Next Post
This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
Fireside Cranberry Cider Margarita, my favorite quick and easy, but oh-so-warming holiday margarita recipe. Smoky Mezcal (or use your favorite type of tequila) mixed with a splash of spiced apple cider, cranberry juice, triple sec, a touch of fresh lime juice, and orange juice. This warm, spicy margarita is a cozy take on the classic, and the perfect cocktail to sip with friends and family. Make each of your cranberry margaritas feel special with a gingered sugar rim and smoking star anise.
I’m in my cozy fireside “era”, literally. As I type away here in New York I am sitting by the hotel fire. It’s cloudy and cozy out. New York really has such a specialness to it this time of year. I love it!
Before I left on this week-long work trip, I did my best to get as many recipes tested, photographed, and ready for sharing as possible.
The one recipe I really made sure to prioritize was this cranberry margarita recipe. It’s the most wonderful drink to serve at Thanksgiving or Christmas. You can make it as a single or create a bigger batch for all your holiday guests.
And if you don’t want the alcohol, I have the mocktail directions all ready for you!
Details
Step 1: mix the gingered sugar rim
This is the element that makes this margarita sparkle for this special time of year. It adds the prettiest touch and of course, the flavors are delicious!
This is a mix of coarse sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and candied ginger. Run a lime or orange wedge around the rims of your glasses and then dip in the sugar. It creates the perfect sugared rim. So fun for Thanksgiving!
Step 2: mix your margarita
Grab either Mezcal or tequila blanco, use what you prefer. We love the smokiness Mezcal adds, but of course, use your favorite!
Now spiced apple cider, cranberry juice, orange liqueur, orange juice, and lime juice. Shake everything up to evenly mix.
Strain the drink into your favorite cocktail glass and stir in some ginger beer. Yes, I use ginger beer in most of my cocktails. It adds sweetness without having to add any additional sugars to the cocktail.
Plus, to me, it’s what really makes most drinks feel a little more magical than all the rest.
It takes only minutes to make but always turns out looking so impressive and extra pretty with its dark red color. I’m planning to make the pitcher for Thanksgiving. My family is already looking forward to this one. I sent everyone a few sneak peek photos and they seem very excited.
My best entertaining tip for the holidays
During the holiday season always keep the essentials for a few good cocktails on hand. I like to keep bourbon, vodka, and tequila stocked this time of year. These are my family’s alcohols of choice.
Then I always have cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, lime wedges, fresh oranges, grapefruit, and ginger beer in the fridge. These are my go-to mixers. You never know when you’ll need to mix up a quick drink…it’s always a good idea to be prepared!
Looking for other easy drink recipes?? Here are my favorites:
Sparkling Christmas Party Punch
Holiday Cheermeister Bourbon Punch
Spiced Honey Bourbon Old Fashioned Pitcher
Lastly, if you make this Fireside Cranberry Cider Margarita, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Fireside Cranberry Cider Margarita
Servings: 1 drink
Calories Per Serving: 353 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces (1/4 cup) mezcal or silver tequila
- 1/2 ounce (2 tablespoons) orange liquor
- 2 ounces (1/4 cup) apple cider
- 2 ounces (1/4 cup) no-sugar cranberry juice
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1/4 cup ginger beer
- apples, cinnamon/ and or rosemary, for serving
Gingered Rim
- 1 tablespoon coarse sugar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/4 cup candied ginger pieces, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- 1. If desired, rim your glass. On a small plate, mix the coarse sugar, granulated sugar, ginger and cinnamon. Run a lime/orange wedge around the rim of the glass and coat in sugar mix.2. Fill the glass with ice.3. Combine the mezcal/tequila, apple cider, cranberry juice, and orange liquor in a cocktail shaker. Shake to combine, then fill with ice and shake 1 minute. Pour into your prepared glass. Top with ginger beer.3. Garnish with apple slices, cinnamon sticks, and rosemary. If desired light the cinnamon stick (or use star anise) on fire for a smoky effect.4. To Make a Mocktail: omit the tequila and use 1/4 cup apple cider with 1/4 to 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar.
Notes
Calories for mocktail - 222
Fireside Cranberry Cider Margarita Punch
Servings: 6 drinks
Calories Per Serving: 353 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups mezcal or silver tequila
- 1 cup orange liquor
- 1 cup apple cider
- 1 cup no-sugar cranberry juice
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 2 bottles/cans (12 ounce) ginger beer
- apples, cinnamon/ and or rosemary, for serving
Instructions
- 1. In a large pitcher, combine mezcal/tequila, orange liquor, apple cider, cranberry juice, lime, and orange juice. Chill until ready to serve.2. When ready to serve, if desired, rim glasses in Gingered Sugar (recipe above), fill with ice. Pour into your prepared glass. Top with ginger beer.3. Garnish with apple slices, cinnamon sticks, and rosemary. If desired light the cinnamon stick (or use star anise) on fire for a smoky effect.4. To Make a Mocktail: omit the tequila and use 1 1/2 cups apple cider with 1 - 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar.
