Valentine’s Day Cupid’s Cocktail
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Sweet and tart Valentine’s Day Cupid’s Cocktail combines tart cranberry juice with sweet maraschino cherry juice then mixes in pomegranate vodka and strawberry heart garish for the perfect Valentine’s Day or Galentine’s Day celebratory drink.
While I love coming up with new cocktails and beverages I have a really hard time creating themed ones. I’m not sure if it’s because I get stuck on a certain color of flavor but I have a really tough time.
When I started thinking about cocktails for Valentine’s Day I was stuck on the color red. That means I was thinking strawberries and cherries and pomegranate. I also thought I could do a chocolate cocktail but I knew I didn’t have any chocolate liqueur and would have to go to the liquor store to get some.
After paging through probably close to 50 recipes I just said forget it and I took stock of what I already had in my refrigerator and pantry and went from there. What results was a sweet but slightly tart red color cocktail that would be great to enjoy with dessert on Valentine’s Day but would also be a really fun Galentine’s Day cocktail.
For this recipe you will need:
- cranberry juice
- pomegranate vodka
- maraschino cherry juice
- ginger ale or lemon lime soda
- red or pink sprinkles
- strawberries or maraschino cherries for garnish
This cocktail is super easy to put together but it looks really pretty once it’s done. Before I started combining the cocktail I cut my strawberry in half and then cut 2 slices from each side then cut them into hearts. Two per cocktail is the perfect amount and this recipe serves two.
To start rim two tall glasses with maraschino cherry juice or honey. I often use honey because it works really well at keeping sprinkles in place. Then I rolled the rims of the glasses in the sprinkles.
Next I filled the glasses with ice. I only had cubes but if I was having a Galentine’s Day girl’s night or a Valentine’s Day dinner part I would buy crushed ice for these cocktails because I think it looks a little more refined.
Then I combined the cranberry juice, pomegranate vodka, and maraschino cherry juice in a cocktail shaker and shook it with ice. I strained half of the mixture into each of the prepared glasses then topped them off with the ginger ale.
Finally, I took two toothpicks and put a heart strawberry, then a maraschino cherry, then another heart strawberry on each one and lay them on top of the glass. This little touch really elevated these cocktails and made them into something special.
I then added cute paper straws with hearts on them because I had some in the cupboard but you can just add regular old straws or skip them all together. It’s actually nice to sip from the glass and get some of the sugared rim with your cocktail.
So how does it taste? Like a grown up version of Kool-Aid. No it’s not overly sweet but the flavor is reminiscent of a favorite childhood drink or candy. These go down really easy so make sure you are keeping track of how many you’ve had!
Pro Tips and Substitutions:
- If you don’t have maraschino cherry juice but have grenadine you can definitely sub that in but the cocktails won’t have that added candy flavor to them.
- Want to make it a mocktail? You can use pomegranate juice in place of the vodka and it will be delicious.
- I use zero sugar ginger ale and diet cranberry juice but really regular is probably best. I simply used what I had in the house.
- Instead of pomegranate vodka you can use raspberry vodka or strawberry vodka.
Valentine's Day Cupid's Cocktail
Ingredients
- 4 oz. cranberry juice
- 3 oz. pomegranate vodka
- 1 oz. maraschino cherry juice
- 8 oz. ginger ale or lemon lime soda
- red or pink sprinkles
- 1 strawberry for garnish
- 2 maraschino cherries optional
Instructions
- Rim two tall glasses with maraschino cherry juice or honey.
- Pour the sprinkles into a shallow dish and roll the rims of the glasses into the sprinkles.
- Fill each glass halfway full with ice. Set aside.
- Combine the cranberry juice, pomegranate vodka, and maraschino cherry juice in a cocktail shaker with ice.
- Shake for 30 seconds then divide into the prepared glasses.
- Top off with 3-4 ounces of ginger ale or lemon lime soda.
- Garnish with strawberry slices cut into hearts and a maraschino cherry.
Notes
Nutrition
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I’ve never tried Pomegranate vodka, but I definitely need too! This sounds so good and perfect for a date night drink. The name is so fun too!
Such a pretty and festive drink. Perfect for Valentine’s Day or a bridal shower.
This sounds good but I don’t have the specialized vodka. I’m going to try it with regular vodka and Pomm juice.