It's ok to ask your friends and relatives for a recipe, but not the caterer, lol!

My suggestion is to try one of the many recipes available, then tweak to your taste. Use a good dry wine, one that you would serve alone at the table as your base and it doesn't need to be expensive.

Ha, rhizo! Normally I wouldn't have asked, except when I remarked on it to our host, who is a neighborhood friend, she told me the caterer was their son's girlfriend's aunt, and to feel free to ask her. I would just go back to my friend, but now I feel pesky! I didn't think it would be so difficult to find a real recipe. I will do as you suggested. Thanks!

If you are looking for a recipe with soda in it, I have this recipe from a friend, below. Looks like a lot of sugar but IDK. I kind of make it a little different every time, and i don't usually use soda. But, I like to start by macerating mixed berries over night with lemon and sugar and then I strain that into the mixture. A nice depth of flavor.

Simple Sugar solution: boil 1 1/2 cups of water to 1 cup sugar to dissolve sugar,

cool in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

Mix together with:

1 cup Orange Juice

1/2 cup brandy (or Grand Marnier)

1 large orange, thinly sliced

1 lime sliced & 2 juiced limes

1 bottle dry red wine - sangria, rijojo or catawba, chilled

Then add any sliced-up fruit ( I used lemon, orange, apple and peach) any fruit is good

Thanks ladies! Those recipes both look promising. I've also come across one using white wine and Malibu rum that sounds interesting. I think it's going to be a "sangria summer," and as I go about my testing, I'll probably gain back all 8 pounds that I've recently lost!

Look for wine with less tannins. Fruitier wines work better.

Sangria is my FAVORITE! lol

I have a few recipes I make. My 'original' is similar to the ones above:

• 1 bottle red wine – (my preferred is Copper Moon Merlot)
• 1 cup orange juice (or more)
• I can frozen lemonade concentrate
• 1/2 cup brandy
• 1/2 cup Triple Sec
• lots of fruit - sliced lemon, lime, oranges
• top each glass with Sprite if you like some fizz

I don't normally use the Sprite, personally. And I don't really measure anything anymore. Sangria is one of those things that's very forgiving - - mix up what you have on hand and enjoy! It's best if you can mix it a few hours in advance and let it marinate in the fridge.

My sister likes a sweet Sangria, so I customized this "Berry Sangria" recipe for her (inspired by the one at Olive Garden):

• 1 bottle red wine
• 1 cup cranberry juice (or Cran-Raspberry)
• I can frozen berry punch concentrate
• 1/2 cup cherry brandy
• 1/2 cup Triple Sec
• lots of fruit - sliced lemon, lime, oranges, berries, cherries, etc.

Thanks for the recipes, smhinnb! I also love sangria and have some good tried and true recipes, but was hoping to try something new. I have one I love, made with pomegranate juice, but it seems heavier and better for winter than summer. Whatever I end up with, I plan to make it Friday night for serving Saturday afternoon.

Pomegranate sounds really good! I have a whole folder on Pinterest just for Sangria recipes - haha.

smhinnb, here is the pomegranate recipe. We love it! I do top off my glass with a splash of diet ginger ale. Winter Sangria with Citrus & Pomegranate

It always cracks me up about the "simple syrup" for sangria. And then add lemons and limes and soda water. That's 7-Up! I get lemon lime soda made with real sugar (there are a few brands I can get) and forgo all the time and prep. It tastes very fresh, like I said, if you get soda pop brands made with real ingredients, they are out there. I make my sangria similar to the caterer, wine, peach brandy, (or apple brandy I guess) lemon lime soda pop and then maybe cointreau or triple sec. Can also add fruit juices to taste, or just more fruits and let is soak for a while. I usually use oranges, apples and some kind of berry, like raspberries or cherries or blueberries or strawberries. Kiwi is great too.

Here's our favorite Sangria recipe. Note; adjust fruit, juice, alcohol, sugar....amounts to taste. I always taste and adjust as I mix in the various ingredients.

Sangria

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2005

Prep Time: 10
min Level: Easy

Inactive Prep Time: 2 hr 0 min Serves: Yield: about 1 1/2 quarts

Cook Time:

Ingredients

·
1 (750-ml) bottle red
wine (a red blend or a zinfandel are good choices)

·
1/4 cup brandy

·
1/4 cup orange
flavored liqueur (recommended: triple sec or Grand Marnier)

·
2 tablespoons fresh lime
juice

·
2 tablespoons
fresh orange
juice—Valencia or Blood Orange or whatever you can find; juice
of ~one orange

·
1/4 cup sugar + 1/8 cup

·
1/2 orange, thinly
sliced

·
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced

·
1 unwaxed apple, cored,
and cut into thin wedges; Granny Smith

·
1 (750-ml) bottle
sparkling water, chilled

Directions

Combine everything but
the sparkling water in a large plastic container or glass pitchers. Cover and
chill completely, 1 to 2 hours. When ready to serve, add the sparkling water. **We add a splash or so (to taste) of Pellegrino mineral water (in glass, not plastic bottles) to our own goblets, as desired.

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