Pairing Up The Perfect Cocktails

Summer and sangria just go together! Hot days at the beach or by the pool call for a refreshing cocktail. We teamed up with a fellow blogger name Trisha Brumley to bring you some amazing sangria recipes. These recipes are perfect for Memorial Day, 4th of July or any of the many hot days that are ahead! We hope you enjoy! Cheers to Summer!

Sangria Recipes

With summer right around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about backyard barbeques and pool parties!! When I think of summer, I think of delicious summer cocktails! I like to come up with Holiday inspired cocktails that bring just a little more fun to your summer get-togethers. The main ingredient I love to use with all of my summer drinks is WINE! I’m not a big fan of liquor so I like to use wine to spice it up a little bit.

The first thing to know about using wine to make a summer drink is that you do not have to spend a ton of money on the wine since it’s going to be used with other ingredients. Using fresh ingredients with your cocktails will also bring a nice touch of brightness to your drink.

My FAVORITE summer drink is Sangria! Am I right? Sangria is such an easy way to bring a little something different to your parties. There are 3 main ingredients to any Sangria,

• 1 bottle, 750 ml, of inexpensive Red or White Wine
• 1 ½ cups of Fresh Fruit
• 2 cups of chilled Sprite or another carbonated beverage if you don’t like Sprite

So, let’s get to it and make a Fun Memorial Day Sangria. I think I’ll call this one

Stars & Stripes Sangria

 Ingredients:

• 1 750ml bottle of inexpensive white wine, chilled
• 1 20oz bottle of chilled Sprite                          
• 1 cup strawberries
• 1 small navel orange sliced
• 1 large red apple
• 1 cup of blueberries

Directions:

• Combine the white wine and fruit into a pitcher and let it sit in the fridge overnight, or at least 4-5 hours. For the strawberries you can cut them in quarters, the orange will need to be sliced while keeping the peel on. The blueberries will just need to be rinsed off and then added to the pitcher. For the apple, since this is a Memorial Day cocktail, you can slice the apple take off the skin and cut it into fun star shapes to add a little Holiday flare!!! You will want to reserve some of the fruit so you can serve it as a garnish to your drink. Something like the above picture would be nice.
• Once you have all the fruit cut up, add the fruit to the pitcher of white wine and put it in the fridge so it gets nice and cold. This will also give the fruit a little time to infuse into the wine.
• When you are ready to serve your Stars & Stripes Sangria, you will want to put the ice in the glasses instead of adding the ice to the pitcher. We don’t want our delicious drink to be watered down. As you pour the wine, leave a little room so you can top it off with a splash of the chilled Sprite. The Sprite will sweeten it up a bit and give a bubbly taste!

You can find cute Holiday themed glassware and straws at Target or the Dollar Store.

Now if white wine is not your thing, or you just want to have a variety of drinks for your guests, you can make a Red Wine Sangria. I think I’ll call this one

Simply Summer Sangria!

Ingredients:

• 1 750ml inexpensive red wine
• 1 20oz bottle of Sprite Chilled
• 2 cups of fresh fruit – oranges, lemon, strawberries & blueberries

Directions:

• Cut the fruit first so you can combine it with the wine. For the oranges & lemons, you will want to cut them in slices. For the strawberries, you can cut them in quarters so that they don’t turn into mush.
• Once you have all the fruit cut up combine it into a pitcher along with the wine. You will want to let it sit overnight or at least 4-5 hours so the fruit can soak up the wine!
• You can hold back a little bit of the fruit so you can use it as a garnish.
• Once the wine has had a chance to chill you can get ready to serve it. Just like the recipe above, you will want to pour the ice into the glasses instead of the pitcher so that the ice doesn’t melt and water down your Simply Summer Sangria! Nobody likes a watered down Sangria!!
• After pouring the Sangria in the glasses you can use some of the fruit you held back as a garnish. Leave a little room in the glass so you can top it off with the sprite.
• The last and most important step is to………Enjoy your Sangria and sit back and relax!

In general, white wine would be served with lighter dishes like salmon or scallops and red wine would pair nicely with meats such as steak or chicken. Either of the above Sangria recipes will go great with any of your favorite barbecue dishes.

***Extra Tip*** If you don’t want to make Sangria but you still want to serve wine, you can freeze some green grapes and add them to any glass of white wine. It keeps your white wine cold and adds a little fun to your glass of wine!

Cheers!

  About the Author:

My name is Trisha Brumley and I love all things WINE!!! My husband and I have traveled all over California and Italy trying some of the best wines in the world! We are currently working with a premier wine club to bring amazing wines to your door each and every month! If you would like to get in touch with me or learn about the wine club, you can email me at trishabrumley@trishabrumley.com or visit my website at http://trishabrumley.com/