Refresh Your Classic Vodka Cranberry With A One-Ingredient Upgrade

For many people, a vodka cranberry is an enduring go-to cocktail move. It is easy to sip, refreshing, tart, and pleasing to the eye which never hurts. But if your palate is craving something a touch more complex, you can give the standard drink more depth and kick with just one addition: ginger. The easiest way to incorporate ginger into your vodka cran is to use a simple syrup infused with ginger. This method brings both sweetness and that gingery zing to your highball and makes the entire equation feel more complex.

In addition to making your drink feel decidedly more elevated than what you might have concocted haphazardly in college, adding ginger to your cocktail also brings some welcome health benefits. Ginger is known to aid in digestion and support the immune system, and who can argue with that? If you like the idea of ginger, but would rather take your drink to the carbonated realm, you could add ginger beer, a more ginger-forward but still non-alcoholic cousin of ginger ale, for a play on a cran ginger fizz. This option still adds the ginger element, but in a choose-your-own-adventure sort of way. To transform your vodka cran the right way, you'll need to know to create the extra ingredients for your drink.

It is super easy to level up your vodka cranberry at home with a quick homemade ginger simple syrup. In only fifteen minutes you can craft your own ginger flavor enhancer by infusing fresh ginger into a one-to-one ratio of boiling water and sugar. Once the liquid cools and you strain out the ginger, you can bottle it and keep it in the fridge for future rounds or use it in one fell swoop to create a signature batch cocktail that will keep your guests coming back for more. Or, if you want to add ginger flavor with absolutely zero effort and no fizz, you can add a splash of ginger liquor like Domaine de Canton.

To visually give a nod to your cocktail's inclusion of ginger, take an extra moment to garnish with a cocktail stick speared with a few pieces of candied ginger along with the traditional vodka cran wedge of lime. To further play on the ginger riff with appetizers to accompany your cocktail, use some extra fresh ginger to create a piquant ginger jam that is addictive when spread on brie-topped crackers or bring both cranberry and ginger to your brie and cracker game with Julia Child's cranberry ginger chutney. Wash it down with your upgraded vodka cranberry, and you may just be hooked on the cranberry-ginger flavor duo.