Sangria is a great classic Spanish cocktail that has been adopted in many Latin American countries. The basic recipe is straight-forward: red wine and sliced fruit. As with anything good, the use of local wines and local fruit is ideal, but not necessary.
Aside from the sliced fruit, sugar, juice, soda, and extra booze can be added for your own individual spin.
Wine
The name sangria comes from the Spanish word sangre, or blood. Because of this red wine is the wine of choice. The first red wines used in Spain to make this cocktail were riojas. Any sweet or fruity wine works really well: cabernet sauvignon, for example.
It is possible to make a white sangria, but they do not taste nearly as good as the classic red wine ones.
Sweetener
There's a few different ways to sweeten your sangria: orange juice, lemon/ lime soda, or sugar.
At the very least, you'll want to use a half cup of sugar for each bottle of wine (750 millileters) in your punch.
Fruit
Citrusy fruit works best in sangria: oranges, limes, lemons, pineapple, etc. Depending on the other ingredients you dump in though you may prefer pears, peaches, grapes, and apples. Really, this is where your creativity can take over.
Extra Booze
The beauty of sangria is that you can make it as strong or as light as you like. From a lighter version of wine, fruit juice, and soda, to a potent potable spiked with rum or brandy. Because of how sweet this cocktail can be, it's possible to make a fairly high octane beverage that retains a great flavor.
Because there are a lot of levels of strength, fruit variety, and wine types you could use, three sample recipes are provided: a light version, a strong version, and a white sangria.
Sangria Demasiado (Light)
Ingredients
- 2 bottles of red wine (750 millileters)
- 1 liter lemon/ lime soda
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup of orange juice
- 1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced
- 1 orange, peeled, seeded, rough chopped
Procedure
- Throw all of your ingredients together in a pitcher and stir well to dissolve the sugar. Store for at least a few hours in the fridge before server.
Sangria Fuerte (Strong)
Ingredients
- 3 bottles of red wine (750 millileters)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1 cup mango juice
- 1 1/2 cups of light rum
- juice of 2 limes
- 1 orange, peeled, seeded, roughly chopped
- 1 12-oz can of pineapple chunks (juice and all)
- 1 lemon, sliced
Procedure
- Throw all of your ingredients into a pitcher, stir to dissolve sugar, and allow to sit for at least a few hours before serving.
Sangria Blanca (White Sangria)
Ingredients
- 2 bottles of white wine (750 mls)
- 2 cups white grape juice
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup lemon-lime soda
- handful of green seedless grapes, cut in half
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
Procedure
- Throw all of your ingredients into a pitcher, stir to dissolve sugar, and allow to sit for at least a few hours before serving.
When serving sangria, make sure there are some ladles and spoons around so that people can scoop the fruit out of the bottom of the glasses.
Timothy Dzurilla - Dzurilla has been writing about food and food culture for 7 years for various on and off line newspapers. Currently in graduate school ...
