5 Incredible Cocktails with Vodka and Cranberry Juice 

Vodka and cranberry juice is a classic cocktail combination that has been popular for decades.

Bright, tart and easy to mix, it works just as well in a highball that takes less than a minute to make as it does in a cocktail you order at a proper bar.

What Are the Best Vodka and Cranberry Juice Cocktails?

Best vodka and cranberry juice cocktail? If only it were that simple. Taste is personal — and honestly, so are you. But a few drinks in this pairing are simply undeniable.

The combination of vodka and cranberry juice sits behind some of the world’s most popular vodka cocktails: the Vodka Cranberry (also called the Cape Cod), the Cosmopolitan, Sex on the Beach, the Sea Breeze, and the Bay Breeze.

Here’s how to make each one, from the drink that gives the pairing its name to the tropical riff that closes out the list.

1. Vodka Cranberry (Cape Cod)

Let’s start with the Vodka Cranberry – the very definition of a vodka and cranberry cocktail. Originally created in the U.S. in 1945, the Vodka Cranberry (also known as the Cape Cod) was the second-most popular vodka cocktail of last year.

A simple mix of vodka and cranberry juice served over ice with a lime wedge; it’s one of those easy-to-make cocktails that works any time of year and scales perfectly when you’re hosting a crowd.

Ingredients

• 45 ml Absolut Vodka
• 10 ml Lime Juice
• Cranberry Juice, top up the glass (approx. 100-120 ml)
• Lime Wedge, to garnish

Vodka Cranberry Recipe

1. Measure and add 10 ml of fresh lime juice to a highball glass.
2. Add 45 ml Absolut Vodka.
3. Fill the glass with ice cubes.
4. Top up your glass with cranberry juice.
5. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Want to see it in action? Watch how to make a Vodka Cranberry:

2. Cosmopolitan

The Cosmopolitan is one of the most popular vodka cocktails in the world, and its link to vodka-and-cranberry cocktails runs deep — in fact, Absolut Citron is often credited as a key reason the drink exists at all, a link explored further in our history of the Cosmopolitan.

At its core, the Cosmo is a vodka and triple sec cocktail — one of the most popular vodka combinations there is — but rather than unflavored vodka, it uses lemon-flavored vodka, paired with cranberry juice and lime juice.

The Cosmopolitan became a defining drink of the 1990s and remains one of the best-known vodka cocktails today.

Ingredients

• 40 ml Absolut Citron
• 20 ml Triple Sec
• 20 ml Cranberry Juice
• 20 ml Lime Juice
• Orange Zest, to garnish

Ready to make it? Check the recipe for an Absolut Cosmopolitan. Or watch Rico and Hedda Bruce (General Manager, Tjoget, Stockholm) show you their take on a classic Cosmopolitan:

3. Sex on the Beach

A cocktail with a name like Sex on the Beach comes with no shortage of confidence. In fact, it’s the third drink on this vodka-and-cranberry list to appear in our list of the most popular vodka cocktails.

This easy-to-make cocktail mixes Absolut Vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice and cranberry juice, resulting in a fruity, slightly tart summer cocktail that’s just self-aware enough to know it’s not here to be taken too seriously.

Ingredients

• 20 ml Absolut Vodka
• 20 ml Peach Schnapps
• 100 ml Cranberry Juice
• Fresh Orange Juice
• Lime Wheel, to garnish
• Fresh Cherry, to garnish

Sex on the Beach Recipe

1. Measure and add 20 ml peach schnapps to a highball glass.
2. Add 20 ml Absolut Vodka.
3. Add 100 ml cranberry juice.
4. Add ice cubes.
5. Use a juicer or citrus press to juice a couple of fresh oranges, then top up the glass with fresh orange juice to create a sunrise effect.
6. Garnish with lime wheel and a fresh cherry.

Watch Rico show you how to make a Sex on the Beach:

4. Sea Breeze

The Sea Breeze is a classic vodka cocktail made with cranberry juice and grapefruit juice, and a variation on the Cape Cod (Vodka Cranberry) – see the first drink on this list above. First emerging in the 1960s, it’s a bright, simple built drink made from just a few ingredients.

“An underrated classic, this is one of the most basic drinks that you can make but it’s also, when done correctly, one of my personal favorites,” says Ricardo ‘Rico’ Dynan, Bartender and Absolut Global Brand Ambassador.

Ingredients

• 45 ml Absolut Vodka
• 45 ml Cranberry Juice
• Fresh Grapefruit Juice
• Lime Wheel, to garnish

Sea Breeze Recipe

1. Measure and add 45 ml Absolut Vodka to a highball glass.
2. Add 45 ml cranberry juice.
3. Add ice cubes.
4. Use a juicer or citrus press to juice a fresh grapefruit, then top up the glass with fresh grapefruit juice.
5. Garnish with lime wheel.

Rico shows you how to make the perfect Sea Breeze:

5. Bay Breeze

The Bay Breeze brings a tropical note to the vodka-cranberry formula. Also known as the Hawaiian Sea Breeze, it swaps the Sea Breeze’s grapefruit juice for pineapple instead, giving it a softer, more tropical profile.

Ingredients

• 45 ml Absolut Vodka
• 75 ml Cranberry Juice
• 30 ml Pineapple Juice
• Lime Wedge, to garnish
• Pineapple Leaf, to garnish

Bay Breeze Recipe

1. Measure and pour 75 ml cranberry juice into a cocktail shaker.
2. Add 30 ml pineapple juice.
3. Add 45 ml Absolut Vodka.
4. Add ice cubes.
5. Seal the shaker and shake vigorously until frosty on the outside.
6. Fill a highball glass with ice cubes.
7. Strain the cocktail into the glass using a Hawthorne strainer.
8. Garnish with a lime wedge and a pineapple leaf.

Watch how to make a Bay Breeze:

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Looking for more drink-spiration? Check out more cocktail recipes.