What recipe and ingredients to look for to make a sangria ? Where does the sangria recipe come from?
Sangria, without a doubt, comes from the spanish word ´sangre´ meaning blood. Blood, as we all know is a thick red liquid, essential for life. Well, the Spanish feel the same when they talk about their precious thick red liquid they call wine and their special ´potion´ they call sangria recipe.
Spain is an important producer of all types of wines such as white wine from the Penedes winery ( also referring to the area were the grapes are grown) or red wine from the Rioja or Ribera del Duero region, with which we make the recipe. Cava, which is the Spanish equivalent of the French champagne, is also sometimes called sparkling white wine.
Being as each bottle of wine is labelled with the name of the area from which the grapes were used, Spain has come up with the D.O. System (denomination of origin) which is a quality control system guaranteeing the origen and class of grapes, as well as the methods used to produce these wines. Therefore, even though many people think of sangria as being a watered down sweetened version of drinking wine, they are truly mistaken and must pay sharp attention to choosing a medium to good wine when making their sangria recipe.
What Ingredients to Look for to Take a Sangria Recipe?
Sangria is a well known party beverage which goes well with all kinds of food. But being as it is made from wine, even the non-experts in wines know that red wines goes best with meat, rose wine with poultry and white wine is best with fish or seafood. So, being as we can make a sangria with all these kinds of wines, it would be wise to know what is on the menu in order to make the ´special formula´ of our sangria recipe. Once we have decided on what food is to be served, having chosen the correct wine, we need to look for a few more accessories which will help in making the most mouthwatering sangria recipe.
For our recipe or ´party punch´ we will also need to have a ceramic pitcher, wooden spoon, large wine glasses, lots of ice and seasonal fresh fruits. Although sangria is drunk all year round, it is mostly made in the summer months when there is a huge desire for quenching your thirst after having been out under the scorching sun. It is also in summer when the best sweet rich refreshing fruits are grown: a very important ingredient for making sangria recipe. Therefore, carefully choose two or three fruits such as: sweet white peaches, oranges, melon, kiwi or apples to add to the sangria.
Red wine sangria recipe
- Ingredients for 4 persons:
- 1 bottle of chilled medium to good quality red wine
- ½ cup of sugar (may vary depending on sweet tooth ! )
- 1 can of an orange fizzy drink
- 1 can of a lemon fizzy drink
- 3 pieces of different fruits ( cut in wedges or chunks-it is not necessary to peel them)
- 1 tray of ice cubes.
Pour the bottle of red wine into a ceramic pitcher and stir in the sugar with the wooden spoon. Then add the ingredients in the order they are listed and stir again. The pieces of fruit are delicious for dessert, too.
Now let´s take a look at an original way of how to make white sangria.
White Sangria Recipe
- 1 bottle of Cava or Champagne ( very cold)
- 1 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice ( it also works well with cranberry juice).
- 2 oranges in wedges
- 2 apples in chunks
- 1 cup of water
- ½ cup of sugar
- 6 not too long cinnamon sticks
- crushed ice
- mint leaves
Heat the water, sugar and cinnamon sticks and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Let this cool off and then remove sticks. Chill overnight along with the Cava or Champagne. Mix all together and serve over crushed ice to liven up the taste buds! After pouring each one this refreshing party punch, decorate with a mint leave to put a touch of class to your sangria recipe.