Add cranberry juice, orange juice and peel, cinnamon stick, star anise, ginger, and cloves to pot and bring to a boil then immediately lower to simmer for a few minutes. Turn off heat and let steep for 30 minutes until cool enough to pore into a mason jar with lid (or other container) and place in the frig to continue steeping and to get cold for 2-4 hours before using.

Fifteen minutes before you are ready to make your drink, put your glasses in the freezer to cool then take out and rub a piece of lime pulp on the rims, to get it wet, and dip in a small plate with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar to give your glass rim a thick coating of cinnamon sugared.

Add one large ice cube to each glass (or a few smaller ones).

In a cocktail shaker (or tall cup with a lid), fill 1/2 of shaker with ice, add a cup of the strained cranberry mixture and a 1 ounce shot of your choice of liquor, if using.

Shake well to combine and to chill drink then slowly pour into your glass, about 3/4ths of the way up.

Top with about an ounce of club soda and garnish with lime slice and a stick of cinnamon. The cinnamon stick can act as a stirrer as well as a straw, and tastes good when you suck on the end 🙂 . Before drinking squeeze in the lime and throw the slice into the drink.