice cocktail, orange juice and orange liqueur up to 4 hours ahead, cover and refrigerate. Add prosecco and club soda only when serving over ice. For 6 drinks, triple all the quantities; avoid leaving a fully topped-up pitcher standing for a long time.
Non-alcoholic variation
For two drinks, replace the orange liqueur with an extra 40 ml orange juice and an extra 20 ml cranberry juice cocktail. Replace the prosecco with sparkling wine explicitly labeled 0.0% ABV. Add club soda as in the base recipe and adjust sweetness to taste. This is a separate variation with different nutrition; simply omitting the liqueur changes the balance.
Cold ingredients make a difference
Chill the ingredients and use plenty of ice so the spritz stays refreshing. Large cubes are practical in a wine glass. Serve as soon as it is topped up, while the bubbles are lively; prepare the juice base ahead, not the finished drink.
Estimated nutrition per glass
About 189 calories and 17 g carbohydrate,with less than 1 g each of protein and fat per glass. Includes the energy from 30 ml orange liqueur at 40% ABV and 90 ml prosecco at 11% ABV per drink; garnish is not counted as eaten. Calculated for the base quantities; juice and wine brands or additions change the estimate.
Contains alcohol and sulfites from the prosecco. The non-alcoholic variation is described separately; check product labels. Rosemary sprigs are garnish and are not intended to be eaten.
Recipe by myai
Made this recipe? Share your experience
No reviews yet. Have you tried this recipe?
Leave a Reply