Cranberry juice is one powerful antioxidant drink that’s good to keep in your food-as-medicine kitchen cabinet. It’s a festive, easy drink to serve up to your dry and under age guests that wins health points for all. 
Cranberries have stood the test of time over centuries like many healthy, plant-based foods. That helped people survive.
The fruits were originally named crane-berry because it was a popular food for cranes, as in birds. Machines 🏗️ aren’t drinking or eating yet.
…Also, wouldn’t it be fun to name fruits because many are still being discovered in our New World? 💭 I remember when elderberries came on the scene as good for cold immunity… I feel like an elder berry. 😊
These days, we share these same foraged foods with other small wildlife creatures like squirrels, deers, and other birds. 🐿️🦌
And humans turn this cranberry fruit (that’s not a berry) into a drink for good reason.
For one, cranberry juice is known to be good for preventing urinary tract infections, even though it hasn’t been made fact.
But preventing infections mean less antibiotics in your body that always helps gut health. The rise of antibiotic resistance and contaminated meat is costing over $2 billion annual in the U.S., so it’s worth believing cranberry as preventative medicine.
Pure 100% juice version is the one to source and buy. 💯 without added sugars like the common cranberry cocktail version you find in convenience stores. Buy it when you’re inconveniently in the big grocery stores with a cart and the juice will last long after opened.
It’s one healthy holiday tradition that you can stand by…
And on-travel, ordering a cran-apple juice on the airplane can be a good next-to-water hydrating drink with vitamins and minerals.
At home, besides as a glass of cranberry juice, you can make a cranberry tea… either iced for warmer months or warmed tea for colder or transitional months.
And the way to keep this a low-sugar, healthy beverage is to change the taste. 100% cranberry juice is tart, so adding other natural flavors will enhance the tartness and make it exciting. ♥️
For warm tea, use dried fruits, flowers, and spices to naturally spice-up the tea, like these pairings:
-Hibiscus & rose hips
-Elderflower
-Raspberry
-Apple
-Orange Peels
-Ginger
-Cinnamon
Use a strainer for the dried bits, and if they’re finely ground, you can use a paper coffee filter that you can cut down to the right size for your strainer.
I actually like when a few tea leaves seep through as it keeps the tea homemade and rustic feeling. Turn on the moody jams and you have an enjoyable break. 🎶
But that’s a nice choice you get to make in the moment…
And at the end, zhughing with some ruby red fruits like cranberries and pomegranates sinking to the bottom make it a bottomless tea party!
In my drinks, you can even find some shredded coconut streamers or rosemary spikes, and a ‘pick of cranberries for tasty interest.
Those details come naturally from my event and party planner days where it’s all about the special zhugh. This one is good for the heart.🫀
For an iced tea version, use fresh fruits, flowers, lemon… and omit the spices.
You can also use your cranberry juice tea to make other wild fresh drinks or mocktails…
You can add cranberry seltzer water to make a big fizzy punch that’s a pink champagne color and bring up happy spirits! 🎉
