Sangria Recipes

Hi everyone!! I often lurk here in the cooking group for inspiration on different recipes, spices and techniques. I have yet to make a sangria in my life, and have offered to make both a red and a white sangria for my family's 4th of July vacation. Does anyone have any suggestions on what makes or breaks the sangria? Fruits that are better than others?

I had a couple of friends say to buy a certain brand of bottled sangria, and I thought to myself... that just takes the whole fun out of making sangria! Any help you can offer would be amazing!

Thank you

:hi:

I don't drink much, but YEARS ago, I felt like making Sangria for me and my husband, during the day; he was at work. Well, I made some (will look for a recipe!) and tried it, over and over! Its the ONLY time in my life (now 65!) when I was drunk!!!

:hi:


Lots of examples here;

http://www.spain-recipes.com/sangriarecipe.html

Did your husband come home to find you drunk off Sangria, lol!?! That's a funny story :)

Too long ago, don't remember, but that's what tends to happen!

in my misspent youth. Coincidentally, it was the first and last big drunk I went on and the first and last time for sangria.

Basically, any online recipe will be good if you start with good ingredients, which means good quality California wines, even in the box or jug, plus fresh fruits and juices.

Here they are: http://www.spain-recipes.com/sangriarecipe.html The peach and orange sangria uses white wine and looks particularly intriguing.

It seems that link is quite popular for sangria recipes. I always look online myself, but with so many different recipes, I thought I would ask for opinions and see what was popular and not popular. I agree with you, fresh fruits and juices will definitely make it or break it. I'll swing by my local farmers market for the items :)

Thanks again...

I always suspected the high sugar with the booze. Sweet mixed drinks usually do not have that effect but something about the wine.

I agree....Use a decent wine. I would tend to go with a dry white and a deep rich red. Use the fruits you like and what would taste good to you.

As an alternative you could always just spike a watermelon. Cut a plug in a melon and add Vodka or Bourbon. Put the plug back in and roll it around a bit to disperse the booze. Let it sit in the fridge for a few hours and keep it away from the kids.

I have heard about that before and think that is a must to try!! We'll have 4 couples for 4th of July weekend in the middle of a forest... sounds like a blast w/watermelon!! :)

In summer when it is hot, I like to make a pitcher of the stuff below and read a good book. I definitely suggest taste testing before the occasion :)

Pinot Grigio (whatever brand you like)
lemon lime soda
orange slices
lime slices
lemon slices

I mix about 2/3 of wine and 1/3 of soda
Throw fruit slices in and serve over ice (make sure you have 1 slice of each fruit in the glass)

Thank you for sharing Diana; I might try that this weekend as a tester :)

with standard red wine, lots of citrus, apples, etc. But it was kind of bland. You have to let it sit for a while so that the flavors blend.


I like sangria in all forms (bottled, beach wine cooler variety, restaurant, Portuguese restaurant and home-made). My SIL makes a really nice one for her Cinco de Mayo party, I'll ask her for her recipe.



for the record, I have never over-indulged to the point where I eschewed the drink after-wards. If you look online you will see funny photos of Germans drinking it out of giant tubs! (or is that glowein?) :silly:

1 Bottle of red wine - I usually use a good merlot or cabernet
1 12 oz can Ginger Ale - substitute some carbonated water if you don't want it to be so sweet
1 12 oz bottle pineapple orange juice - I usually add a little additional orange juice
1 splash of lime juice
Frozen lemonade concentrate to taste - I usually use about a third to half a can
Add any fresh or frozen fruit you want - or skip the fruit entirely
Allow flavors to blend before serving
Measurements are approximate and very forgiving


Definitely not gourmet but easy, convenient and tasty.

As far as the wine goes, I like to use this one:


It's pretty widely available and should run you roughly $10 for the bottle. Naturally you can use any wine you like, but that's the one I like to use. I suggest going with a dry wine and I buy one more bottle than I think I'm going to need. That way if I wind up making it to sweet, I can always add more wine to balance it out.

I always use fresh fruit, but that's mostly because I only make sangria in the summer when fresh fruits are cheaper and more widely available. I don't see anything wrong with using frozen, but if I were to use frozen, I would extend the time I allowed for all the flavors to mellow before I served it. So if you are making and serving it the same day, you might want to use fresh, but if you're letting it sit overnight, frozen should be fine. The fruits I have used are peaches, apples, oranges, cherries, and pineapple. I have used other fruits including various melon, but I personally prefer to use the ones previously mentioned. I cut the fruits into bite sized chunks and I include two or three skewered with a toothpick when serving. Whatever fruit you use, I would try to stick to one or two.

For each bottle of wine, I use one can of Kern's nectar. They have several different flavors and they are widely available in most grocery stores so you generally can match up the nectar to whatever fruit you are using. If you like sweet or not so sweet, you can always use more or less or you can use less nectar. Some people sweeten more with a cordial or liqueur. I have personally never used either, however I have a bottle of Creme de Mure blackberry liqueur that I'm going to experiment with this 4th. I think Creme de Cassis might be a good choice also. I like Lejay-Lagoute liqueurs. They are good quality, reasonably priced and quite often I can find them in the bargain/closeout bin at the liquor store.

My mother in law introduced me to this specific bottle of wine, and I have to agree with you in that it is very good. I will most definitely be getting some bottles of that along with fruits from my farmers market this week, and was thinking of making it on Thursday night for the weekend.

We'll be drinking it on Friday, Saturday and Sunday... ha, ha! Good times are comin'... :)