Cranberry-Aperol Sparkler
By Lawman JohnsonPublished on November 3, 2025
Time
20 minutes, plus 1 hour straining and chilling
Yield
Makes 8 cocktails
Ingredients
Before You Begin
We prefer the light, crisp flavor and relative affordability of prosecco here, but you can substitute another sparkling wine, such as Champagne or cava. Most prosecco is sold in 750-milliliter bottles (about 25 ounces); you will need a full bottle plus about one-third of a second bottle to make 8 cocktails. This recipe can easily be halved.
Instructions
- Bring 4 cups cranberries, 1½ cups sugar, and 1 cup water to boil in large saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover; and simmer, stirring occasionally, until cranberries burst, about 5 minutes. Off heat, crush fruit with potato masher until mostly smooth.
- Set fine-mesh strainer over medium bowl and line with triple layer of cheesecloth that overhangs edges. Transfer cranberry mixture to prepared strainer and let drain until liquid no longer runs freely and mixture is cool enough to touch, about 30 minutes.
- Pull edges of cheesecloth together to form pouch, then gently squeeze pouch to extract as much syrup as possible; discard solids and cheesecloth. Stir in ½ cup Aperol; cover; and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 30 minutes. (Syrup can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.)
- For each cocktail, add 2 ounces syrup to chilled wine glass half-filled with ice. Add ½ cup prosecco to each glass. Using bar spoon, gently lift mixture from bottom of glass to top to combine. Garnish with extra cranberries. Serve.
Time
20 minutes, plus 1 hour straining and chillingYield
Makes 8 cocktailsIngredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
Who doesn’t love bubbles around the holiday? For this “sparkler,” we wanted to develop a simple recipe that was cranberry-forward. We combined cranberries (fresh and frozen work equally well), sugar, and water in a saucepan and simmered the ingredients until the berries began to burst, releasing their juice. We mashed the mixture with a potato masher and then strained the fruit syrup and stirred in some Aperol. To create the cocktails, we simply added the cranberry-Aperol syrup to ice in a wine glass, topped with prosecco, and garnished with extra cranberries. Enjoy!
Before You Begin
We prefer the light, crisp flavor and relative affordability of prosecco here, but you can substitute another sparkling wine, such as Champagne or cava. Most prosecco is sold in 750-milliliter bottles (about 25 ounces); you will need a full bottle plus about one-third of a second bottle to make 8 cocktails. This recipe can easily be halved.
Instructions
- Bring 4 cups cranberries, 1½ cups sugar, and 1 cup water to boil in large saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover; and simmer, stirring occasionally, until cranberries burst, about 5 minutes. Off heat, crush fruit with potato masher until mostly smooth.
- Set fine-mesh strainer over medium bowl and line with triple layer of cheesecloth that overhangs edges. Transfer cranberry mixture to prepared strainer and let drain until liquid no longer runs freely and mixture is cool enough to touch, about 30 minutes.
- Pull edges of cheesecloth together to form pouch, then gently squeeze pouch to extract as much syrup as possible; discard solids and cheesecloth. Stir in ½ cup Aperol; cover; and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 30 minutes. (Syrup can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.)
- For each cocktail, add 2 ounces syrup to chilled wine glass half-filled with ice. Add ½ cup prosecco to each glass. Using bar spoon, gently lift mixture from bottom of glass to top to combine. Garnish with extra cranberries. Serve.
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