Late Summer Sangria

I love the concept of Sangria. Use up some leftover or not-so-good wine, add some fruit, maybe drizzle in some liqueur if you really want to spice things up and boom! – a batched drink for a crowd that’s easy and cheap as hell. (Hello0o00 Labor Day weekend!) I used a combination of red wine, cranberry juice and citrus for this casual get together at a friend‘s new backyard, but feel free to mix up your wine-and-fruit pairing to suit both your tastes and seasonal produce availability.

(Recipe somewhat adapted from the infusion & cocktail recipe book, Infused. See my review and a sneak-peek here.)

Ingredients:

one 1.5L or two 750 mL bottles red wine. I used Barefoot Pinot Noir.
one 1L bottle good quality, no-sugar-added cranberry juice. I like Trader Joe’s brand.
1 cup orange liqueur. I’m a big fan of Leopold Brothers’ American Orange Liqueur. It’s not too sweet and gives a great kick of true orange flavor but Cointreau or Grand Marnier would of course do the trick as well.
2 apples, sliced
2 oranges, sliced
1 grapefruit, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
1 bottle sparkling water, optional

Directions:

Combine wine, juice, fruit and liqueur in a large pitcher or drink dispenser
Stir gently and let sit in the fridge for 2 hours or up to overnight
Add sparkling water, if desired, right before serving

{ BB&B Mason Jars (similar) & Drink Dispenser }

Extras:

If left sitting over night, I would recommend replacing soaked fruit with fresh for aesthetic purposes. Plus, the best part of drinking Sangria is eating the fruit and let’s be honest, no one wants a mushy slice of apple!
On the (exceptionally) rare occasion I actually have left over wine, I like to freeze it in ice cube trays and use it in place of ice when serving to guests. This prevents watered-down sangria and helps keep the drink colder longer. Win-win!