Sangría

This is considered a delicious summer drink, but you can actually "eat" part of it. It goes well with tapas, but it is more often served with meals. Don’t forget a spoon to eat the fruit at the bottom of the glass, once finished with the drink.

The word sangría is related to the Spanish word for blood and it refers to the color - similar to that of blood because it is made with red wine.

Sangría recipe

Sangría can be prepared with cheap wine and taste good, but in sangrías as in everything, quatily pays off. You can create an astounding drink just by using decent quality wine.

Ingredients

Procedure

1. Pour the wine in a container large enough to hold all the ingredients -2 l or 8 cups volume. Add the lemon juice, orange and lemon segments, apple pieces, and banana slices. Add sugar and brandy; stir to mix well using a wooden spoon.
2. Keep in the fridge for at least an hour. Add ice cubes 15 and let it stand 10 minutes before serving.
   Serve in tall glasses, including fruit bits.
3. Don't forget a spoon to eat the fruit once finished with sangría.
   

Cooking Tips

• The longer -up to 24 hours- the fruit is macerating in the wine, the better the taste. In that case, add the banana slices 1 hour to ½ hour before serving to prevent them getting too soft.
• You can use any kind of fruit you like: try to add a pear to the fruit list, for instance, or tropical fruits, like mango and passion fruit; add kiwi for a sangría from down under.
• Try other spirits instead of brandy: gin, vodka, grappa... we would not recommend whiskey or anise flavored ones, but it has been done.
• You can go as far as to try a rosé instead of red wine.
• For a lighter version, add 2-4 cups (1/2 -1 l) lemonade or lemon flavor soda instead of lemon juice. For an even lighter one, skip brandy too, it will taste great nevertheless.

More bang for your sangría buck

Sangría is a popular drink for large parties. It is easy to prepare in large amounts. It does not need to be expensive as you can extend it using lemon soda instead of lemon juice; and if you use a cheaper wine, the fruit, sugar and lemon would disguise it.

Though the Spanish drinking horizons have expanded enormously in later years, these reasons still make sangría the drink of choice in many fund-raising events, particularly those ones promoted by university students. Sangría can hit you with a loud bang if the spirit mix is twisted enough, which would likely be the case at this late kind of fund-raising. Being able to tumble a soul with the minimum amount of sangría sips seems to be a matter of college pride; informal competitions about it once existed.