Cranberry Cobbler

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Cocktail History

The Cranberry Cobbler is a Sips From Scripts original Christmas cocktail that we created as a holiday-themed version of the classic Sherry Cobbler found in The Essential Cocktail Book: A Complete Guide to Modern Drinks by the editors of PUNCH and Megan Krigbaum. Our version takes the flavor (and style) up a few notches with the substitution of our homemade cranberry simple syrup for sugar. The result is as delicious and flavorful as it looks, with the cranberry’s slight bitterness playing a unique and important part in this tasty mix.

Cocktail Ingredients

To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:

Marsala Sherry: This is a fortified wine made from white grapes that has a medium-rich body great for using in sauces and marinades in addition to cocktails. This is the recipe’s low-ABV base spirit that gives the drink its distinct wine flavor. 

Cranberry Syrup: This gives the cocktail its slightly bitter cranberry flavor. We make our syrup using Alex’s sous vide recipe.

Orange Slices: These are muddled and add sweeter citrus flavors.

Orange Wedge: This is one of the garnishes that adds sweet orange aromas.

Mint Sprig: This is another garnish that adds fragrant mint aromas.

Cranberries: This is the final garnish. To be honest, these don’t add much to the recipe other than style, but they definitely look good.

Tasting Notes

The Cranberry Cobbler features a bouquet of mint, orange, and sherry aromas, starts with the flavors of sweet orange chased with a hint of bitter cranberry, and finishes with the distinct taste of sherry lingering in the mouth. The garnish isn’t just there for looks either; cobblers typically feature several fragrant ingredients that are meant to tease the senses for the flavors to come, and they also make this into one gorgeous drink. 

Our Opinion of This Cocktail Recipe: We both really enjoyed the Cranberry Cobbler despite our differing opinions on sherry, and we would absolutely make it again as a fantastic low-proof daytime drink for the holidays.

Alex’s Take: “This is a low-ABV drink that I really enjoyed. The taste of sherry mixed very well with the cranberry syrup, and the muddled cranberry and oranges gave it a very fresh fruit flavor, while the garnish provided a bouquet of aromas. We use sherry pretty sparingly at our home bar, so we get excited to make any cocktail we find that calls for it. This one did not disappoint.”

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Kendall’s Take: “I don’t usually go for sherry-based cocktails, but this holiday version of the classic Sherry Cobbler is quite good. Its most prominent flavor is definitely still sherry, but the cranberry and citrus flavors balance it out very well. I would drink this again when I wanted something Christmas-themed but still refreshing and light.”

Recipe

Tools & Glassware We Recommend

More Christmas Cocktails

If you like this Christmas cocktail recipe, here are a few others we’ve tried that you may enjoy:

• Holiday Gin Mule: A blackcurrant gin cocktail made with apple cinnamon syrup, lime juice, ginger beer, rosemary, and cranberries

• Grand Galliano: A low-proof cocktail made with Liquore Galliano L’Autentico, Grand Marnier, heavy cream, an orange twist, and grated nutmeg

• Hot Peppermint Patty: A low-proof cocktail made with milk, white peppermint schnapps, dark crème de cacao, white crème de menthe, cocoa powder, whipped cream, and grated chocolate

• Sugar Cookie Cocktail: A vanilla vodka cocktail made with amaretto, Irish cream liqueur, heavy cream, simple syrup, and sprinkles