Cocktail du jour: Pass the Cranberries, Please

Cran-raspberry Breeze

Raise your hand if you need a drink on this Black Friday. Well, that would be all of us then, right? Lucky for you I'm posting two cocktails today, because it's just the beginning of the holiday madness and you might as well start it off with your feet up and a cocktail in your hand.

If you didn't get enough cranberry at the Thanksgiving table then these two seasonal cocktails will do the trick. I realized all my drink posts this fall were very heavy on the bourbon and whisky (my personal favorites have been the Autumn Manhattan and the Stormy Scot) so I'm lightening things up (flavor-wise) and dusting off the vodka bottles.

Cranberry vodka is one of the less artificially sweet flavors you'll find in the liquor aisle, which means you need to add in some juice to balance things out. The Cran-raspberry Breeze is similar to a Bay Breeze (vodka, cranberry juice, pineapple juice) but with more alcohol and less juice. Because it's mostly liquor, I'd make this the first drink of the night and then move on something a little lighter, like the Orange Cranberry Fizz. At the end of cocktail hour you'll be totally ready to tackle the Thanksgiving leftovers in your fridge.

Cran-raspberry Breeze
3 oz cranberry vodka
2 oz Chambord
1 oz pineapple juice
Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice
Shake and strain into a martini glass

Orange Cranberry Fizz

Orange Cranberry Fizz
3 oz cranberry vodka
2 oz Cointreau
1 oz Roses Lime Juice
seltzer

Add vodka, Cointreau, and Rose's into a highball glass filled with a few ice cubes
Top with seltzer, stir and enjoy