The best summer drink ever - Sangria

While we've been bathing in a heat wave the recent weeks, one's mind turns to all the summery things out there: ice cream, ice!, ice coffee, gazpacho, fruit and berries and of course sangria. I had totally forgotten about sangria as the previous summers have been so cold. Now after these weeks of constant heat this Spanish drink just kept popping into my mind. I remembered having a great recipe somewhere, but of course I couldn't find it anymore.

Without my trusted and tried recipe I just decided to try something as how hard could it be: red wine, some bubbly drink, some strong spirits and then lots of fruit? After some background work of checking other recipes, I came to the conclusion that my recipe had either brandy or dark rum. For fruit you can pick whatever you like, but I would put 1/2 lemon anyway as it will brighten up the flavours. Oranges, apples, peaches and nectarines are great and next time I want to try kiwis! I wouldn't put bananas or passion fruits maybe. Hmm, or maybe passion fruits wouldn't be that bad: white wine sangria with kiwis and passion fruit. I like to use clear, colourless liquids in my sangria, so that the colour of red wine stays clear. If you end up using sparkling water instead of lemonade, I would add some simple sugar syrup or honey to add some sweetness to the drink.

This version I made for the photos is very basic: orange and lemon as fruit and dark rum as spirits (because of our Teatime Toddy *heart*). It's perfect after a hot day, when you want to chill on your balcony and watch the setting sun, preferably a corgi in your arms. Btw, today would have been Foxtail's 12th birthday! Happy birthday wishes from us all, Foxtail!

Happy weekend to everyone!

Sangria
Author: Tuulia / Kitchenfoxtales     Preparation Time: 5 min     Cooling time: 1+ hours
Servings: 4 small glassfuls

The perfect summer drink for the heat wave! Stay hydrated ;)

Ingredients:

• 250 ml (Spanish) red wine (cheap ones are OK, or even preferable here)
• 50 ml dark rum or brandy
• 250 ml lemonade (eg. Sprite, 7up,...)
• fruit: 1 orange, apple, peach or nectarine or 2 kiwis
• 1/2 lemon
• ice (lots of)

Instructions:

1. Wash and cut the fruit to slices, wedges etc. Put them to a pitcher or a bowl.
2. Pour the red wine and spirits on top of the fruit. Put the pitcher into the fridge to cool and to let the flavours steep.
3. When you're about to serve the sangria, pour the cold lemonade into the pitcher and finish with lots of ice. Serve it with cocktail sticks so that people can eat up the fruit from their glasses easily.

Sangria
Tekijä: Tuulia / Kitchenfoxtales    
Valmisteluaika: 5 min      Jäähdytysaika: 1 h
Annokset: 4 pientä lasillista

Täydellinen kesäjuoma helleaaltoon! Muista nesteytys ;)

Ainekset:

• 2,5 dl (espanjalaista) punaviiniä (mieluiten jotain halpaa)
• 0,5 dl tummaa rommia tai brandyä
• 2,5 dl sitruunalimonadia (Sprite, 7up, yms.)
• hedelmiä: 1 appelsiini, omena, nektariini, persikka tai 2 kiiviä
• 1/2 sitruuna
• paljon jäitä

Valmistusohjeet:

1. Pese ja leikkaa hedelmät: lohkoiksi tai viipaleiksi jne. Laita ne kannuun tai boolimaljaan.
2. Kaada päälle punaviini ja väkevä alkoholi. Nosta juoma kylmenemään jääkaappiin ja odota vähintään 1 h, jotta maut tasaantuvat.
3. Juuri ennen kuin tarjoat sangrian, lisää kylmä limonadi ja paljon jäitä. Aseta tarjolle myös cocktailtikkuja, jotta ihmiset voivat kalastella hedelmäpalat helposti juomalasien pohjalta.

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