Sangria

Nothing says summer to me like a pitcher of cold sangria! My family serves it on warm weather holidays: Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day especially. We started out with traditional red wine sangria consisting of red wine, brandy, seltzer, and fruits but soon learned that white wine varieties with peaches, raspberries, and red apples were more up our alley for hot summer days. Sangria is a traditional Spanish and Portuguese punch that dates back a long time. Since water wasn't safe to drink and milk was considered a child's drink, sangria was a way for both cultures to preserve the abundance of fruits they were able to grow in the summer. Sangria (in its traditional form) was introduced to the USA during 1964 during the World's Fair in NYC. Afterwards Americans began to make their own variations including the use of white wines, sparkling wines, different liqueurs, and even freezing the sangria into a slushy drink. One of my favorite things about sangria is how creative you can be when you're making it. Everyone has different types of wine they favor or even different brands. The same recipe for sangria can be interpreted in very different ways by people, which allows for your creative juices to flow!

For Red Wine Sangria, I use Pinot Noirs while my dad uses Merlot. My aunt prefers CabSav in her sangria. Even the fruits you can use vary. My family uses green apples and navel oranges, while my aunt loves blood orange and red apples in her sangria.  

This is my favorite sangria of all. It consists of Moscato, brandy, and triple sec mixed with peaches, strawberries and raspberries. It chills overnight and then you add ginger ale before serving. YUMMY!

So what do you think? Are there any varieties of sangria you would like to try? If your family makes it, what are the tips and techniques you use?