Cranberry Sans-gria Recipe

Make honey syrup

Combine 0.5 cup honey and 0.25 cup warm water in a small pitcher or jar. Stir or whisk until the honey fully dissolves and the mixture is homogeneous. Let it cool to room temperature (about 5 minutes). This yields an easily pourable honey syrup that blends evenly into cold juices.

Wash all fruit. Thinly slice the navel orange and the half lemon. Halve the grapes and set aside. Lightly crush half of the fresh cranberries with the back of a spoon or a muddler in a small bowl—this releases bright cranberry flavor and a bit of color into the sans-gria without using extra juice.

Place the orange and lemon slices, halved grapes, and crushed cranberries into the bottom of a large (2–2.5 quart) pitcher. Reserve a few slices and cranberries for garnish if desired.

Pour 3 cups cranberry juice and 1 cup fresh orange juice over the fruit in the pitcher. If using the optional orange liqueur for a boozy batch, add 1/2 cup now. Stir the mixture gently to combine and help the juices soak into the fruit medley.

Add the cooled honey syrup to the pitcher and stir until fully incorporated. Taste and adjust sweetness: add up to 2 tablespoons more honey syrup if you prefer a sweeter sans-gria.

Refrigerate the assembled mixture, covered, for at least 1 hour and up to 6 hours. This resting time allows the fruit to infuse flavor into the juices and chills the drink. (If short on time, you can proceed immediately — the drink will still be tasty but less infused.)

Just before serving, gently stir the pitcher again. Add 2 cups chilled club soda or seltzer and 6 cups of ice (or add ice directly to individual glasses instead of the pitcher) to avoid diluting the entire batch prematurely.

Fill glasses with ice, pour the Cranberry Sans-Gria into each glass, making sure each serving gets some fruit pieces. Garnish each glass with a mint sprig, a reserved orange slice, and a few whole cranberries.

Serve immediately. Leftover non-carbonated mixture (before adding seltzer) will keep covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days; add fresh seltzer just before serving to preserve fizz.