Nothing says summer like a chilled glass of crisp red sangria, filled with all the refreshingly fruity flavors of apples, oranges, and strawberries. An impressive drink to serve guests, it’s easy to put together and can be made ahead of time – always a plus when it comes to parties!
Prefer white sangria to red? No problem! Substitute dry white wine for red in this recipe, and instead of sugar use 3/4 cup of homemade mint simple syrup instead of sugar. Mix 1 cup of water and 1 cup sugar in a pan and let it boil, let the sugar dissolve, turn off the heat, and toss in a handful of mint leaves and let everything steep for an hour. Strain and refrigerate, voila!
Red Sangria with Fresh Fruit
(makes about 8 servings)
Ingredients:
- 2 750-ml bottles dry red wine, like Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot
- 1 cup brandy
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup triple sec
- 1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved
- 3 oranges, thinly sliced
- 3 limes, thinly sliced
- 2 apples, cored and diced
Directions:
- Stir together the wine, brandy, sugar, and triple sec in a large pitcher.
- Once the sugar is dissolved, add the fruit to the wine mixture and lightly “mull” the fruit to release their juices. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours (or up to 24 hours).
- Garnish each glass with a slice of fresh fruit before serving. If you’ve let the mixture refrigerate for more than just a few hours and feel like the fruit is getting mushy, you can put some fresh fruit into a glass and pour strained sangria into the glass.
- Enjoy!
