Let’s Make Sangria!

Warm summer nights and sangria – they’re quite a lovely pair if you ask me. That’s why when the perfect evening comes along for enjoying the patio in the balmy twilight, I start thinking “Let’s make sangria!”

I like to think of sangria as fruit punch, but with a little kick for the grownups. It’s usually a mixture of wine, fruit juices, soda water, and some other type of mellow alcohol. There have been times I’ve ordered sangria in a restaurant and it’s tasted a little TOO much like fruit punch. It’s left me wondering if they just served me some Hi-C instead and got away with calling it sangria.

That’s not so when I mix up my own with this sangria recipe. It has a nice full-bodied wine base that’s enhanced by the fruit, but not overpowered by it. It’s perfect for summer gatherings too and makes a nice amount for sharing with friends.

This recipe uses red wine, amaretto, fruit juice, club soda, sugar, and fresh fruit. But there’s some flexibility in this recipe too.

You can use different types of red wines based on your preference (I used Merlot for my most recent batch). For the fruit juice I always look for some type of mango, or peach, or guava, or some type of combination of those. I’ve found however that fruit juice blends come and go as the manufacturers decide. If you can’t find the more obscure flavors like mango, peach or guava, you could probably just substitute orange juice instead.  

To make the sangria, just combine the four liquids together and then stir in the sugar. Slice some fresh fruit to float in the pitcher to add some more fruit flavor. I use the slices from one orange and one lemon.

Then chill the mixture before serving which gives it a little time to let the flavors blend together too. I leave the fruit slices in the mixture for a day or two but if there’s any sangria left after that time, I remove the fruit slices because they start to get too mushy.