Cranberry-Ginger Mimosa

The winter season is a time to host dinner parties and celebrate, as colder weather drives everyone indoors and to hearty meals and drinks. When hosting a get together, date or quiet dinner party, it’s nice to have some crowd-pleasing drinks on hand, especially those that are easy to throw together but are still sure to impress. This three-ingredient celebration cocktail from The Cookie Rookie—a cooking and recipe blog founded by home cook Becky Hardin—is an ideal answer, a simple-to-make but delicious mix of ginger beer, cranberry juice and Champagne.

The Cranberry-Ginger Mimosa is perfect for every winter holiday, from Thanksgiving straight through to Valentine’s Day, and is a breeze to make. Unlike the more familiar Mimosa you would have with brunch, this one doesn’t have any orange juice, instead substituting cranberry juice. Ginger beer adds some spice, some sweetness and more carbonation, and the choice of which brand you go with is entirely up to your taste preferences. Some are spicier with lots of raw ginger, while others are closer to ginger ale as far as sweetness and spice. If you’re really ambitious, you can even make your own.

Similarly, it’s up to you to decide the best sparkling wine to use. Champagne is always going to be a good fit, though it’s best to avoid using one that is too expensive since you’ll be adding cranberry juice and ginger beer. As with most sparkling drinks like the French 75, Aperol Spritz, and the namesake Mimosa, you can opt to use another kind of bubbly like cava, prosecco, cremant d'Alsace or one of the many other sparkling wines available.

With ginger beer and juice both comprising a good portion of the drink, the Cranberry-Ginger Mimosa has the benefit—or drawback, depending on your approach to drinking—of having relatively low alcohol, essentially half the amount of a standard glass of wine. This makes it a perfect drink to start a meal, before people have had time to eat. It also means the drink is a nice nightcap to indulge in while minimizing the risk of a rough next morning. Keep in mind, though: There’s still plenty of sugar in the drink.