All season I’ve been working on my signature Christmas style. I’ve got my signature red scarf that makes any outfit festive. My signature sweet treat that I’m handing out to family and friends. But just the other day it hit me that what I didn’t have was a signature beverage for the holiday season to enjoy with family and share with friends.
For me, the holidays are all about entertaining and relaxing; finding special moments at home filled with family or friends. And while I may go over the top at times making my home feel holiday ready, I recently realized that I didn’t have a festive beverage on hand to make parties, movie nights and simple time spent together even more special. Since my home is constantly filled with company, I wanted to come up with something easy yet delicious; festive yet full of flavor. I needed it to be a drink that could be created quickly but would leave quite an impression. And after thinking over some of my favorite drinks, I kept coming back to my beloved non-alcoholic mojito!
You see, this is my go-to drink all year long when I simply want to relax and unwind. And while I usually enjoy it during the warmer months, I figured there was no reason why I couldn’t give it a festive makeover and turn it into a holiday tradition. After settling on this signature beverage, I headed to Walmart to pick up my supplies. While I was there grabbing 7UP® to make my drink of choice, I happened to notice that there were some amazing savings in the soft drink aisle! With A&W®, 7UP®, Canada Dry®, Sunkist®, Sun Drop®, RC Cola®, Squirt® 2-liter drinks for just $1.00 each at my local Walmart, I knew instantly that I must stock up for all my seasonal gatherings!
You see, family and friends are constantly in my home during the holidays. And knowing that I have beverages everyone loves on hand takes the stress out of my preparation. Knowing that this was a deal I just couldn’t beat, I quickly picked up ten 2-liter sodas and added them to my cart.
Then I headed home to stock our “party” fridge, whip up a signature drink and start enjoying some holiday fun.
After arriving home, I set to work turning my 7UP® into a festive non-alcoholic drink that the adults AND the kids could enjoy.
What You Will Need:
8 Ounces of Fresh Cranberries
1 Cup of Sugar
1 Cup of Water
1 Large Lime
Mint Leaves (to taste)
7UP®
How to Make It:
To start this festive beverages, I needed to make some simple cranberry syrup. Now I know I could have just bought it but really, this drink is so much better when you start from scratch! So I added my cranberries, sugar and water to a pot and let it simmer over medium heat for about twelve minutes.
The goal was not to get the mixture to boil, simply to infuse the flavor of the cranberries in a delicious syrup form. Once I had achieved a pink color to my cranberry and sugar mixture, I removed it from the heat, allowed it to cool and then started to put together my drink.
I started by wetting the top of my glass and dipping it in colored sugar for a festive feel.
Next, I added my mint leaves and half of my lime (cut into wedges) to the bottom of my glass and muddled them together to release the amazing flavors.
With these two steps completed, I filled my glass with ice (carefully so I didn’t disrupt the sugar rim) and poured in two tablespoons of my fresh cranberry syrup.
Finally I added 7UP® to fill of the glass and complete my signature drink.
After gently mixing everything together with a straw, my holiday beverage was ready to be enjoyed!
Let me just say, this festive drink looked and tasted amazing and was an instant hit in my home. Now, anytime I have guests over, I’ll be sure to whip up this impressive beverage that is made perfect by the addition of the sweet taste of 7UP®!
But I won’t just be enjoying this drink with friends and family – I’ll also be using it to make a movie night extra special. You see, I got a little Christmas present just for stocking on on the beverages my family loves at Walmart. Because this holiday season, when you purchase (10) 2-liters or (5) 0.5L 6 packs of A&W®, 7UP®, Canada Dry®, Sunkist®, Sun Drop®, RC Cola®, Squirt® at Walmart, you’ll receive a $5 VUDU credit!
It’s quite easy to claim! All you have to do is take a photo of your entire receipt that clearly shows your qualifying purchase. Then create an account or log into your account and submit the image of your receipt! Even better you can continue to submit receipts until the cutoff date of December 31, 2015 and once you reach your purchase threshhold you’ll receive an email with a VUDU code valid for a $5 VUDU movie credit on VUDU.com. Submissions are reviewed within 48 hours so you’ll be on your way to an awesome movie night (complete with this non-alcoholic Christmas Mojito of course) in no time flat!
So what are you waiting for? There has never been a better time to stock up on A&W®, 7UP®, Canada Dry®, Sunkist®, Sun Drop®, RC Cola®, Squirt® than this holiday season! Not only will you have everyone’s favorite beverages on hand for expected and unexpected guests all season long, but you’ll get the gift of a relaxing movie night as well!
Now that you’ve see what I made after I got my A&W®, 7UP®, Canada Dry®, Sunkist®, Sun Drop®, RC Cola®, Squirt® at my local Walmart for only $1.00, I’d love to hear your favorite way to enjoy these delicious drinks!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of AMP Agency. The opinions and text are all mine.
