Funny thing about talking to people about wine, first thing they say is,

“I’m curious, but don’t know where to start” or ” don’t like the taste of wine, especially red wine”.

I get it. One complaint I had was the red wine statement. Here’s the deal. Wine is good with certain foods, and that’s a general big rule you have to pay attention to. As we’ve said before, I have a sweet tooth. I look for that going into looking for any cocktail, wine, ale, anything liquor related. That would be the second rule into going to select a wine. Know what you want. I mean your paying for it, and everyone’s taste is different. Try to go to a wine tasting place or wholesale place that will let you sample wines. Some of the stores will have a certain days you can try for free.

That’s part of this post, but not the main point. I state that in making homemade sangrias.

When going into the task, biggest lesson to remember is matching taste to whatever wine you choose. I really look into what it is I want at the time.

The first time I wanted to try red wine, I googled and researched what to eat with it, and said, I making this wine taste better to my standards.

To the drawing board I go! I loved apples, and remember trying out Applebees’ Red Sangria, but you and I know that they aren’t giving that recipe away. So I found one, and then made my own. I posted both on the blog before, but we are doing a repost, with measurements of all the Sangrias I’ve made, so then you can try them at home, and eventually try to make your own recipe!

Ya ready? Let’s go!

First one we have is Red Apple Sangria. This first one is one I found when I googled it, and I created for Easter Sunday. It’s good and will put you on your ass if you drink too much.

The key to this recipe is math. I made mine by the gallon so if I wanted some more at a later time, I could go and back later and have some without making a huge mess. In this picture is for one wine glass, but I’ll post the recipe I multiplied to create it.

1 1/3 cups cabernet sauvignon
5 cups of apple liqueur
1 oz grenadine
6 oz cranberry juice
6 oz pineapple juice
sprite
apples balls
oranges, sliced
limes, sliced
maraschino cherries

Fill your pitcher with ice. Add the red wine, liqueur, grenadine, and juice. Use a melon ball spoon to make apple balls, and add those with the fruit to the pitcher. Stir with spoon. Pour into glass, and top off the drink and serve with a straw.

 

Real simple, and you have leftovers. Now the picture posted is for one serving. The recipe I posted is for a party situation.

This next picture I have is my creation of the same drink but modified to my budget and taste. Nice thing about sangria, you can modify it anyway you want.

We next have the sweet harvest sangria. I wanted to try out white wine too, because in my experience it seemed to be sweeter then the red wines I came across. I also wanted it to be as simple as possible, so back to the math and home econ 101 I went. LOL

Sweet Harvest Sangria

1 bottle Riesling
5 cups black cherry rum
4 cups apple cider
winter red grapes
cranberries
1 can pears, drained
sprite

Again, the picture shows made as for a pitcher worth, you can adjust for your own purpose.

Mix everything in pitcher but sprite. Add sprite to individual glasses once served.

The next one is a favorite of mine during my birthday! It’s Caramel Apple Sangria.

This one was tasty, and really sweet! I was so happy drinking this with honey buns. I think I gained 2 pounds that weekend.

1 bottle of pinot grigio
1 cup of caramel vodka(I use Smirnoff)
6 cups apple cider
2 med apples, cored and cut into chunks.

This is for a pitcher so, lessen if needed. Combine all ingredients into pitcher and stir. Serve in wine glass over ice. Taste just like a caramel apple a stick!

These next two were mother’s day recipes, but can be made at anytime really.

Mock sangria is great for the little ones, or if you have non drinkers in the house. I loved this one because even though it was non alcoholic, it was damn tasty!

Mock Sangria

2 cups Simply Orange Juice with Bananas
1 cup white grape juice
1 cup cranberry juice
2 liter cherry 7up
Strawberries, sliced
Limes, sliced
Lemons, sliced

Mix together in pitcher and chill for at least 1 hour. Serve with chopped fruit and ice in glass.

Last, but not least, is my sunrise sangria. Based on a drink I saw called sunset sangria, I made this to counter that. This recipe is made by the glass, but you can alter it to make by the pitcher.

Sunset Sangria

3 strawberries, muddled
1 oz grenadine
3 oz white moscato
4 oz cranberry juice

Now the trick to this one was to layer into the wine glass. Of course as you see by the picture, it didn’t work out that way, but it’s still damn tasty. So you may just want to build into the glass. Add the fruit first, then ice. Go in the order listed. Serve with a lemon twist for a garnish.

 

This are really simple and easy to make. You can also create your own, with remembering what taste you want, your budget, that they need to be refrigerated, and simple math. Let me know what you think here, facebook, twitter or instagram! Enjoy the process, and cocktail!

~CSM~