Quick and Easy Christmas Cosmo Recipe

Name: Christmas Cosmopolitan Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 150 min
Ingredients: .5 cups sugar; 1 cup water; 2 fresh rosemary sprigs plus more for garnish; 2 cinnamon sticks; 1.5 oz vodka; 1 oz cranberry juice; 1 oz Cointreau; .5 oz lime juice; .5 cup cranberries, for garnish

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This easy Christmas Cosmo recipe is perfectly fun and festive! With tart cranberry juice and a cinnamon-rosemary simple syrup, it’s a holiday twist on a classic cocktail. Mix one up for your next holiday party.

A holiday cosmo in a martini glass next to ingredients for the drink. — Let’s make this easy Christmas Cosmo recipe!

Cocktails are a fun way to celebrate any occasion or holiday. Adding seasonal flavors to this simple vodka cocktail recipe makes it perfect for Christmas!

Why This Recipe Works

A lot of holiday cocktails require specialty ingredients that you may only use once a year. This Christmas Cosmo recipe uses basic cocktail ingredients but still feels worthy of a place at your holiday table.

A traditional cosmopolitan recipe is quick and easy. With one additional step (of the flavored simple syrup) you can mix up this holiday drink in just a few minutes.

The red color of the cranberry juice makes it a gorgeous cocktail to sip and gives it a tangy, tart flavor. Rosemary is reminiscent of pine and adds a nice herbal note.

Related post: Cranberry Vodka Slush

Many of the holiday cosmos you see online are just a regular cosmopolitan recipe. But I wanted to add in some of my favorite flavors for this time of year to make it extra special.

A Christmas Cosmopolitan is easy to make and the perfect recipe to serve for holiday happy hours. Carrie Bradshaw would totally approve. And so would Santa.

Ingredients

See the recipe card for quantities.

If you aren’t sure what type of vodka to use, Tito’s is a great place to start. It’s reasonably priced and is popular with an easy-to-drink flavor.

Instructions

A saucepan with cinnamon sticks and rosemary to make a simple syrup.

1. Make the Rosemary Cinnamon Simple Syrup

Simple Syrup is an easy thing to make and is a great way to add extra flavor to cocktails. Because this will need to cool before using, you can easily make it ahead of time (even a few days before).

Add the water and sugar to a saucepan and heat until the sugar dissolves completely, mixing often. But make sure it doesn’t boil.

Once the sugar is dissolved, add the rosemary sprig and cinnamon sticks. Remove from the heat and let steep for 15 minutes to half an hour.

The longer you leave the rosemary and cinnamon to steep the more intense the flavor will be.

Let it cool completely before using it in the cocktail.

Vodka being poured into a cocktail shaker.

2. Add ice, vodka, cranberry juice, and Cointreau to a cocktail shaker

A woman squeezing fresh lime into a cocktail shaker.

3. Add fresh lime juice and cinnamon rosemary simple syrup

Woman shaking a gold cocktail shaker with cocktail ingredients in the background.

4. Shake it up

A red cocktail being poured into a martini glass.

5. Strain into a martini glass

You can drink this Christmas Cosmopolitan plain but part of the festiveness is the garnish.

Add fresh cranberries and a sprig of rosemary to make it ready to serve to holiday guests.

Variations

If you don’t want to make flavored simple syrup you can just use plain simple syrup or leave it out. Or you can make Cinnamon Vanilla Simple Syrup.

If you can find white cranberry juice the cocktail will be a winter white color.

You can also use flavored vodka in this recipe to add more flavors. An orange vodka would be delicious! And vanilla vodka would also make this extra tasty.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I substitute Triple Sec for the Cointreau?

Yes. Cointreau is an orange liqueur and you can absolutely use a different type. Triple Sec (less expensive) will work as will Grand Marnier (more expensive) or any other brand you can find at your local cocktail store.

Why is a Cosmo so popular?

A Cosmopolitan is a quick and easy drink with a truly sippable flavor. It has a nice flavor and is a great drink for all kinds of cocktail drinkers. It’s also fairly inexpensive to make.

A cosmopolitan for Christmas in a martini glass next to a gold cocktail shaker.

This Christmas Cosmo recipe is a great holiday drink idea and can be enjoyed all winter long. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

More cranberry recipes

More Christmas cocktails

A cosmopolitan in a martini glass next to a cocktail shaker and rosemary, lime and cinnamon sticks.

Christmas Cosmopolitan Recipe

With tart cranberry juice and a tasty cinnamon-rosemary simple syrup, this easy Christmas Cosmo is a fun and festive drink to make for the holidays.

5 from 1 vote

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Course: cocktails

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 25

Cooling Time: 2

Total Time: 2 30

Servings: cocktail

Calories: 628kcal

Author: Sharon Garofalow

Ingredients

Instructions

Make the Rosemary Cinnamon Simple Syrup

Add the water and sugar to a saucepan on the stove. Heat through until the sugar is dissolved. Stir often. Do not boil.
Once the sugar is dissolved, add the rosemary and cinnamon sticks to the sugar water. Remove from heat and let steep for 15 – 30 minutes.
Let cool completely.

To Make a Christmas Cosmo

To a cocktail shaker, add ice, vodka, Cointreau and cranberry juice.
Add lime juice and simple syrup.
Shake well and strain into a martini glass.
Add fresh cranberries and rosemary to garnish.

Notes

If you don’t want to make flavored simple syrup you can just use plain simple syrup or leave it out. Or you can make Cinnamon Vanilla Simple Syrup.

If you can find white cranberry juice the cocktail will be a winter white color.

You can also use flavored vodka in this recipe to add more flavors. An orange vodka would be delicious! And vanilla vodka would also make this extra tasty.