Jingle Buck

The Jingle Buck is a vodka cocktail built directly in an ice-filled glass with cranberry juice, lime juice, and ginger ale, garnished with fresh cranberries and rosemary. It fits squarely into the buck family of drinks, defined as a spirit, citrus, and ginger ale or ginger beer served over ice.

Think of it as a Vodka Buck (or Moscow Mule) with a festive holiday twist. The cranberry juice gives it that signature red color, while the lime and ginger ale keep things lively and fizzy. It’s foolproof to make and skips the shaker entirely.

Tart, sweet-spicy and fruity, with a gentle fizz and crisp finish. The lime juice brings a bright, citrusy sharpness that balances out the sweetness of the cranberry juice. The subtle sweetness and spiciness of the ginger ale ties everything together with a light effervescence.

You’ve got the zesty notes of lime, the fruity tartness of cranberry, and the spiciness of the ginger ale all working together in the glass.

The Jingle Buck is an Absolut-branded holiday cocktail with a documented history going back to at least 2018. The earliest credible appearance is as “Absolut Jingle Buck” in Food Channel’s 2018 holiday roundup, in a section credited to Absolut Vodka.

Absolut promoted it further in a U.S. holiday campaign announced on October 3, 2019, calling it a “festive favorite or soon-to-be holiday staple cocktail.”

The Jingle Buck is a built drink, so technique is simple. Here’s what makes the difference:

• Use freshly squeezed lime juice
  Fresh lime juice gives the drink a brighter, zestier taste than bottled. Always use fresh lime juice – not the supermarket stuff.
• Fill the glass generously with ice
  A full glass with plenty of ice cubes or a single solid ice cubes controls dilution and keeps the drink colder for longer.
• Use cranberry juice mix
  While we recommend using fresh lime juice, we suggest store-bought cranberry juice. Cranberries are extremely tart, so a sweetened cranberry juice mix that’s been pre-sweetened, balanced and perfected works best here.
• Don’t over-stir
  A brief, gentle stir is all it takes. You want to combine the ingredients without losing the fizz of the ginger ale.
• Choose your ginger mixer
  This recipe calls for ginger ale. Swapping it for ginger beer will make the drink noticeably spicier and less sweet. Try it out and see which you prefer!

A classic buck can be made using any spirit together with lime juice and ginger ale, so making your own twist on a Jingle Buck is easy.

• Use another spirit of choice
  Follow the recipe on this page but swap vodka for any other spirit and you’ve suddenly got yourself a new Jingle Buck.
• Add pomegranate juice
  Mix 1 part vodka, 2 parts ginger ale, and ¼ part each pomegranate juice, lime juice, and cranberry juice. The addition of pomegranate juice adds tartness and slightly tannic, berry‑like notes that round out the lime and cranberry. It also gives the drink a richer “holiday” color.

• The Jingle Buck is served in a rocks glass over ice. It’s a built drink, so it goes straight from the glass to the table with little effort.
• The perfect garnish for a Jingle Buck is two or three fresh cranberries and a sprig of rosemary, placed directly in the glass.
• If you prefer, you can swap the cranberries for fresh lingonberries alongside the rosemary sprig. Do what works best for you!