Light a fire, dim the lights, and slowly sip this twist on a traditional Hot Toddy. The perfect balance of bourbon and spices will warm your body and soothe your soul!
Winter cocktails are some of my favorites, and the warmer the better! You get to try and include so many more spices in the recipes and they always taste like home. Cozy up and give this super easy cocktail a try!
Spice Cranberry Juice – The first part of the recipe is creating the spiced juice to mix with the bourbon. Make sure not the skip or rush this part, the longer it simmers, the better it tastes. You’ll need to peel some ginger and poke a few holes in half an orange. In a pot, add the cranberry juice, orange, ginger, cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, cloves, and star anise. Bring to a simmer and partially cover for about 10 minutes.
You are then going to strain out the liquid, add back to the pot and bring to a simmer along with the honey. Let it cool slightly and then mix with the bourbon!
Star Anise – First off lets talk about what it tastes like. It generally brings on sweet flavors of licorice but also has some comparison to fennel, clove, cinnamon, and peppercorns (hence why it does so well in this cocktail). You can typically find it in the spice section of your grocery store
Bourbon – Obviously when it comes to bourbon you have endless choices. My go-to for this cocktail is Buffalo Trace. I understand this can sometimes be tougher to find depending on where you live, so for an alternative, I definitely recommend Larceny Small Batch. It is inexpensive and has great flavor to pair with this drink
As you read the recipe, if you like drinks sweeter add more honey. If you don’t like drinks as strong, add less bourbon. You can mix this around to make it how you will enjoy it!
Let me know what you think!
Ingredients
- 2 C Cranberry Juice Cocktail
- ½ Orange
- 2 Cinnamon Sticks
- 1" Piece of Ginger
- ¼ t Peppercorns
- ¼ t Cloves
- 2 Star Anise
- ⅓ C Honey
- 4 oz Bourbon
Instructions
- Peel the ginger and poke holes in the half of orange
- In a pot add the cranberry juice, orange, ginger, cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, cloves, and star anise. Bring to a simmer, partially covered, for 10 minutes
- Strain out the liquid and add back to the pot. Add in the honey and simmer for 3 minutes
- In the glassware of your choice, add 2oz of bourbon to each glass (more or less depending on preference). Fill to the top with the cranberry liquid
- Enjoy!
