Orange Mocktail: A Holiday Drink

This holiday orange mocktail starts with bubbly sparkling water, fresh squeezed orange juice, and a festive red and green garnish. It’s super simple to pull together for your holiday party, and it’s something everyone will enjoy!

When it comes to the holidays, a bubbly sparkling beverage is a must! It makes the holidays feel special and festive.

This holiday orange mocktail brings all the joy of the season in a simple to make drink. Easily adjust the serving sizes to accommodate more or less people.

This drink is perfect as a non-alcoholic punch for your holiday party. Or it can be made as a festive drink for the kids to enjoy at the holiday table!

Unlike the well known Shirley Temple or sparkling apple cider, this sparkling beverage has no added sugar! With all the other temptations around the holidays, having a fresh, natural, refined sugar free beverage is a nice reprieve!

Whether you’re an adult or kid, you’re sure to love the fresh flavors in this all natural, low calorie drink!

Why you’ll love this Holiday Orange Mocktail…

• No sugar added
• All natural ingredients
• Light and refreshing
• Suitable for everyone
• Fun and festive
• Super quick and easy to make
• Only 4 ingredients
• Easily adjust the serving sizes to accommodate more or less people

Recipe Ingredients and Notes

Sparkling Water: Use a flavorless sparkling water, or club soda. Tonic water, or diet tonic has added sugar.

Naval Oranges: When it comes to oranges, naval oranges are a delicious option! They are super sweet, juicy, and easy to peel. They’re also seedless, which makes them perfect for juicing!

Cranberries: If you’re making this drink for the holidays, you likely have a bag of cranberries in the refrigerator to make cranberry sauce. Reserve a quarter cup of those cranberries to add for garnish. It brings a bright and vibrant color to this drink!

Rosemary: A sprig of rosemary adds a nice herbal flavor. It also resembles pine needles which makes it a beautiful garnish for the holidays!

Tools and Equipment

• Glass pitcher to combine the sparkling water with the fresh squeezed orange juice.
• Citrus juicer (optional) to help you get the most juice out of your oranges.
• Punch bowl if you’re making this for a crowd.

How to Make this Holiday Orange Mocktail – Step by Step

Step 1: Pour sparkling water into your pitcher. Add the juice of two oranges.

Step 2: Pour flavored orange water over glasses filled with ice.

Step 3: Garnish with rosemary sprigs, and cranberries.

Top Tips for Making this Holiday Orange Mocktail

• Use sparkling water/club soda. Do not use a soda or tonic as these have added sugars, and the diet sodas have artificial sweeteners.
• It’s easiest to mix the soda water and orange juice in the pitcher, and then add the cranberries and rosemary to each cup, rather than mixing all of the ingredients together in the pitcher. This allows you to allocate the appropriate amount of fresh cranberries and rosemary to each cup.
• If making for a large group, combine the ingredients in a punch bowl. Add the cranberries and rosemary to the punch bowl so that those flavors are infused in the flavored soda water. Add a few orange slices to the punch bowl for added color and flavor!

Variations and Substitutions

No Cranberries: Add another red fresh fruit such as sliced strawberries, or raspberries. Cranberries are harvested during mid-September through November. You can buy them fresh during this time. However, if you making this recipe during another time of year, you can find cranberries in the freezer section.

No Rosemary: Use another fresh herb. Thyme or sage are fresh and fragrant.

Orange Juice: If you don’t have oranges, but have orange juice, add about a quarter to half a cup of orange juice instead of the fresh squeezed juice from the naval oranges.

Make it a Cocktail: Add a shot of vodka to each glass to turn this mocktail into a cocktail!

When to serve this orange mocktail?

Anytime you’re in a festive mood, or just want something a little more interesting to sip on that’s still low calorie, low in sugar, and delicious.

• Holiday Party
• New Year’s Eve Party
• Brunch
• Birthday Celebrations
• Christmas Dinner
• Thanksgiving
• Valentine’s Day
• Or just an afternoon at home!

How to Serve

Make this mocktail fresh, just before you’re ready to serve. The sparkling water will lose its bubbles if left out for too long!

You also want to keep it cold. Adding ice to the pitcher will water it down, and lose it’s bubbles more quickly.

Therefore, I suggest preparing enough servings for the number of people you plan to serve. Then, fill each glass with ice, and pour the sparkling beverage over top.

Check out these other healthy mocktail recipes!

• Watermelon Mocktail
• Cranberry Mocktail
• Mojito Mocktail

If you’ve tried this Holiday Orange Mocktail, please rate the recipe and let me know how it turned out. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for more plant-based family recipes your whole family will enjoy!