A light up snowman near the Holiday Sunrise cocktail
A Holiday Sunrise with my favorite holiday decoration.

It is hard to believe we are already halfway through December. We are definitely feeling the hustle and bustle of the holiday season in full force. From wrapping up the end of the year at work, to preparing for the holidays, we’ve been busy. However, that didn’t stop us from creating a new cocktail. This week, we’re introducing the Holiday Sunrise.

I’ve noticed a lot of juice in our fridge lately. Alie enjoys a morning glass of juice to start her day, so we’ve added a few to our grocery list. Since I had a few options, I decided to use the juices in our cocktail experiments.

Before we landed on this recipe for our Holiday Sunrise, I had a couple of swings and misses. Although I enjoy the taste of orange bitters or triple sec with whiskey, it is somewhat challenging to mix whiskey with orange juice and get good results. Let’s just say that at least one of our concoctions wasn’t even drinkable and turned into a drain pour.

Holiday Sunrise

Alie often has to taste my experiments. If I think a cocktail is decent, I’ll ask her to try and offer her suggestions about what it needs to make it better. After the previous failed attempts involving whiskey and orange juice, she was somewhat skeptical. I could see the hesitancy on her face.

However, after one sip of the Holiday Sunrise, I saw the surprise on her face and she immediately suggested adding something herbal to help round out the flavors. I clipped a sprig of rosemary and she stirred her drink with it. After another sip, we both knew we had a winning combination.

Our Holiday Sunrise cocktail uses orange juice and cranberry juice. We also used triple sec and a bit of simple syrup to help balance the citrus and tart flavors. Adding a little rosemary to the mix gave the Holiday Sunrise a savory finish. We liked it best with Evan Williams Bottled in Bond. You can find our EW BiB review here.

Our Holiday Sunrise combines many signature holiday flavors into one delicious cocktail. If you love the bright citrus flavor and the tartness of cranberries, you are sure to love it. Give it a try and let us know what you think.

Happy Exploring!

Holiday Sunrise

A cranberry and orange juice whiskey cocktail.
Prep Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces Whiskey
  • 2 ounces Orange juice
  • 2 ounces Cranberry juice
  • 1 ounce Triple sec
  • 1/2 tbsp Simple syrup
  • 1 sprig Rosemary

Instructions

  • Add the whiskey, orange juice, cranberry juice, triple sec, and simple syrup to a rocks glass.
  • Stir ingredients. Add a sprig of rosemary for garnish.
  • Enjoy!