Notes
Calories for mocktail - 222
I love all your recipes! They’re fun to go and try to replicate, sometimes they work out, sometimes I fail as a bartender.
Quick question about Ginger Beer, when I am making these punches for large gatherings I like throwing everything together. When you say 2 bottles of ginger beer, I just throw the 2 bottles in right away for simplicity. What is the downside of doing that? Other than the fact that people can customize how much or little ginger beer they have per serving. I just want one big bowl of punch sitting out without dealing with adding ginger beer per serving.
Thank you! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I’m here because in the Google results the receipe came up. I didn’t have to read through a bunch of backstory to get it. And then once I got to the website you had a “jump to receipe” button. If only all receipe sites were like this! Thank you. The drink sounds great as well.
Thanks so much Joe! xT
What size glass are you using for a single serve cocktail?
Cozy, festive cocktail! Tried this for Thanksgiving and we all loved it. I’m making a pitcher for a Christmas event and only have gold tequila on hand. What are your thoughts on the the gold changing the cranberry color of the cocktail? Thank you!
Hi Jo,
Amazing!! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it:) I personally wouldn’t use the gold, but totally up to you! xT
Most ‘double old fashioned’ glasses, the short ones with flared walls are 8-10oz. You will have less ice on this cocktail vs one you buy in a bar but the volume will fit. But it looks to me that she has used a stemless wine glass in the photos.
Loved this cocktail! Used fresh made cranberry sauce instead of juice. Thank you for the pitcher recipe. It was perfect for our crew! Will keep this one in my box!
Hi Julie,
Thanks so much!! Love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, I appreciate you making it! xT
Yes and YES! I don’t like sweet drinks so I was worried this was going to be too sugary with all of the juices but the cinnamon and ginger beer really leveled it out. I made this twice, once with regular iced cubes and one with ice spheres and using the iced spheres really made the flavors shine! I feel like it didn’t water it down as the regular ice cubes can. Thank you Tieghan for always sharing your brilliant recipes. 😍
Hey Victoria,
Fantastic! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it! Have a great weekend:)
I enjoyed the drink. Made with a mezcal and grand marnier. My guests were not fans of the ginger and not sure if just eliminating the candied ginger would be enough for them.
Hi Stephanie,
Thanks for making this recipe and your comment, so glad it was enjoyed! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! xx
Hi Teighan, I am looking forward to making this cocktail for Thanksgiving! would you please recommend one of your fabulous appetizers to go with this cocktail? I love all your recipes and make them for family and friends, they are all love them and ask me to make them again! I recommend your site to all my cooking friends. thank you!
Thanks so much for your kind message, Janice!! Here are some recipes you might enjoy:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/cranberry-brie-pull-apart-bread/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/baked-gruyere-in-pastry/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/cheesy-soft-pretzel-bites/
I hope this helps! xT
Should this include orange liquor or orange liqueur? I’ve never heard of orange liquor.
Hi Mark,
Yes, orange liqueur, I used Triple Sec:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
We made these Saturday evening for, uh, “research purposes” ahead of hosting a big crowd for Thanksgiving, and loved the drink!
We couldn’t find no-sugar cranberry juice, so we just used less of cranberry cocktail and it worked fine. We also skipped the candied ginger and used Gran Mariner, our preferred orange liqueur.
As a mezcal lover, I really appreciate all your mezcal cocktail recipes!
We’ll definitely be serving these at Thanksgiving and will try big-batching them, will let folks know how that goes.
Hey Sara,
Wonderful!! I am so glad that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for giving it a go! xx
What’s an alternative to ginger beer?
Hi Dina,
Ginger ale would also work well for you! Please let me know if you have any other questions! Cheers! xx
All I want for Christmas is a HBH cocktail recipe book! Big fan xoxo from alaska
Lol thanks so much Shayleen:) xx
This looks delicious! Apologies if I missed it, but what should be used to replace the orange liquor in the mocktail?
Hey Sophia,
You can just omit the orange liquor. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! Cheers! xx
Excited to try this. Could you mix 1/2 tequila and 1/2 mezcal? Or recomend sticking to just one liquor?
Hey Laura,
Sure, sounds great to me! Let me know if you give this recipe a try! Cheers! xx
They make non alcoholic triple sec! I found it at my local liquor store.