The Crimson Crane, from M. Carrie Allan of The Washington Post’s Spirits column, is named for the pretty crane-shaped flower of the cranberry plant.
Allan specifically states that this recipe was designed with unsweetened cranberry juice in mind. That’s tough stuff to find compared to the more commonplace cranberry juice cocktail, and it’s much more astringent and bitter as well.
It is a very good drink with unsweetened cranberry juice, but we confess that we do prefer it with the sweet stuff. It’s confirmed delicious either way, so use whichever type of juice you prefer.