The best sangria recipe is made perfect by following the procedure. Yeah, I know. Follow directions. But the flavor you get makes the difference between a quick slap together job and a good tasting drink! 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.)
Just brushing up on the basics of how to make a sangria and use this recipe as a starting point and you should be good to go to make ANY sangria with whatever fruit you have on hand. Modifications and substitutions are discussed below.
In the photo gallery below you can see the other sangria recipes I have on my site. You can pick out the sangrias - because they are the ones with the fruit in the glass. And in the rest of the photo gallery are all the Italian drinks I have on my site. Just click the photo and that will lead to the recipe.
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* 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
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.
Prep time is not that big of a deal - probably about It's the saturation that counts!
To me BEST means fool proof. Proven. This is the traditional sangria recipe. It's a good starting point when you are looking to create your own concoction. You start here. Get the technique down (which isn't difficult) and then move on, or come back to old-faithful.
Many things! To keep me off my soap box I will stay within reason:
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.
Gin or rum.
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:
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.
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