This Herbed Cranberry & Pear Agua Fresca is delicious and festive yet healthy and refreshing drink to serve up this holiday season as a mocktail or spiked with some vodka. Cheers!

Drop the eggnog. This agua fresca is perfect for your next holiday gathering.

It’s refreshing and healthy yet bursting with festive flavors that scream “It’s the holiday season!”

♬♪ So whoop-de-do and hickory dock. And don’t forget to hang up your sock! ♬♩

OK sorry about that — got a little carried away there for a second!

Back up, Nadia. What’s an agua fresca?

“Agua fresca” translates to “fresh water” which is a really darn accurate name because, well, agua frescas are basically just flavored waters and SO refreshing!

Traditionally, agua fresca is made by blending up fruit and sugar with water and then straining out the pulp.

But we can easily healthify this traditional recipe by omitting the sugar and instead relying on the fruit’s natural sweetness, or adding just a bit of raw honey.

Like an eggnog or cider, you can serve this agua fresca on its own as a “mocktail” or spike it for some extra holiday cheer — I suggest vodka or a white wine to make a winter sangria.

The sweet pear perfectly balances the tart cranberries, while the herbs add to the seasonal flavor.

Herbed Cranberry & Pear Agua Fresca

Ingredients

• 1 12 oz bag of fresh cranberries
• 1 pear (I used comice)
• 3.5 cups water
• The leaves from a 3-inch sprig of fresh thyme
• The leaves from a 2-inch sprig of fresh rosemary
• 6 large fresh mint leaves
• Optional for extra sweetness: 1-2 tsp raw honey

Directions

1. Add all ingredients to a blender and blend on high
2. Strain with a nut milk bag or fine mesh sieve
3. Serve over ice, garnish as you so choose, and enjoy!