Festive Sangria Recipe From Spain

With some of the world’s most important vineyards and abundant wine production of all kinds, it should come as no surprise that Andalusia is home to some of the best Spanish recipes for alcoholic drinks.

The festive sangria recipe is a testament to that, delivering a delicious Spanish red wine drink as the end result that is served fresh, accompanied by other tasty regional dishes.

Scroll down this article, and we will show you how to make authentic sangria from scratch, with more tips to store, serve, and customize this fantastic Spanish wine drink.

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Pssst…!!?? You can’t get enough of Spanish recipes? Have a look at my other posts: 

• Spanish summer wine recipe

• Spanish summer drink

• Summer sangria recipe with red wine

Background of the Dish

The festive sangria recipe was born out of a necessity to have a new type of cold beverage to enjoy during the holidays, mostly for Easter and Christmas.

The classic Sangria is pretty similar, with the difference that it usually doesn’t call for cinnamon and star anise as the main ingredients.

This holiday special could easily claim the title of “best sangria recipe”, as it is easy to make, it calls for basic ingredients, and it has that festive flavor that everyone is craving during the festive season.

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Things You’ll Need for Festive Sangria Recipe

To prepare the festive sangria recipe you will need a mix of different berries, a bottle of red wine, club soda or sparkling water, lemon, orange, sugar, brandy, and orange liquor as the main ingredients.

This extra fancy sangria recipe doesn’t call for any special equipment, as you will only need a large bowl or jar that can be covered to make it.

Ingredients

• 1 bottle (750ml) Spanish red wine (such as Tempranillo or Garnacha)
• 1/4 cup (60ml) brandy (optional, for a stronger kick)
• 1/4 cup  (60ml) orange liqueur (such as Cointreau or triple sec)
• 2 tablespoons sugar (adjust to taste)
• 1/2 cup (75g) fresh strawberries
• 1/2 cup (75g) blueberries
• 1/2 cup (75g) raspberries
• 1/2 cup (75g) blackberries
• 1 orange
• 1 lemon
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1-2 star anise (optional for extra festive flavor)
• 1-2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (to garnish)
• 3 cups (750ml) of club soda or sparkling water

How to Make Festive Sangria Recipe – Step by Step Guide

1. For the first step in the festive sangria recipe, clean the lemon and the orange, and thinly slice it. Remove the leaves from the strawberries and cut them in half. Wash the berries removing any dirt that may be left.

2. After that, grab a large bowl or pitcher, and add all of the berries. Include the slices of lemon and orange to the mix. Make sure the bowl is large enough to hold the ingredients, as you will use it for the rest of the Spanish sangria recipe.

3. Now, pour the bottle of wine into the fruit mix, then add the brandy and orange liquor. Stir in the sugar until it gets dissolved (you can add more, or complement with a tablespoon of honey). Also, add the cinnamon stick and star anise.

4. For the next step on the best berry sangria recipe, cover the pitcher and refrigerate it for at least 4 hours. The flavor will be better if you let it sit overnight.

5. Once that time went by, fill the glasses with ice cubes. Pour the Spanish red drink until you fill half of each glass, then top the rest with a splash of club soda or sparkling water for some fizz, for a lighter, bubbly drink.

6. For the final step on the original Spanish sangria recipe, garnish each glass with a sprig of fresh rosemary, a slice of orange, or a couple of berries.

Substitution of Ingredients

We strongly believe that this is the best red sangria recipe, because it perfectly blends multiple types of berries, with a citrus flavor, and the classic wine, yet there are some changes that you can make to its ingredients if needed.

Like any authentic Spanish sangria recipe, red wine is a fundamental ingredient that could only be replaced with Sherry wine, or white wine but the finished result will be different (still super tasty).

Since it is a festive sangria recipe it calls for different berries, as well as cinnamon and star anise, but you could go for a more traditional Spanish sangria recipe if you use just strawberries and blueberries instead.

Club soda or sparkling water are essential ingredients to balance the flavor profile, but you could copy other authentic sangria recipes and add orange juice or lemon-flavored soda instead.

Are you ready to dive into the world of Spanish sangria recipes this summer? Then, we have more for you to try, such as the mango sangria recipe, the gazpacho alcoholic drink, and the fruity Spanish drink.

Tips on Serving Festive Sangria Recipe

This festive sangria recipe is served during the two main Christian holidays of the year: Easter and Christmas, though you can enjoy it all year round.

Being a holiday sangria recipe, it is commonly paired with seasonal tapas, such as boquerones en vinagre, tortilla de patatas, and croquetas de queso, as red meat is avoided during easter.

The festive flavor in this easy sangria recipe comes mostly from the cinnamon and anise star, but you can also enhance it with the decoration of this drink if you top each glass with a sugared rim.

If you are planning on making this recipe for Spanish sangria to serve as the beverage for the chocolate eggs, we recommend to only use 2 tablespoons of sugar and no honey, to balance the sweetness.

Do you want to complete the festivities with more Andalusian drinks? Then explore our delicious Spanish coffee cocktail, the classic old Spanish cocktail, and the fantastic sherry cocktail.

How to Store Festive Sangria Recipe

While preparing the festive sangria recipe, you will see that it already calls for a period of at least 4 hours for the flavors to meld, but it can be stored for longer too.

Once you finish making the Spanish fruit drink, cover the jar or bowl and store it for up to 48 hours before serving it.

Remember to only add the club soda or sparkling water once you are ready to drink it (so it doesn’t lose the fizz), and so a taste test before.

Did you know there are more Spanish drinks you can make and store for later?

Take a look at our fantastic recipes such as the fermented pineapple drink, the Spanish wine cocktail, and the Spanish red wine cocktail.

Recipe Card: Festive Sangria Recipe

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