Red fruit sangria is a blissful blend of crowd-pleasing fruits. It is fun to award bonus points to guests who can guess the fruits it is made with before knowing the recipe!
If you're looking for a delicious and refreshing drink to cool down on a hot day, look no further than sangria! This popular punch hails from Spain and Portugal, but can be found all over the world. It's made with red wine, chopped fruit, and a sweetener like sugar or honey. Sangria is often served in bars and restaurants as a popular tourist drink, but there are regional distinctions. Regardless of where you are drinking it, though, sangria is always sure to please!
Sangria has a long and interesting history. The drink is thought to have originated in the Iberian Peninsula, where Spain and Portugal share a border. Sangria was mentioned for the first time in print in 1772, and it was mentioned again in 1803 as a drink that was popular among tourists. It wasn't until 1964 that sangria really took off, when it was served at the World's Fair in New York.
There are many different ways to make sangria, but the basic recipe includes red wine, chopped fruit, and a sweetener. In Spain, they often use rioja wine, while Portuguese sangria tends to be a little sweeter. Some recipes also call for brandy, orange juice, or lemonade.
Sangria is a popular drink all over the world, but it's also subject to European Union law. In 2006, the EU passed a regulation that defined sangria and set some guidelines for its production. The regulation stipulates that sangria must be made with wine, fruit, and a sweetener, and that it cannot contain more than 15% alcohol.
So what is the definition of sangria? According to the European Union, it is a drink made with wine and flavored with pieces of fruit, sugar or honey hailing from either of the two Iberian countries.
Sangria is always a refreshing choice on a hot day - so why not give it a try? Here's an easy recipe for it!
Get everything ready to go. For this recipe, here’s what you’ll need:
1 gallon of cranberry-pomegranate juice (for best results, use Ocean Spray).
A clean container for fermentation (either the container your juice comes in, a gallon jug, or any other food-safe container)
White sugar
Get your juice ready. Make sure your cranberry-pomegranate juice is at room temperature, and then pour it into your clean gallon jug or fermentation container, if you're not making your wine directly in the juice bottle.
Add your sugar. Brewsy gives you the choice for how sweet or dry you would like your final wine to be. Choose how sweet you’d like your final wine to be by opening the drink designer.
Then, pour out juice to make room for headspace if necessary, and then add your sugar according to the drink designer. If you have extra juice, you can drink it now or save it to make a simple syrup with later.
Shake well. Shake until the sugar is evenly mixed into your juice and almost entirely dissolved.
Add one full Brewsy bag. Then shake vigorously for 30 seconds to help wake up the yeast.
Put on the airlock. First, squeeze the rubber stopper into your gallon’s bottleneck, and then attach the plastic airlock. Fill the airlock with water, and then snap the hole-punched plastic part back on.
Put your wine in a warm, dark place. An attic, closet, or near your water heater are all good places. The ideal temperature is 75°F to 85°F. (The fermentation will take longer in cooler temperatures).
Now, fermentation is beginning. Fermentation will take approximately 5 days.
Tip: Once or twice a day, swirl your container to make sure the yeast make surface contact with all of the juice.
Wait 5 days, then taste-test. After 5 days, take a very small sip of your wine. Right now, the yeast haven’t been separated from your wine, so it won’t taste amazing just yet.
When you taste, taste primarily for sweetness. If it tastes dry enough for you, move on to the next step. If it still tastes too sweet, let it ferment for 3 more days, then repeat the taste-test.
Put your wine in the fridge. Take off the airlock and put the hole-punched cap on your gallon jug — or, simply use a loosened cap.
Tip — make sure you never fasten the cap of your gallon jug to prevent potentially explosive carbon dioxide buildup!
Wait two days while your wine is in the fridge.
During this time, the cold in your fridge is forcing the solids in your wine to the bottom of the container, making it easier for you to separate them in the next step.
Rack your wine. Slowly, pour your wine off of the sediment at the bottom into a different container.
Your goal is to remove as much of the sediment as possible, so try not to tip your jug back up until you’ve finished pouring.
Take a sip! Now, you can taste your wine! Cheers!
You may love it away, but you may find it tastes harsh or a bit off. Don’t worry! That's very normal with young alcohol. It will get better and better with time.
Return your wine to the fridge with a loosened cap. Unlike store-bought wine, Brewsy doesn’t have any preservatives, so it needs to stay in the fridge with a loose cap unless it is properly prepared for room temperature storage.
If you’d like to bottle your wine for storage outside of the fridge, you can find out how to do that here.
Age your wine. The character of your wine will change significantly as it ages.
Harsh tastes or off-flavors will dissipate, and your wine will taste smoother and more flavorful. Age your wine for at least 2 weeks, racking it about once a week.
Enjoy! Share your sangria served with slices of strawberries and frozen red grapes to keep it cool and add extra fruity flavor with our Brewsy communities, the First Pour Club and Club Brewsy.
And be sure to reach out to us with any questions. You can text us at the number we texted you from about your order, message us on Facebook, or send us an email at hello@getbrewsy.com.
