Cranberry Agua Fresca with Mint and Lime

Hi There! How’s your Thanksgiving planning going? Have you made your Cranberry Agua Fresca yet?

No? Not that I want to stress you out, but you should.

Let’s Make Cranberry Agua Fresca

Lucky for you it is a very easy drink for the kiddos, and non-drinkers, and pregnant ladies.

It is very festive—made with fresh cranberries. You are essentially making homemade cranberry juice—pretty cool, right?

But it is much easier than it sounds.

1. Just combine fresh cranberries with water and cook until they release their juice (even better if you can let this mixture sit overnight).
2. Strain out the cranberries, add sugar, and your done!

Let’s Make Fun Ice Cubes

The ice cubes make this drink for two reasons:

1. They look super fancy and red carpet.

2. When the ice starts to melt into the drink, the flavor of the fresh mint and lime seeps in to the agua fresca, so it’s perfectly okay, and, actually better, to put the ice in the pitcher and fill it with the agua fresca before guests arrive so the ice has a chance to melt a little bit.

All you do is slice some limes really thin. It’s best if you use little key limes but regular limes work too, you might have to cut them in half to fit in the mold.

Layer the lime slices and fresh mint leaves in the wells of a muffin tin. Fill the wells with water and freeze until solid.

Pop the frozen “ice cubes” out of the muffin tin and you’re ready to go!

Let’s Make It Sparkle

To make it even more special you can make it sparkling by filling each glass halfway with the cranberry agua fresca and then topping it off with sparkling mineral water.

We are a Topo Chico house but you can use any sparkling water you’d like.

Let’s Spike It!

Cranberry Agua Fresca can really do double duty by also being the base for your signature Thanksgiving cocktail. There’s a few different drinks you can make with it:

• Shake up with 2 ounces vodka and a squeeze of lime juice
• Serve over ice with a shot of gin and a sprig of thyme
• Make a Holiday Mule by adding vodka and a splash of ginger beer.

Okay, that’s it! As my kids would say, easy peasy lemon squeezy! Now go out there and crush Thanksgiving you turkey maven, you!

Photos courtesy of This Mess Is Ours

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Cranberry Agua Fresca with Fresh Mint and Lime Recipe

Yield: 8 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

A fun, non-alcoholic drink made with fresh cranberries and festive lime and mint ice cubes.

For a sparkling version, fill a cup two thirds of the way with ice and agua fresca, top with sparkling water and serve.

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Ingredients

• 2 (12-ounce) bags fresh or frozen cranberries
• 8 cups water
• 1 1/3 cups sugar

For the ice cubes:

• 2 key limes, or regular Persian limes, sliced
• the leaves from 1 small bunch mint

Instructions

1. Wash cranberries and combine them in a pot with the water. Bring to a boil and let gently boil until all cranberries have popped and softened, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
2. Strain the cranberry juice into a clean pot, discard cranberries. Add sugar to the juice and bring to a boil again, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat, let cool, then refrigerate until cold.
3. To make the ice, divide lime slices and mint leaves between the wells of a muffin tin. Fill each tin with water and freeze until solid.
4. To serve, pop the ice cubes out of the tin by running the bottoms under warm water until they loosen. Place in a pitcher and pour agua fresca over the top.

Nutrition Information:

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 0Total Fat: 0g

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