If I mix together sangria two hours before a party in order to chill it, but end up drinking three glasses before the gorgeous glass pitcher ever makes it into the refrigerator, does that make me an alcoholic?
A lush?
A very naughty hostess?
No. No. Yes. And it also makes it very hard to fry potatoes.
Sangria for the Naughty Hostess
If you think far ahead enough, chill all of the liquids before mixing together the sangria, even the red wine. Pipe down, wine freak, you're going to be mixing it with orange juice and soda for God's sake, so it's probably better to get through the shock now.
Pour 2 bottles of red wine into a large glass pitcher. The glass will let the sexy slices of citrus shine through. Add 1 cup brandy, 1 cup Triple Sec, ½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice, ½ cup sugar, and juice from half a lime. If you're afraid that stirring too hard to dissolve the sugar will break the glass pitcher, then dissolve the sugar in some of the orange juice first.
Top everything in the pitcher off with 2 cups club soda. My friend Steve told me that the secret ingredient (which isn't so secret anymore - ha!) in his lady-love-winning sangria is Fanta orange soda. Fanta! Makes me want to put my hair in a bouffant and wear Austin Powers-like '60s sex-kitten hot pants and go-go boots. Fanta-bulous!
Add thin slices of 1 orange, 1 lemon, 1 lime, and 1 apple. Some people cut the fruit into small dices, but I prefer the round slices because they look pretty and they stay in the pitcher. I like to drink my sangria without the fruit in my glass, although there are plenty of people who like to bite into those alcohol-soaked apples.
Chill the sangria for a few hours in the refrigerator. Do not add ice. Ice will water it down, and I don't know anything worse than a watered-down sangria.
rick james says
hey sarah,
i know very little about art, but your composition is fooling me pretty hard or its just bad ass (thats redneck for good..)... leaning toward the latter...
Xericx says
Sangria gives me red wine headaches.....
sarah says
hey dietchilicheesefries! thanks! yeah, i took that from the top of the pitcher :)
xericx: i used to get nasty headaches, too, but then i realized that it was probably because whoever was making the sangria was using CHEAP red wine. sangria is such an easy way to mask the cheap stuff, you know? i used good stuff for mine :)
then again, i often get headaches from red wine no matter how "good" the wine is!
Anonymous says
Whoa. Way too early in the morning for something this good!
Does wanting to drink your sangria at 9 in the morning make me an alcoholic?!?
Xericx says
Yeah. Oddly enough, the last Sangria I had was at Sangria in Hermosa Beach. They made horrible sangrias there.
sarah says
anonymous: wanting to drink certainly doesn't make you an alcoholic. i mean, don't we all have a bloody mary or a bellini every sunday morning at 9 am? LOL!
xericx: *gasp!* the club sangria?!? you deserve the headache for going to such a place! (actually, there was a period of time - long long ago - when i went there EVERY weekend. LOL!)
Anonymous says
beautiful sangria. don't worry, i'm always loaded up on my own margaritas, by the time friends arrive for barbeques as well. can't help it, getting all the ingredients on my fingers just makes me want to lick them off. :)
Daily Gluttony says
Fanta??? Who woulda thunk it! I am SO trying this!
Xericx says
Hey, I only went there because the line at Sharkeez was too long....hah..j/k. Weekend afternoon. Away from the confines of the thugs and hoochies of the weekend crowd.
Diane says
This sounds so cool and wonderful I can't wait to make it! Love the picture too.
On the red wine headache thing... or hang over stuff in general try drinking one glass of water for each of alcohol... found out about that a couple of years ago and it really seems to work...except that you have to keep running to the bathroom. Probably why it works - you spend so much time drinking water & running you don't drink as much booze... :)
Nick says
Love sangria, I make it all the time but I guiltily use soda too. Orange, black cherry or lemon lime to be precise.
Sarah J. Gim says
nick: wow, i have never thought about including black cherry (or cherries) in sangria. i bet that tastes AWESOME.