We Style-Examined 4 Manufacturers of Cranberry Juice Cocktail—Our Winner Might Shock You

I at all times preserve a bottle of cranberry juice cocktail readily available. This sweet-tart beverage is useful for all kinds of drinks, whether or not you are consuming it straight, mixing it into punch for a cocktail party, making Cosmopolitans, mixing up nonalcoholic spritzers, or whipping up a vodka-cranberry. The query is: Which model is value shopping for?

To seek out the very best cranberry juice cocktail, our editors taste-tested 4 broadly out there manufacturers. Somewhat than tasting unsweetened cranberry juice, we opted for cranberry juice cocktails, which generally include cranberry juice focus, water, and a sweetener. We chilled and poured every into cups, then sampled them in random order with out understanding which model was which. We then tabulated the outcomes and topped an total winner, in addition to one other worthy contender that we might be comfortable to maintain at dwelling.

The Standards

An ideal cranberry juice cocktail needs to be each tart and candy. It needs to be tangy sufficient to make you pucker, nevertheless it should not be intensely bitter or astringent. (Whether it is, you might have picked up 100% cranberry juice.) It needs to be clear and scarlet—not murky or brown. It must also be pleasantly candy with out being cloying, and it should not style bitter or synthetic. 

General Winner

Langers Cranberry Juice Cocktail

This cranberry juice cocktail edged out our runner-up, because of its barely tangier taste—possible the results of added citric acid. “I just like the cranberry taste right here! It makes you pucker a bit,” wrote our senior social media editor, Kelli. Our affiliate editorial director, Megan, and our editorial director, Daniel, loved the tartness of cranberries. “On the sweeter facet, however balanced,” wrote our visuals editor Jessie, who thought the flavour was nice. Our affiliate culinary editor, Laila, discovered it a contact too bitter, however appreciated the cranberry-forward profile.

Runner-Up

Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail

This cranberry juice cocktail shared the same taste profile with the winner, though some tasters discovered it to be a bit diluted-seeming. “Very skinny. However I assume that is what you need?” wrote Kelli. “Bitter, candy, kinda watery,” wrote Jessie. Others thought it had a noticeable tartness, however appreciated it total. “That is the tartest of the bunch, however I actually do not thoughts that,” wrote Megan. “Noticeable astringency, which I like,” stated Laila, who additionally noticed that it had fewer apple-forward notes than the remainder of the line-up.

The Contenders

• Langers Cranberry Juice Cocktail
• Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail
• Merely Cranberry Cocktail
• Tropicana Cranberry Cocktail

Key Takeaways and Conclusion

Most cranberry juice cocktails are made with filtered water, cranberry juice focus, sugar, and pure flavors. Different widespread substances embrace ascorbic acid and/or citric acid. Ascorbic acid, which is the chemical time period for vitamin C, helps protect each taste and coloration by stopping oxidation and browning, whereas additionally including gentle tartness. Citric acid, which happens naturally in citrus fruits, brings sourness and provides the juice a sharper, extra speedy tang. Vegetable concentrates, typically derived from carrots and beets, are generally used to present the drink a extra vibrant, interesting coloration. 

Cranberry juice focus is produced by pasteurizing and decreasing recent, filtered cranberry juice right into a thick, syrupy liquid. It is sometimes frozen for storage, then thawed, diluted with water, and sweetened to make a juice cocktail.

Our winner, Langers Cranberry Juice Cocktail, is made with filtered water, cranberry juice focus, pure flavors, and citric acid. Our runner-up, Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail, is made with ascorbic acid fairly than citric acid and contains vegetable focus for coloration. General, our editors most well-liked Langers for its tangy, shiny taste—although the variations between our winner and runner-up had been fairly minor.

Our Testing Methodology

All style assessments are performed with manufacturers utterly hidden and with out dialogue. Tasters style samples in random order. For instance, taster A might style pattern one first, whereas taster B will style pattern six first. That is to stop palate fatigue from unfairly giving anyone pattern a bonus. Tasters are requested to fill out tasting sheets, rating the samples in keeping with varied standards. All knowledge is tabulated, and outcomes are calculated with no editorial enter to offer probably the most neutral illustration of precise outcomes attainable.