Cranberry Mule

A festive twist on the classic Moscow Mule, the Cranberry Mule adds the flavor of tart cranberries, fresh thyme, and a hint of orange. With its beautiful color and seasonal flavors, this Cranberry Moscow Mule is the perfect holiday cocktail!

About this Cranberry Mule recipe

If you’ve tried any of my Moscow Mule recipes, you know that I am a little bit obsessed with this classic cocktail. Part of the obsession is thanks to my love of ginger beer. Part of it is thanks to just how versatile the Moscow Mule cocktail is.

This Cranberry Mule is one of my favorite versions during the holiday season. It takes the traditional combination of vodka, lime juice, and ginger beer and adds the flavors of tart cranberries, herby thyme, and just a bit of orange. It’s similar to my Yule Mule, but with a bit of a twist.

Once you try this festive Cranberry Mule recipe, your friends and family are going to beg you to make it for every single holiday party and get-together!

More cranberry recipes: Cranberry Mimosas • Cranberry Simple Syrup • Cape Codder • Cranberry Sauce Old-Fashioned Cocktail • Sugared Cranberries

Ingredients

The beauty of making Moscow Mules is that they only require a few ingredients. For this Cranberry Mule, you’ll need:

Thyme simple syrup: We’re going to make a homemade simple syrup infused with fresh thyme. The lightly herbaceous flavor the syrup imparts is an unexpected but delicious pairing with the tart cranberries and citrus!

Orange vodka: Vodka is traditional in mules, and this one uses orange vodka for even more festive flavor. But the vodka can be replaced with rum, bourbon or gin. It can also be omitted entirely. If you’re swapping out the orange vodka, add a dash of orange bitters ^* for that hint of orange.

Lime juice: I recommend using fresh lime juice for the best flavor. Use a citrus squeezer if you are just making a couple drinks. If you’re planning to batch this recipe, see if your grocery store sells fresh-pressed lime juice. Otherwise the concentrate will work fine!

Cranberry juice: I prefer 100% unsweetened cranberry juice. Cranberry juice cocktail has added sugar and can make this Cranberry Mule just a bit too sweet when paired with the thyme simple syrup. It’s up to you which you use, though!

Ginger beer: Ginger beer is non-alcoholic and can have a strong, spiced ginger flavor. I recommend a mild to medium spice level for this cocktail. (For more on spiciness, see the section Best Ginger Beer for Moscow Mules below).

Garnishes

With the pretty red color of this cocktail, adding a pop of green in your garnish really adds a Christmas-y flair. A sprig of fresh thyme from the store or from your cocktail herb garden looks beautiful and help signal to guests that there’s a bit of thyme in the drink.

I also like to add some fresh cranberries. Using sugared cranberries is an extra special touch! 

If you don’t have either of the above, you can never go wrong with fresh or dried lime wheels or a piece of candied ginger.

Best alcohol for a Cranberry Mule

Vodka is the traditional spirit for a Moscow mule, so that’s what I usually choose when making Cranberry Mules. Vodka is crisp and clean, so it highlights the cranberry, thyme, citrus and ginger flavors and doesn’t taste too boozy.

Other spirits can be cloying, so vodka is also a safe option when serving this cocktail at parties. Many vodka brands make flavored orange vodka that you can use in this recipe. You can also make your own infused vodka with orange peels.

If you need help picking out a bottle of vodka for your home bar, look no further than my vodka guide that lists all my favorite brands. My go-to brands are Tito’s, Reyka and Absolut.

However, mules are very versatile and work with just about any spirit, so feel free to choose bourbon for a Cranberry Kentucky Mule, gin for a Cranberry Gin-Gin Mule, tequila for a Cranberry Mexican Mule, or rum for a Cranberry Dark and Stormy. My homemade spiced rum is fantastic in this cocktail, too!

If you are using another spirit in place of the orange vodka, add a dash of orange bitters ^* to the cocktail for that hint of orange flavor.

Best ginger beer for Moscow Mules

A good non-alcoholic ginger beer is key to making a good Cranberry Mule. “But which ginger beer?” you ask.

Well, in my opinion, the best ginger beer for Moscow mules is a spicy one — the spicier the better! Not spicy like peppers, but spicy like ginger. Ginger ale will work, but it can make the drink super sweet (especially if you are using cranberry juice cocktail) and it lacks the spicy punch of ginger beer that I love in this drink.

Favorite brands by spice level

A few years back, I tried a ton of ginger beers and ranked them by how spicy they are. If you are curious about my ginger beer taste test, you need to check out my list of the best ginger beers!

Mild ginger beers: Fever Tree is very popular, and I find it to be very mild. Barritt’s is another delicious brand that is lighter on the spice.

Medium ginger beers: Gosling’s, Reed’s Original, Powell & Mahoney and Bundaberg are all top brands with a medium spice with a nice balance of sweetness.

