beach vacation sangria

Guess what? I’m home! We’ve spent the last week at Disney World for a few nights and then at the beach at Palm Coast, over on the eastern coast of Florida. I have lots and lots of photos to share with you, but first things first. I have a sangria recipe that I simply must share. Right now.

We stayed at a lovely condo at the beach – three bedrooms, washer and dryer, beautiful kitchen. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to bring many of our pantry staples, and there really wasn’t much already there beyond salt and pepper and some paper towels. Not wanting to restock the fridge and pantry for such a short time, I was limited on what I could prepare. And then, in a moment of brilliance, I thought of it. Sangria. I could make sangria! Sure, it’s not really FOOD, but hey – who cares?

So, sangria it was. It was very good the first day – cool, refreshing, with just the right amount of sweetness. Not so good the second day. From the sangria-making experience I learned two lessons. First, this sangria shouldn’t be made more than one day in advance. Second, we clearly don’t drink all that much since we had leftovers on day two.

Sangria

For the red wine, use something inexpensive but tasty. I used an under-$10 bottle from the local grocery store - Red Truck California Red Wine. For the orange liqueur, you can use Cointreau or triple sec. I used triple sec for this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lime
1 lemon
1 orange
1 Granny Smith apple
1 750 mL bottle red wine
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup orange liqueur (I used triple sec.)
12 ounces lemon lime soda (I used Sprite.)

Directions:

Slice the lemon, lime, and orange into thin slices and then cut the slices into wedge-shaped pieces. Core and slice the apple into wedges. Add the fruit to a large pitcher, then add the wine, orange juice, and orange liqueur. Stir and refrigerate well until chilled. Just prior to serving, add the lemon lime soda. Can be made up to 1 day in advance.

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15 Responses to “beach vacation sangria”

  1. 1
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    bunkycooks — August 16, 2010 @ 7:15 pm

    Sangria always hits the spot! I could use that beach vacation right about now!!! 🙂

  2. 2
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    Brian @ A Thought For Food — August 16, 2010 @ 7:15 pm

    I tend to do white sangria in the summer, but this looks too wonderful to pass up. I could go for a nice beach vaca right now.

  3. 3
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    Baking Serendipity — August 16, 2010 @ 7:21 pm

    There is nothing more amazing than sangria at the beach. Glad you had a good vacation!

  4. 4
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    Barbara | Vino Luci Style — August 16, 2010 @ 7:54 pm

    I tend to do white sangria too with peaches but I would have no problem with this version. I wonder if topping off each serving with the soda would help keep the batch for the next day as opposed to having it go flat and ruin the entire thing of beauty.

  5. 5
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    Jason Phelps — August 16, 2010 @ 8:25 pm

    I make this at home so I can think I am at the beach. Red or white, sangria is awesome!!!

    Jason

  6. 6
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    Macaroni Mama — August 16, 2010 @ 8:55 pm

    Sangria on day two was worth it..It made my lips pucker, but sangria is sangria when you need a lift! Thanks, MJ for having it there.

  7. 7
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    May Ling WU — August 17, 2010 @ 9:26 am

    Nothing like sangria on the beach!

  8. 8
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    Jennie — August 17, 2010 @ 9:44 pm

    I’m in vacation countdown mode myself—leaving for Cape Cod this weekend. I’ll be somewhat in your neck of the woods at the end of September for the Food & Wine Festival at Disney 🙂

    • 8.1
      merrygourmet
      merrygourmet — August 18, 2010 @ 10:33 am

      Jennie – Cape Cod sounds amazing! Perhaps we’ll finally get to meet IRL at Epcot… 🙂

  9. 9
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    Mark — August 18, 2010 @ 8:47 am

    It seems to me that the rinds are what makes Sangria bitter after a few days. I usually juice the fruit and only leave few whole slices for decoration. This way it only gets better with time.

    Mark

    • 9.1
      merrygourmet
      merrygourmet — August 18, 2010 @ 10:33 am

      Mark – I think you’re absolutely right. The bitterness on day 2 definitely seemed to come from the citrus rinds. In fact, I may give it a try again, but this time section the fruit and trash the rinds.

  10. 10
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    Mardi@eatlivetravelwrite — August 19, 2010 @ 7:14 am

    One of my favourite drinks is sangria and this looks like a good recipe! Thanks for sharing!

  11. 11
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    Jessica — August 20, 2010 @ 5:02 pm

    Sounds like you had a great time. Love the beautiful pictures, and this sangria looks quite delicious. Thanks for sharing with us!

  12. 12
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    Susan — August 20, 2010 @ 9:25 pm

    You know, I had forgotten all about Sangria–and living here in Florida (I’m in Orlando), we can sure use something light and refreshing to drink during this amazingly hot summer…thank you for the reminder.

  13. 13
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    Ivy @ My Simple Food — August 24, 2010 @ 12:32 pm

    Hmmm..nice a good Sangria anytime!!

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