Sangria is so much more than chopped fruit and table wine. Chef Katie Button, protégé of José Andrés, cookbook author, TV host and cofounder of the Cúrate brand, has several tips for sprucing up sangrias for late summer and early fall.
For one thing, less can be more when it comes to alcohol in sangria, particularly in the summer. Many sangria recipes call for the addition of liquor such as brandy or Cointreau or Grand Marnier or something to build out the sangria, Button notes. “But when I drink sangria, I want it less boozy than wine, not more boozy, because that way the alcohol quantity doesn’t interfere with the summer heat and relaxing enjoyment.”
Button developed two sangria recipes that add no additional alcohol at all. In fact, they each add an additional 8 oz. of liquid without alcohol, which brings down the ABV of the drink, “and as the ice melts a little in your glass, it will lighten it even more, making it the perfect summer thirst quencher.”
For a non-alcoholic version of sangria, use a bottle of white, rosé, sparkling or red non-alcoholic wine. “When trying to make something that isn’t wine taste like wine by using pomegranate juice, tea or cranberry juice — or a mix of all three — I’m always disappointed,” Button says.
“But when you take a bottle of non-alcoholic wine and turn it into something else, like a traditional-style sangria, all of a sudden it clicks and you cannot even tell that it is an NA beverage. It just works.”
Just be sure to always pick something dry and never a sweet wine, Button adds. But if you do use a sweeter wine, you should decrease the sugar in the syrup in the recipe.
Sangria is bet enjoyed with friends, Button says, and it pairs well with a summer appetizer spread, or chips and tinned fish, or grilled burgers.
She likes serving sangria in a pitcher, but never adds the ice to the pitcher. “I always add the ice to the individual glasses so it doesn’t water down too much,” Button says. “You can add the fruit and herbs to the pitcher so they have time to soak up the sangria, and then serve a spoon with it so that your friends can scoop some fruit into their glass as they serve it.”
Here’s her recipe for a rosé-based sangria that could also work for a light, crisp and dry white or sparkling wine, and can be made non-alcoholic.
Sangria Rosada
Ingredients
- 6 servings
- Peel of half a grapefruit
- 1 cup Fresh red grapefruit juice juice from about 2 grapefruits
- 1 Star anise pod
- 1 2- in. segment Fresh ginger peeled and minced
- 2 large sprigs Fresh tarragon
- ¼ cup Sugar
- 1 bottle Rosé wine
- Fruit and herbs to garnish like kiwi mango, raspberries, grapefruit wheels and fresh tarragon