Spicy ginger beers: For those who like it spicy (me!), try Maine Root, Reed’s Extra and Fentiman’s. I find the complexity of these spicier brands to bring more flavor to my mules.

Low-sugar/Sugar-free ginger beer: If you are looking for a lighter version, Zevia and Reed’s both carry a zero sugar ginger beer. If you’d rather control the amount of sugar, make a ginger simple syrup to tailor the flavor to your liking and use club soda for the bubbles.

Making Cranberry Mules for a party

Cranberry Mules would be a cinch to whip up en masse for a holiday party. Everyone will rave about your festive signature cocktail! Here’s how I recommend setting it up:

1. To prepare your Cranberry Mule mix for your holiday party, just make a big batch of the cranberry/thyme syrup/lime/vodka base. Keep in mind that can make quite a few cocktails with 1 batch of the thyme syrup as written in the recipe card.
2. You can either top each glass with ginger beer right before you serve the drinks or add it to the pitcher (or punch bowl ^*) just before the party begins.
3. Set up a bowl of cranberries and thyme sprigs to garnish drinks with quickly and easily.

Batch recipe

Here is a basic recipe to follow that makes ~8 cocktails:

• 2-4 ounces thyme syrup
• 2 cups orange vodka
• 6 ounces (3/4 cup) lime juice
• 2 cups unsweetened cranberry juice
• 3-4 cups ginger beer
• plus fresh cranberries and thyme for garnishes.

Non-alcoholic Moscow Mules

Need a mocktail version of the Cranberry Mule for any non-drinkers or kids? There are two main ways to do this, similar to how I make my Virgin Yule Mule:

1. Cut the vodka entirely. You’ll have have a drink that’s non-alcoholic but still delicious. (Ginger beer is non-alcoholic!) Add a dash of non-alcoholic orange bitters for the orange notes.
2. Use non-alcoholic spirits. Yes, that’s a thing! Ritual and Seedlip are two brands I really like. You can even buy them online since they don’t contain alcohol! (But they taste as if they do.) You can even make homemade zero-proof spirits! Again, add a dash of non-alcoholic orange bitters ^* for the orange notes in the original recipe.

Both Seedlip Garden 108 ^* and Ritual gin alternative ^* alternative are fantastic in Cranberry Mules because they have those botanical, herbal, juniper and pine flavors that taste like Christmas.

You can also try one that emulates whiskey like Ritual whiskey alternative ^* or Seedlip Grove 42 ^*. A rum substitute like Ritual rum alternative ^* would be delicious too!

favorite non-alcoholic spirits

Seedlip non-alcoholic spirits

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Ritual Zero Proof Bundle

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spiritless non-alcoholic spirits bundle

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^*

Moscow mule mugs

Moscow Mules are traditionally served in a copper mule mug. If you don’t have copper mugs ^*, old-fashioned glass (AKA rocks glass ^*) will do just fine.

If you are looking for some other mule recipes to make in your cute mugs, scroll to the section below called Holiday Moscow Mules.

favorite mule mugs

mule mug set

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black diamond mule mugs

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embossed mule mugs

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Substitutions & variations

There are tons of ways you can make this cocktail your own! Here a few ideas to consider:

• Cranberry Mule Mocktails: Use a zero-proof spirit in lieu of vodka or omit it entirely for a non-alcoholic version.
• Frozen Cranberry Mules: Freeze your ginger beer into ice cubes, then throw them with the other ingredients in a blender. Follow this tutorial for frozen Moscow Mules.
• Sugar-free Cranberry Mules: Use a sugar-free ginger beer such as Zevia and add thyme to a sugar-free simple syrup base. And be sure your cranberry juice has no sugar added as well.

Instructions

Let’s make some Cranberry Mules! Here’s what you’ll need to do:

Fill two copper mule mugs ^* or old-fashioned glasses ^* with ice. Add the orange vodka and thyme syrup.

If you are making a few drinks, use a cocktail shaker ^* filled with ice. Combine the thyme syrup, vodka, lime juice and cranberry juice. Shake well, until the shaker is cold in your hand. Mules should be CHILLY.

Next, add the cranberry juice and lime juice.

Top each glass with ginger beer. Garnish with cranberries and a few sprigs of thyme. Serve immediately.

FAQ

More holiday Moscow Mules

If you’re looking for more Thanksgiving cocktails and Christmas cocktails, consider one of these seasonal mule recipes:

• Pumpkin Spice Mule: This one features a pumpkin spice syrup like you’d enjoy in a PSL!
• Apple Cider Mule: Apple cider stars in this recipe for a festive, apple pie-like drink.
• Pear Mule: Pear vodka gives the classic a unique fall spin.
• Czech Mule: An herbal spirit called Becherovka is a delight in the mule cocktail.
• Gingerbread mule: Absinthe and orange make the mule taste like a gingersnap cookie.
• Candy Cane Moscow Mules: Peppermint lovers will adore this minty version with candy cane vodka.