This Sparkling Ice drinks post has been compensated by Inmar Intelligence and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SparklingIceLife #SparklingIcePartner #SparklingIceInspiration
Oh my gosh I am so excited about today’s post because it marries all of our favorite things in the most fun way – the holiday season, an easy, festive DIY and the tasty drink our fam can’t get enough of, Sparkling Ice naturally flavored sparkling water! Specifically, an adorable DIY spiced sparkling holiday mocktail gift basket for friends or neighbors that’s as easy to whip up as it is fun to make. It’s no secret that it’s been a long and hard year for just about everyone, which is why this holiday season especially we wanted to think of creative ways to show those special people in our life (like the neighbor that always gives us a familiar smile & a wave when walking by in the morning or the girlfriend I haven’t gotten to hug in too many months) that we’re thinking of them. And we love the idea of spreading that cheer by delivering a heartfelt gift that’s handcrafted, festive as can be and tasty, too!
I pretty much love anything spiced and sparkling during the holiday season. That combination just gives me all the holiday feels, and because of that I’ve been perfecting my Spiced Sparkling Holiday Mocktail recipe for the last couple of years. Now I love making big batches of this fizzy, subtly spiced blood orange bliss so I can sip those holiday vibes pretty much any time I want throughout the season! Which is why I thought that it would be the perfect gift to share with those special people in my life that need to be reminded how much they’re loved – a little pre-mixed Spiced Holiday Mocktail that they can add the sparkle to whenever they’re ready to sit back, relax and enjoy or even easily turn into a cocktail for a little extra kick of they like. No fuss required, just pure, delicious holiday delight!
This fun project also gives me the opportunity to utilize the drink my fam sips and loves all year round, Sparkling Ice naturally flavored sparkling water, in a really unique way for the holidays, and it happens to be absolutely ideal for adding the sparkle to our yummy Spiced Holiday Mocktail recipe. What’s even better is that for these gift baskets I used the Sparkling Ice holiday purple pack that I can conveniently grab at our neighborhood Bashas throughout the season, which contains all of my favorite Sparkling Ice flavors together in one pack so I can make each gift basket and each mocktail unique with ease! Basically, with just a quick swap of Sparkling Ice flavors from the holiday purple pack, I can go bold with more berry flavor, or pucker up with cherries, or savor a citrus fusion. It all works thanks to the four refreshingly fizzy, zero-sugar fruit flavors packed with vitamins and antioxidants in the holiday purple pack, which includes Sparkling Ice Black Raspberry, Sparkling Ice Cherry Limeade, Sparkling Ice Kiwi Strawberry, and Sparkling Ice Orange Mango. If you’re asking me for my personal favorite flavor to add to this mocktail, it would be hard to choose, but I do particularly love topping it with Sparkling Ice Black Raspberry. Something about the spice, and the blood orange and black raspberry flavors together makes me so happy!
Like I said, this gift basket is meant to be as easy to assemble as it is fun to make, so feel free to let your creative minds run wild with these and amend anything I included in my gift basket to suit your gift recipient’s sensibilities or yours. I love the idea of including a little something special that speaks to that person’s personality or interests! In my gift basket I included a fun little birch ornament that I know my cottage decor-loving gift recipients will use and love, but if your gift recipient is a foodie, for example, you could easily swap that for a cute and useful little kitchen tool, or anything else that says, “I get you”!
I truly love the idea of the drink everyone loves taking center stage in this gift basket, but the real reason you gift your recipient an unopened bottle of the Sparkling Ice naturally flavored sparkling water to add to their mocktail at home instead of adding it to your pre-mixed mocktail jar before you gift is because it keeps the Sparkling Ice beverage fresh for max sparkle when they’re ready to enjoy!
Below you’ll find all of the details about what I included in our DIY spiced sparkling holiday mocktail gift baskets, the easier-than-easy mocktail recipe that pairs perfectly with all of the Sparkling Ice flavors in their holiday purple pack (trust me, in the name of thorough research I taste tested them all) and a fun little gift tag printable that you can use and sign if you’re replicating our mocktail recipe and whipping up your own gift basket this season!
Sparkling Ice Drinks Mocktail Gift Basket
What’s in Our DIY Spiced Sparkling Holiday Mocktail Gift Basket
1. The perfect, delicious pre-mixed spiced holiday mocktail (recipe below).
2. A bottle of fresh Sparkling Ice from the holiday purple pack that I grab from Bashas throughout the season to add once your gift recipient is ready to sip. The four flavors included in the purple pack are my favorite Sparkling Ice flavors and include Sparkling Ice Black Raspberry, Sparkling Ice Cherry Limeade, Sparkling Ice Kiwi Strawberry, and Sparkling Ice Orange Mango. Use our tried and true spiced holiday mocktail recipe below with any of the flavors in the Holiday purple pack and it pairs like a dream, or feel free to adjust your mocktail recipe to suit your tastes or a specific Sparkling Ice pairing! But trust me, I tried them all and they were all pure heaven with the recipe below.
3. Clever little instructions for assembling their spiced sparkling holiday mocktail at home and for making their mocktail a cocktail if they’re looking for a little extra kick to celebrate the season.
4. A bag of dehydrated blood oranges that your recipient can use to garnish their mocktail or cocktail for extra festive flair.
5. A fun little birch ornament that you could easily replace with any ornament that you think your recipient would love.
DIY Spiced Sparkling Holiday Mocktail Gift Basket Supplies
- Basket
- 16 oz Mason Jar (or any airtight glass jar)
- Sparkling Ice Holiday purple pack
- Crinkle Cut Paper Fill
- Ribbon (any festive ribbon you love)
- Red & White Baker’s Twine (or similar string the fits gift tag hole)
- Blank Gift Tags (if using our printable below, must be at least 2″ wide x 3.5″ long)
- Ornament
- Small clear cellophane bag
- Dehydrated Blood Orange Slices (instructions for dehydrating included in recipe below)
Our Spiced Sparkling Holiday Mocktail Recipe
Yields 16 oz or 2 mocktails
Ingredients:
- 14 oz fresh squeezed blood orange juice
- 2 oz simple syrup (you can make your own simple syrup really quickly using a 1:1 sugar to water mixture for a or a 2:1 sugar to water mixture for something slightly more rich)
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- Dehydrated blood orange slices for garnish
- Optional additions for extra festive flair:
- Pomegranate Seeds
- Cranberries
Instructions:
Add 14 oz fresh squeezed blood orange juice, simple syrup and cinnamon stick to jar. Let sit overnight in refrigerator. For a really fun festive look, you can also add pomegranate seeds and/or cranberries to jar. Add jar to gift basket.
When ready to drink, simply pour mixture over ice removing the cinnamon stick. Top with Sparkling Ice Black Raspberry, Sparkling Ice Cherry Limeade, Sparkling Ice Kiwi Strawberry or Sparkling Ice Orange Mango to taste. Garnish with dried blood orange slice.
To Dehydrate Citrus:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Cut citrus into 1/4” thick slices. Lay slices flat on parchment-lined baking tray. Bake for two hours or until dry but still pliable (check at 1 hour 30 minutes).
DIY Spiced Sparkling Holiday Mocktail Gift Tag Printable
NOTE: This gift tag is sized at 2” wide by 3.5” tall and fits a gift tag that accommodates that size. So when you’re grabbing gift tags to adhere these instructions to, just make sure they’re big enough to fit those dimensions!
To print simply click the image below and a PDF will open in a new tab, ready for you to print. Just make sure you maintain the original dimensions when printing (do not fit the image to fill the page).
Have you made Sparkling Ice drinks mocktails before? Let me know in a comment below!
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