Summertime Gladness Sangria
With the summer just getting started and my birthday around the corner, I'm going to share a favorite recipe of mine, summertime gladness sangria. It has a tropical taste with the summer time essential fruits and a nice cooling effect from some mint undertones. You will need the following:
Tools:
-One big punch bowl
-Ladle
-Big spoon for stirring
-Muddler (or the back of a spoon, but a muddler really gets the job done)
Ingredients:
Alcohol:
-1.5 cup (12 oz.) brandy
-4 bottles of your favorite semi-dry/dry red wine; a cabernet sauvignon is a good choice**
Other:
-3 cup (24 oz.) white sugar
-1 teaspoon of table salt
-2 cups lemonade (I used my favorite: Newman's Own)
-4 sprigs of fresh mint leaves (stems removed)
Preparation:
-Freeze the grapes the night before or a least 8 hours before your event.
-The night before you want to serve this, do the following:
-First start by placing the sprigs of mint and 1/2 cup of the sugar (save the rest for later) into a tall glass and muddle. Add 1 cup of lemonade, 6 of the watermelon cubes, and muddle everything again. Mix well with spoon. Add brandy and give it a good final mix.
-In the big punch bowl, place your chopped fruits including the remaining 6 watermelon cubes (leave the grapes, they will be used later) and sprinkle the remaining 2 and 1/2 cups of sugar and 1 tsp of salt over the fruits. Use your hands to mix the sugar and fruits well.
-Add the brandy and lemonade mix you prepared earlier and make sure the fruits are at least halfway submerged in the brandy-watermelon-lemonade mixture. Stir around with a spoon. Place saran wrap and let it chill in the fridge overnight.
-6-8 hours before your event, add the wine and stir well.
-Add the remaining lemonade and stir well again.
-Place back in fridge and let chill. Take out 15 minutes before your event. Add the chilled grapes to the mix. This will prevent the flavor from getting diluted and keep it cold throughout the night.
When serving:
Leave on a table with a ladle in it along with some stemless wine glasses and have guests serve themselves.
Notes:
*If you're going for an aesthetic look, get the canned ones which are de-seeded and you can mince them into tiny pieces so people get bite size pieces in their drink. I personally enjoy fresh fruits so I left them in whole with the seed.
**If you're a white wine person, and want to go for a sangria blanca, also called clerico, use a riesling, pink moscato, or white zinfandel. This will be a much sweeter taste, but I personally enjoy wines that are a bit more full-bodied and rich in tannins so I made a red version of this. Also, substitute the frozen red grapes for frozen white grapes if you're going with a white wine.
Tools:
-One big punch bowl
-Ladle
-Big spoon for stirring
-Muddler (or the back of a spoon, but a muddler really gets the job done)
Ingredients:
Fruits:
-2 mangoes cut into long thin slices
-15 medium sized lychees, peeled*
-1/2 large guava cut into 1 cm. thick slices
-12 cubes of watermelon
-12 cubes of watermelon
-20-30 red grapes
Alcohol:
-1.5 cup (12 oz.) brandy
-4 bottles of your favorite semi-dry/dry red wine; a cabernet sauvignon is a good choice**
Other:
-3 cup (24 oz.) white sugar
-1 teaspoon of table salt
-2 cups lemonade (I used my favorite: Newman's Own)
-4 sprigs of fresh mint leaves (stems removed)
Preparation:
-Freeze the grapes the night before or a least 8 hours before your event.
-The night before you want to serve this, do the following:
-First start by placing the sprigs of mint and 1/2 cup of the sugar (save the rest for later) into a tall glass and muddle. Add 1 cup of lemonade, 6 of the watermelon cubes, and muddle everything again. Mix well with spoon. Add brandy and give it a good final mix.
Muddling sugar and mint leaves.
-In the big punch bowl, place your chopped fruits including the remaining 6 watermelon cubes (leave the grapes, they will be used later) and sprinkle the remaining 2 and 1/2 cups of sugar and 1 tsp of salt over the fruits. Use your hands to mix the sugar and fruits well.
This fruits before soaking in brandy
-Add the brandy and lemonade mix you prepared earlier and make sure the fruits are at least halfway submerged in the brandy-watermelon-lemonade mixture. Stir around with a spoon. Place saran wrap and let it chill in the fridge overnight.
The fruits ready to soak overnight in a brandy-watermelon-minty-lemonade mix.***
-6-8 hours before your event, add the wine and stir well.
-Add the remaining lemonade and stir well again.
-Place back in fridge and let chill. Take out 15 minutes before your event. Add the chilled grapes to the mix. This will prevent the flavor from getting diluted and keep it cold throughout the night.
The finished product (this was originally filled to the top, but I forgot to get a picture before my guests went to town with it).
When serving:
Leave on a table with a ladle in it along with some stemless wine glasses and have guests serve themselves.
Notes:
*If you're going for an aesthetic look, get the canned ones which are de-seeded and you can mince them into tiny pieces so people get bite size pieces in their drink. I personally enjoy fresh fruits so I left them in whole with the seed.
**If you're a white wine person, and want to go for a sangria blanca, also called clerico, use a riesling, pink moscato, or white zinfandel. This will be a much sweeter taste, but I personally enjoy wines that are a bit more full-bodied and rich in tannins so I made a red version of this. Also, substitute the frozen red grapes for frozen white grapes if you're going with a white wine.
***Bonus recipe:
-Muddle mint and sugar in a tall glass (use the back of a spoon, but a muddler gets the job done better).
-Add 1 oz. lemonade and muddle again.
-Add 3-4 cubes of frozen watermelon and muddle for a third time.
-Top off with lemonade and give a good final stir.
-Let this sit in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.
-Muddle mint and sugar in a tall glass (use the back of a spoon, but a muddler gets the job done better).
-Add 1 oz. lemonade and muddle again.
-Add 3-4 cubes of frozen watermelon and muddle for a third time.
-Top off with lemonade and give a good final stir.
-Let this sit in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.
Comments
Post a Comment