Best Sangria Recipe
"The basic traditional recipe"
The best sangria recipe starts with the traditional recipe below.
This is the plain naked recipe without all of the added fancy ingredients.
It's a great starting point. (Use it to create your own recipe later.)
Modifications and substitutions are discussed
below.
Bottom line - Sangrias are very EASY to make!
The best sangria recipe starts with five basic ingredients:
The fruit
The wine
The booze
The sugar
The club soda
Brush up on the basics of
how to make a sangria. And you will
have a way better sangria than most bars!
There are no big secrets but a quick read through the tips and techniques in
how to make a sangria
will keep you out of
the neighborhood petty gossip circuit (for awhile).
This sangria in the photo above was made with plums. I followed the
"Best Sangria Recipe" below and only modified the fruit selection. Why?
I used the fruit I had on hand!
You can do the same! Use this traditional recipe as a guide.
Substitutions and frequently asked questions are below.
The Best Sangria Recipe
Starts with the tradition!
Ingredients:
* 1 Bottle of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Shiraz)
* 1 Lemon cut into wedges
* 1 Orange cut into wedges
* 2 Tbsp sugar
* 1 Shot of a brandy
* Splash of club soda
Procedure
1. Pour the wine in the Sangria pitcher.
2. Place the lemon and orange wedges in bowl and press the sugar into the wedges.
Press enough to extract some of the natural juices. (Don't kill the fruit - but press and extract).
3. Pour the shot of brandy over the pressed fruit.
4. Cover the fruit and brandy mixture. LET IT SIT at least 15 minutes!
(If you have a cheap plastic container with a lid - stick the mixture in the container
and WALK AWAY!)
5. AFTER the minimum 15 minutes, pour all of the fruit brandy mixture into your sangria pitcher.
6. Refrigerate! LET THE SANGRIA SIT at least half a day so that the
flavors blend.
7. When serving splash each glass with club soda.
BEST Sangria Recipe
Substitutions and Questions
Why is this called the best sangria recipe?
Because this is the traditional sangria recipe. It's a good starting point
when you are looking to create your own concoction.
What makes a *bad* sangria?
Many things! To keep me off my soapbox I will stay within reason:
Using too ripe fruit
Using the wrong amount of booze
Using the wrong amount of sugar
Not letting the fruit booze mixture sit
Not letting the Sangria pitcher sit
Not letting the Sangria pitcher sit
Not letting the Sangria pitcher sit
My biggest pet peeve is the wannabe bartender slicing
up the fruit on the spot and throwing it in the pitcher in front of
the patron. What the heck is that?! It's totally fake.
You can do way better yourself!
Brush up on the basics and you will be light years ahead of the
peach-fuzz-mustached-kid-bartender, see
how to make a sangria.
What fruits can I substitute?
Remember you need your Sangria to sit at least a half day.
Alcohol decomposes the fruit. IF you start with too ripe fruit at
serving time you
will have floating strings of decomposed fruit. Strings of peaches,
plums,or floating chunks of strawberries are very unappetizing!
TIP #1: IF your fruit decomposes and gets stringy - strain the pitcher before serving. No harm done, lesson learned for the next Sangria pitcher, right?
TIP #2: The citrus in this basic recipe at times will decompose.
A few pieces of floating citrus is accepted. A cloudy sangria is not accepted!
Strain before serving if your sangria pitcher looks cloudy.
What can be substituted for brandy?
gin
rum
TIP: If you are looking at making a special signature
sangria like the peach sangria - then
stick with the booze suggested in that particular recipe.
TIP: Consider the fruit you are choosing and match the booze to the fruit.
For instance, if you are using primarily oranges and have Cointreau on hand -
use it! It's your concoction.
Just begin with this "Best Sangria Recipe" as your guide"
What can be substituted for the club soda?
Is this necessary? Not necessarily necessary - but topping
off the drink is traditional. As a foodie purist
I NEVER use any of the substitutions for club soda.
But to be politically correct and not offend some obscure group
I list these as
considerations:
ginger ale
citrus soda
What red wine makes the best sangria recipe?
I don't share my weight, my husband, or drinking straws.
I absolutely refuse to share my thoughts on what red wine is the best. You choose!
The suggestions are listed in the recipe.
Just remember A BAD WINE IS A BAD WINE!
If you received a bad wine as a gift - this is not the time to use it.
Have fun making Sangria!
Don't get wrapped up in deep wine conversations or over analyzing the components of this traditional recipe.
These are the basics. Following the basics will have your guests asking for this - The
Best Sangria Recipe!
Looking for Sangria Recipes?
Peach Sangria Recipe
The basics on
How To Make Sangria
Fruit getting ripe?
Cook with it!
 I love sugar and I eat dessert EVERYDAY!
Ok, not MASSIVE amounts. But I do have to finish off the evening meal with a
little sweet something.
When I was a kid my health conscience mother would ration my Halloween candy. Her mantra was,
"white sugar will kill you". But my Italian grandma always told me,
"Everybody needs a little bit of sugar." :-)
So, to get my October Halloween sugar fix I will make the traditional Italian cookie recipe, Venetian Bones of the Dead.
Italians make these for the Day of the Dead on November 2nd.
So - hey, our holiday in America - Halloween is the closest.
So - while the neighborhood is slamming down a bunch of gross mass produced candy on October 31st, I'll have
a real goodie. Oh yeah, I'll have to post it too! (Eventually!) You know how it is. Work. Kids. Clean. Cook.
I'll see if Bones Of The Dead is in my grandma's first recipe file
she started when she married in 1932. Most of the recipes on my site came from her influence. If they aren't
in her file - then I got them from her friends. And the remainder I experimented with adapting her style.
I hope she looks down and smiles this Halloween.
Lisa
Would you like to share this page? You know how to do it! Thanks for sharing the sugar love!
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