Homemade Cranberry Liqueur

Making your own cranberry liqueur during the holiday season is very easy, practical, and satisfying, especially when fresh cranberries are plentiful and affordable. This homemade version costs a fraction of what you’d pay for a bottle of commercial cranberry liqueur, and it tastes better, too. With just four simple ingredients and a bit of patience, you can create a beautiful, jewel-toned liqueur that makes an impressive gift or adds a festive touch to your own holiday cocktails.

I’ve included everything you need to make this project foolproof. You’ll find detailed instructions for making the liqueur, along with tips for success to help you avoid common pitfalls and achieve the best possible results. There’s also a troubleshooting section to help if things don’t go quite as planned, which is unlikely. Making liqueur at home is surprisingly easy, but knowing a few insider tricks makes all the difference between a good batch and a great one.

If you’re planning to give your cranberry liqueur as gifts, I’ve created a printable tag you can attach to each bottle to make them look polished and professional. I’ve also put together a little cocktail recipe booklet to include with each bottle, so your friends and family will know exactly how to use their gift. These small touches turn a simple homemade liqueur into something that looks like it came from a specialty shop, and the recipients will be pretty impressed that you made it yourself. The only downside is that you’ve set the bar high for future gifts from your kitchen!

Ingredients Needed For Homemade Cranberry Liqueur

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I filled 3½ of the 16-ounce bottles I’ve linked here with this recipe.

• 1 pound fresh or frozen cranberries
• Granulated sugar
• Water
• 80 proof vodka (mid-range brands like Amsterdam, Smirnoff, or Skyy work well)

That’s it. Four simple ingredients create a beautiful homemade liqueur that rivals anything you’d find in stores at a fraction of the cost.

A Word About Vodka

The truth is, you don’t need an expensive premium vodka for making liqueurs. Since you’re adding so much flavor from the cranberries and sugar, the vodka mainly serves as the alcohol base and preservative. The cranberry flavor will completely dominate, so spending extra on a high-end vodka would be a waste of money.

What you do want to avoid is the very cheapest bottom-shelf vodka. Those can have harsh, unpleasant flavors that might come through even with all the cranberry and sugar. But anything in the mid-range, like Amsterdam, Smirnoff, Skyy, or similar brands, works great. I used Amsterdam.

The main thing is to use 80 proof vodka, which is standard. Don’t use anything with a lower alcohol content, or your liqueur won’t preserve as well. And stick with plain vodka rather than flavored varieties.

Tips for Success

Some of these links may be Amazon affiliate links and I may earn a small commission from the sale of these products to help defray the costs of operating this site, but the price you are charged is not affected. You can see my full disclosure policy here.

While this recipe is hard to mess up (don’t take that as a challenge!), here are a few pointers for the very best Homemade Cranberry Liqueur.

• Use fresh or frozen cranberries, not canned. Fresh gives you the best flavor and color, but frozen works just as well and is often cheaper when you catch a sale.
• Let the cranberry mixture cool completely before adding the vodka. If you add vodka to a hot mixture, the alcohol will evaporate, reducing potency.
• Use a clean glass jar or container for steeping. Mason jars work perfectly, and the wide mouth makes it easy to strain later.
• Shake or stir the mixture every few days during the steeping period. This helps distribute the flavors evenly and prevents settling.
• Strain through a fine-mesh strainer first, then run it through cheesecloth or coffee filters for a crystal-clear liqueur. The double strain makes a big difference in appearance.
• Taste before the final bottling. If it needs more sweetness, you can add simple syrup. If it’s too sweet, add a bit more vodka to balance it out.
• Find some attractive bottles for gift-giving. These are what I ended up with.

Troubleshooting

If you were one of the few who took the challenge to see if you could mess this recipe up (there’s one in every crowd), check out these remedies.

• My liqueur is too sweet. Add more vodka, one tablespoon at a time, until the sweetness level suits your taste. You can also use it in smaller amounts in cocktails and let the other ingredients balance it out.
• My liqueur tastes too strong or harsh. This usually means it needs more time to mellow. Let it age another week or two after straining and bottling. The flavors will smooth out considerably.
• My liqueur is cloudy. This happens when the mixture wasn’t strained well enough or if you added the vodka while the cranberry mixture was still warm. Strain it again through coffee filters or cheesecloth. It may take a few passes, but it will clear up.
• My liqueur tastes bitter. You likely let the cranberries steep too long. Next time, strain it at the four-week mark. You can try adding a bit more simple syrup to balance the bitterness, but prevention is easier than fixing it.
• The color isn’t as vibrant as I expected. Older cranberries or overcooking them initially can dull the color. The liqueur will naturally darken a bit during steeping, but it should still be a rich red. Using fresh cranberries and not boiling them too long helps maintain that jewel tone.
• Sugar crystals formed in my bottle. This can happen if you used more sugar than fully dissolved in the water. Gently warm the bottle in a water bath and swirl until the crystals dissolve, then let it cool before storing again.

How to Make Cranberry Liqueur

Combine the cranberries, water, and sugar in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer for a few minutes until the cranberries begin to pop and break down. Remove from heat and let the mixture cool completely to room temperature. This is important because adding vodka to a hot mixture will cause the alcohol to evaporate. Once cooled, stir add the vodka to the cranberries and stir to combine.

Divide the cranberry vodka mixture equally between your jars. I doubled my recipe, so ended up using 4-quart jars. Seal the jars and store them in a cool, dark place for two to six weeks, giving them a gentle shake every few days.

I added a cinnamon stick to one of the jars, and the result was outstanding!

When the steeping time is complete, strain the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer to remove all the cranberries and sediment. For a clearer liqueur, strain it a second time through cheesecloth or coffee filters. Pour the finished liqueur into clean bottles, seal tightly, and store in a cool, dark place. Your homemade cranberry liqueur will keep for at least a year without refrigeration.

What Cocktails Can You Make With Cranberry Liqueur?

I’m so glad you asked! Pull up a seat, or maybe a cocktail glass, and let’s get busy. Click the linked title to go to each cocktail recipe.

Cranberry Sparkler – A simple but sophisticated sipper that layers cranberry and elderflower liqueurs in a flute and tops them with sparkling wine. Light and bubbly.

Cranberry Bourbon Smash – A whiskey lover’s drink that muddles orange and bitters, then adds bourbon and cranberry liqueur over ice, finished with a splash of club soda and a rosemary sprig.

Gifting Homemade Cranberry Liqueur

Of course, you’ll want to keep some of your cranberry liqueur for your own cocktails, but this recipe makes enough that you can afford to give a few bottles away, but only to your very favorite people!

If you do decide to give a few bottles as gifts, make sure to print off the labels and recipe booklet. The recipe booklet shares six recipes you can make with the liqueur.

1. Access the labels PDF here and the recipe booklet here.
2. I recommend using a nice, heavy cardstock to print the labels.
3. This is a two-page, two-sided PDF, so make sure your printer is set to print front and back, flipping the sheets on the long edge.
4. When cutting the recipe booklet, use the side with the printed recipes as your cutting guide.

Bookmark this page or pin the following image to return to this recipe for Homemade Cranberry Liqueur when you need it.

Thanks for making my day by SHARING!!