Our Sangria
It has undoubtedly become summer here in A2: It is hot, and it is humid…yikes. But I have begun feeling my urge to have sangria, and at our local food bloggers meeting we were talking about it, too. So I dug a bit and found my post from May 2012 in which I posted my recipe. Until then, I had never made sangria. But I thought whatever, it cannot be too hard… So back then, I scoured the web, and found tons of recipes, like this one or that one, usually boasting that they are the best recipe ever. A surprising number were for white sangria of which I had never even heard of before. I was also disturbed by the frequent ingredient of club soda or ginger ale…just did not sound right to me.
Eventually, I just decided to give it my own try, pure and simple:
– 5 liters of Franzia boxed shiraz (hey, it is the world’s most popular wine after all…according to their website) – I picked a shiraz because it tends to be more spicy than the other varieties they have and I thought spice notes like cinnamon and cardamom etc. would go well with the fruit that was going in. Also, don’t even bother with buying more expensive wines, the idea is using a cheap wine and flavor it to taste.
– 2 oranges, 1 lemon, 1 apple (all organic, because they will soak with their skins in the wine) cut in wheels. Peaches are also great.
– 2 oranges squeezed into the wine
– 2 cups of sugar dissolved in 1 1/2 cup of warm water (to create a syrup that blends easier with the wine than the granulated sugar) – make this according to your own taste.
A friend of ours also adds some vanilla aroma, which I have found to be a great addition, too.
Mix it all, chill it for as long as you can (ours chilled for about 10 hours, overnight is even better) and that is that. No club soda, no ginger ale. We added some sparkling water to make it bubbly later, but I don’t think it is necessary. I thought it worked pretty nicely…
This is not a 5 liter cooler…I refilled it from the bucket.
the winegetter 
Made me thirsty for Sangria at 8 AM :)
Hahaha, welcome to my life! :D
Nice, refreshing, summer drink, Oliver!
If even Italians like it, it has to be good! ;)
What a fabulous summer drink! A must try!
I know, right?
We will use this information when we have guests over for a Sangria party! :)
Patti, you are the reason why this went up. Let me know how it goes.
This is going to be my official moving drink next week. Do you think my teeth will turn purple?
Maybe if you swish it in your mouth like mouthwash. But who’d do that?? :) Good luck with the move.
Don’t underestimate me and the ability to use sangria as mouthwash. I mean, talk about fab breath!
Oh, the breath…enticing!
Sounds great – I have been looking for a couple of simple recipes to use for the wine bar. So much of what I am finding online includes some form of liquor and I don’t have a license to sell liquor or mixed drinks. This will work!!!
Oh, good!!! So this should work well. Try it with a dash of vanilla.
I didn’t know you could make it without including 7up! Thank jeebus for this post!
Glad to be of service!! It will need some sugar, though. :)
I love Sangria!!! I have never had it with ginger ale or club soda included… that sounds more like a spritzer. Maybe they were trying to lower the alcohol level? Who knows.
My recipe clearly doesn’t go for the lower alcohol content because it is rather similar to your recipe except the fact that I include vodka and peach schnapps. There is nothing else that I drink peach schnapps with so that bottle sits in my cupboard for awhile before it gets completely used!
In case your curious about my variation: http://savorencyclopedia.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/red-wine-sangria/
I like it better the longer it sits, so you get that good, drunken fruit : )
Thanks for sharing your recipe!! And yes, I know a lot of people who add more high percentage liquor. Those are good, too. I like mine still rather light to drink which is why I refrain from extra alcohol. :) And yes, OMG the fruit…
I always figure the ice counteracts the extra alcohol… or at least that’s how I justify it! Ha!
Hahahaha. See, and I am just all for light in the first place. So when the ice cubes dilute my booze in Sangria, that’s when I am happy. Summer drinks need to be light for me.
I am not quite sure I can jump on the Sangria bus just yet….
Weatherwise or flavorwise? I always liked it, Germans just do…:) And I believe leaving out the soda makes a big difference.