In a small saucepan, heat ½-cup sugar, ½-cup water, cinnamon sticks, star anise, sliced ginger, and whole cloves over medium until it comes to a boil.
Reduce heat to low-low and barely simmer uncovered, stirring frequently, until it begins to boil.
Remove syrup from heat, and use a small wire sieve to remove solids.
Mix
Fill a tall glass tumbler with ice. Pour cranberry ginger ale, vodka, and simple syrup into glass. Stir gently to mix. Omit vodka for non-alcoholic, kid-friendly mocktail.
Spiced Simple SyrupThe spiced simple syrup recipe makes enough syrup for about 3 drinks. If you anticipate needing more, use a sugar to water ratio of 1:1, and additional spices for each cup of water you add to the mix. (i.e., A triple batch would have 1½ cups each sugar and water, plus 2 cinnamon sticks, 2 star anise, 2 inches of ginger, etc.)You can also use a plain simple syrup, paired with a high-quality, strongly flavor ginger ale. Simple syrup will keep up to three weeks in the refrigerator.Cranberry ginger aleIf you can't find cranberry ginger ale, you can use 6 ounces of regular ginger ale and 1 ounce of cranberry juice. (This ginger ale + cranberry juice solution is actually what we do most often.)