Barman Tim Smith of The Grandview Tavern & Grill in Arvada, Colorado, crafted this seasonal tipple with Thanksgiving in mind. In fact, it was inspired by one of his favorite unsung heroes of the holiday table: cranberry sauce. Or even better, a cranberry-apple compote. He said he loves the way its tart and sweet flavors help balance the richer dishes traditionally served during the holidays.
Recipe: Cranberry Apple Cosmo From The Grandview Tavern & Grill
A festive cocktail from a hot Arvada restaurant.
Linnea Covington Linnea Covington Recipe By:
Tim Smith
Published on November 6, 2026 • 8:00 AM MST
Recipe By
Tim Smith
Servings
1
Level
Easy
Total Time
10 minutes
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
0 minutes
3 lbs
frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
2
10-ounce cans diced tomatoes and green chiles, such as Rotel
2
1-ounce packages taco seasoning
Recipe: Cranberry Apple Cosmo From The Grandview Tavern & Grill
Because a classic Cosmopolitan already features cranberry, citrus, and sweetness, creating a cranberry-apple variation felt like a natural fit. Smith swaps the traditional simple syrup for a homemade cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla syrup. Then, he adds cloudy apple cider and sour apple schnapps. The result is a rich, tart cranberry-apple-cinnamon cocktail designed to pair especially well with a hearty Thanksgiving dinner.
If you want to batch the recipe ahead of time, sub ounces for cups and add 1/4 cup water in place of shaking with ice. Keep refrigerated or in the freezer. Serve in chilled martini glass.
1 serving
Cook Time
0 minutes
Prep Time
10 minutes
Total Time
10 minutes
- 2 ounces Vodka
- 1/4 ounce Cointreau
- 1/4 ounce DeKuyper Sour Apple
- 3/4 ounce Cinnamon-vanilla simple syrup (buy or make your own simple syrup with one part water, one part sugar, and 3 dashes of ground cinnamon)
- 1 ounce Cranberry juice
- 1/2 ounce Lime juice
- 1/2 ounce cloudy apple cider
- 1 teaspoon sugar, for the glass rim
Directions
- Combine in a shaker full of ice.
- Shake and strain into sugar-rimmed martini glass.
- Garnish with fresh or dried apple slices.
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