The Sweet Difference Between Cranberry Juice And Cranberry Cocktail

While you may just like the taste of cranberry juice, when you reach for a bottle, you're doing your body good too. That's because cranberries contain vitamins B6, C, E, K1, as well as copper, which are nutrients that are essential in fighting infections and maintaining good health. Cranberries carry the most nutrition when they are whole, but you still get health benefits from drinking the juice.

Cranberry juice is often used to prevent and clear up urinary tract infections, and it's also known to be beneficial for the liver and in helping with stomach issues. To get the most benefit from cranberry juice, it's important to drink 100% cranberry juice, and it will be labeled as such. 

You can drink cranberry juice as is or mix it with other juices, tipples, or club soda for a fun, refreshing drink. There are also a number of cocktails, like this recipe for Cranberry gin that use the juice of cranberries. So, what about cranberry juice's friend, cranberry cocktail? Are they the same thing? Not exactly. 

The difference is that cranberry cocktail is sweetened with sugar, unlike cranberry juice, which has no added sugars. Cranberry on its own is quite tart, so the addition of sugar (or corn syrup) makes it more palatable. Keep in mind that although pure cranberry juice doesn't have added sugar, sometimes the juices that are added, such as apple or pear juice, have natural sugars that show up in the cranberry juice mixture.

If you're only drinking cranberries for your health, it's better to avoid the cocktail. But if you're drinking it to enjoy the taste, it really depends what you're in the mood for. If you like the tartness of the 100% cranberry then the pure juice is great. However, if you like it a little sweeter, go for the cocktail. When it comes to drink recipes that call for cranberry, the direction you go depends upon what you're looking to sip. If you want something dry and bitter, go for something like this Cranberry-Rosemary Spritzer Mocktail, but since most mixed drinks favor the sweeter side, you can spare yourself the shaker and include the sweet cocktail juice.