Jos Little Life

Most of my “drink” syrups are really “coffee” syrups that I want to leave more open ended. However, this one really is for more than coffee. Much more.

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Cranberries are one of the major trademarks of the holidays. They are vital to most Thanksgiving dinners and flavor many Christmas dishes. More recently, I have seen the cranberry flavor start to extend to drinks with the cranberry Poppi being super popular the last few years and this year even bubblr has a cranberry flavor! the main problem I have with these, however, is they are really stinking expensive. If you are just in the market for any kind of festive beverage, opting for a homemade cranberry syrup might be the right option for you!

On top of all the cocktails, mocktails, and drinks you can make with cranberry syrup, you can make a really tasty latte. I don’t know about you but it makes a ton of sense to me to just substitute the raspberry for cranberry in things like a raspberry truffle, raspberry white chocolate, or a raspberry dark chocolate latte. Right? Honestly I don’t know why more coffee shops don’t do this every fall and winter. Maybe they do and I just don’t notice. If you know of a coffee shop that serves cranberry lattes comment them below! Please!

Cranberry syrup isn’t only super unique but it is stupid easy to make! And only for pennies a serving. Who can say no to that! To make it, I start by boiling my cranberries until they have all “popped”. Some won’t make the popping sound but after about 5 minutes all the skins should have split and the water should start turning color. I keep the water boiling as I add my sugar and stir it until it is dissolved before I turn off the heat and let the syrup cool enough so that it doesn’t bust my glass container.

Once my syrup is cool and in my container, I keep it at room temperature for up to a week and in my refrigerator for up to a month. To make a cranberry white chocolate latte, I start by brewing a double shot of my favorite espresso (check out seven weeks coffee for some of the best beans you can find!) and then adding in about a tablespoon of cranberry syrup and a tablespoon of white chocolate sauce. To be extra fancy, you can also drizzle the white chocolate sauce around the sides of the cup before mixing in either hot milk, or cold milk and ice. The same can be done for a cranberry mocha by substituting the white chocolate sauce for milk or dark chocolate sauce.

A good mocktail to make with this is what I call a “cranberry sunrise” all it takes is either club soda or tonic water, orange juice, and about a tablespoon of cranberry syrup. For some reason cranberry and orange just make so much sense to me so it is one of my favorite drinks, if I’m not drinking coffee at least!

What concoctions are you making with your cranberry syrup! Tell me all about them in the comment section below!