The 3 Sangria Recipes You Absolutely Need
It was a tough assignment, but somebody had to do it. We made it our mission to find three knock-your-socks-off sangria recipes, all great for summer sipping. We looked for different (and unexpected) ingredients, but every sangria also had to meet one higher purpose: it had to taste awesome.
Here are the fruits of our labor:
Lillet Blanc Sangria
Lillet is a fortified wine often served as an apertif on its own. It's about $18 per bottle and adds richness to your sangria. This recipe suggests chopping your fruit first (peaches, apples and oranges) and letting it sit in half the white wine and Lillet Blanc for a couple of hours in the fridge. It also calls for blood orange soda for sweetness and fizz. Click here for the complete recipe. Of course, with sangria, you can always mix things, swapping out fruits or sodas or just using flat juice instead.
Icewine Sangria
The sweetness of this delicious dessert wine makes it a great ingredient for sangria. We found a recipe that combines three parts of your favorite icewine, one part brandy, and two parts unsweetened cranberry juice. If you're making it a glass at a time, which might be wise considering icewine can run you $50 a half bottle, put these ingredients over ice first. Add a squeeze of lime, a little splash of grenadine and club soda to taste. Grapes, frozen or unfrozen, make the perfect fruit for this drink, but cherries, or other berries would work well, too. Click here for this and more Icewine recipes.
Classic Sangria
Traditionalists will want to stick to this basic red sangria recipe from Epicurious. It's got no fizz, just dry red wine, fresh OJ, lemon and orange slices, water, brandy, and Cointreau. It requires a little simple-syrup action on the burner to dissolve the sugar in the liquor and can be made by the pitcher. Click here for the complete recipe.
Remember, the nice thing about sangria is you can modify, tweak, add stuff you like and spice it up anyway you want to. After all, it's essentially a wine punch, with fruit, a little sweetness, and something strong like brandy for a kick. It can be white-, red-, or rosé-based or even spritzy with soda or Cava. However you whip it up, it's a sure summer crowd pleaser.