A bottle of red wine with orange juice, peach, orange and banana, sweetened with dissolved sugar and left to sit for two hours before it is poured over ice. It has to be made in advance.
The two hours are the recipe
Everything else here takes ten minutes and then the jug goes in the fridge and waits.
During those two hours the fruit gives up juice into the wine, the wine takes on cinnamon, and the sugar and citrus stop being separate tastes. What comes out is one drink. What goes in is several.
It is worth planning around: this is not something to start when guests arrive.
Dissolve the sugar first
Two tablespoons of sugar into two or three tablespoons of boiling water, stirred until it is completely clear, and only then into the jug.
Sugar tipped in dry does not dissolve in cold wine. It settles, and the drink gets sweeter as the jug empties, which is the opposite of what anyone wants.
The fruit in this version
Peach in cubes, an orange diced, two sliced bananas, and two cups of orange juice on top of the wine. The old method also listed apple in the parentheses, which was never in the shopping list, so that has gone.
Bananas are the unusual one. They soften considerably after a couple of hours and start breaking up after three or four, which is fine if it is being drunk that evening and less so if the jug is sitting overnight. Add them an hour before serving if you are making it a long way ahead.
Soda at the table
The last step allows mineral water or lemon or orange soda for a lighter drink, and the place for it is the individual glass.
Poured into the jug it goes flat within half an hour and the rest of the sangria is dull. Poured over ice in a glass, it lifts each serving as it is made.
More things to drink
- Coconut cocktail — the Colombian one.
- Orange juice — two cups of it go in here.
- Coconut lemonade — for people who are not drinking.
- Ron Viejo de Caldas — the Colombian bottle.
Sangria FAQ
Two hours at least. That is the third step and it is not optional: the wine, fruit, citrus and cinnamon need that time to come together. Made and served immediately it tastes like wine with fruit floating in it.
Because granulated sugar does not dissolve in cold wine. It sinks to the bottom, so the first glass tastes of nothing and the last is syrupy. Two or three tablespoons of boiling water fixes it in seconds.
That is what this recipe asks for, along with peach and orange. It is less common than the apple and citrus version and it makes for a softer, sweeter drink. Bananas do break down after a few hours, so add them later if the jug is going to sit.
Any drinkable red. It is going into a jug with orange juice, sugar and cinnamon, so nothing subtle survives, and there is no reason to open anything expensive.
At the table, glass by glass, not into the jug. That way what is left in the jug does not go flat while people are drinking.
Four, from one 750 ml bottle plus two cups of orange juice. Topping the glasses with soda stretches it further and makes it lighter.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 bottle of red wine (750 ml)
- 1 peach (in cubes)
- 2 cups orange juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 bananas (sliced)
- 2 cinnamon sticks (or ground cinnamon)
- 1 orange (diced)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- Mineral water, or lemon or orange soda (optional, when serving)
Notas
Instructions
- Mix the sugar with 2 or 3 tablespoons of boiling water and stir until it has completely dissolved.
- In a large glass jug, pour the red wine and add the orange juice, the lemon juice, the fruit, the cinnamon and the dissolved sugar.
- Stir well and leave it to stand for about two hours so the flavours come together.
- Serve over a few ice cubes. If you want it lighter, top each glass with mineral water or with lemon or orange soda.
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