Refreshing Sangria, Perfect Beverage For A Summer Party

I LOVED all the stories you shared in the comments of yesterday’s post. They were awesome and some had me laughing! Thanks so much for those!

Yesterday I shared some pics of a yummy party beverage I made on Sunday for a porch party with friends. Today I’m sharing the recipe, including a printable copy below.

Note: The Sangria looks a little darker in this picture than it does once it’s served because just before you serve it, you add a bit of club soda. The Club Soda gives it that extra zip that makes this beverage even more refreshing for summertime.

Party Drink for Memorial Day

 

I have to confess, I’ve never like Sangria because all of the Sangria drinks I’ve tasted before reminded me of cherry flavored cough syrup. Yuck. This Sangria is nothing like that at all. In fact, that’s what drew me to the recipe; it was touted as being totally different and not sicky sweet like most Sangrias.

This drink was definitely a big hit with my guests, they loved it and kept coming back for refills. It’s also super easy and doesn’t take long to make. It’s one of those beverages you prepare the night before the party, too which means you won’t be rushing around at the last minute when guests are arriving,  unless of course you have gremlins in your refrigerator like I did! See yesterday’s post for an explanation on that! 😉

I’m not sure if the ice in the lower part of the server I used helped to keep the beverage cold or not. It melted pretty quickly so I doubt it helped to keep the Sangria cold. If you have a beverage server like this one, you may just want to put something decorative in the bottom part, like lemons and/or limes since this drink gets served over ice, anyway.

Also, for smaller gatherings where you’ll only be making one or two batches of this beverage, you will probably want to serve the Sangria from a pitcher. I mixed up 4 batches at once and we had already filled our glasses by the time I took the photo below…so that gives you an idea of how much it takes to partially fill up a large beverage server.

Best Sangria Recipe for a Party

 

If you have any questions about this recipe, just let me know. It comes from a book I purchased while touring historic homes in Louisiana and Mississippi. I’ll be sharing the name and some information about the book this evening in a BNOTP Library post because it has fast become one of my faves. That post will go up around 7:00 PM this evening.

Update: I had a great question about when to add the club soda. The recipe says to serve the Sangria over ice and to “top off” the glasses with the club soda. I’m guessing they have you do it that way so it will be nice and fizzy.

You definitely would not want to add it in the night before when everything else is mixed up because it would be flat by the next day when you would be serving it. It may be okay to add the 2 cups of club soda into the batch right at serving time. But if in doubt, just follow the recipe exactly and add to the beverage in the amount desired when serving.

Print Recipe
5 from 3 votes

Refreshing Sangria

This drink is great for a summer party, especially one outdoors. It's cool and refreshing, not too sweet and your guests will be coming back for more.
Prep Time20 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course: Beverage
Servings: 8 -10
Author: Susan (Between Naps on the Porch)

Ingredients

  • 1 750-ml Bottle Dry White Wine
  • 1/2 Cup Orange Liqueur
  • 1/4 Cup Sugar
  • 1 Unpeeled Lime Thinly Sliced (remove seeds)
  • 1 Unpeeled Lemon Thinly Sliced (remove seeds)
  • 1 Unpeeled Small Orange Thinly Sliced (remove seeds)
  • 1-1/2 Cups Sliced Fresh Strawberries
  • 1-1/2 Cups Halved Green Grapes
  • 2 Cups Chilled Sparkling Water or Club Soda or more to taste
  • Strawberries With Hulls For Garnish

Instructions

  • Combine the wine, liqueur, sugar and fruit in a large, clear pitcher or beverage server.
  • Refrigerate overnight.
  • At serving time, pour into cocktail glasses filled with ice and top off with club soda.
  • Garnish with strawberries by slicing them part-way up from the bottom and place on the rim of the glass. Or, just spear a couple of blueberries with a decorative toothpick, then stick that into the strawberry and place it on top of the ice in the glass. That's how I garnished mine. The blueberries add a bit of blue for those patriotic holidays.

Notes

Recipe from book, Southern Cocktails by Denise Gee

 

Pssst: You’ll find more recipes under the “Recipe” category here at BNOTP, including some additional great party-beverage recipes.

*If a post is sponsored or a product was provided at no charge, it will be stated in post. Some links may be affiliate links and as an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases. *



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Comments

  1. Thanks for answering my request from yesterday! I make your champagne cocktail at Christmas and get raves!

  2. Carolyn Price says

    Thank you for the Sangria recipe, Susan!! I was hoping you might share! : )
    You’re the best!

    • Carolyn, there was a typo in that recipe…supposed to be 1 bottle of wine…not 7! I just changed it so you may want to reprint that.

      • Carolyn Price says

        Thank you for posting this recipe, Susan. I obviously need to find the
        I hate to share this with you, but I just tried to email reply you back from the email that you sent to me … it returned: Mailer-Daemon. : / As in, you don’t exist, they couldn’t find you.
        I even teased: I got this email!! But I know you didn’t get my response and thank you.
        The gremlins are still at work, I’m afraid.
        Sorry ….

        • Yeah, Unfortunately, I don’t think these email plugins that work with WordPress are designed for replys back. The techy folks who help me with my blog just fixed it last night where it will at least notify someone if I reply to their comment, but I’m not sure it can be coded where someone can reply back. Sorry about that.

      • Carolyn Price says

        Or not … depending on the crowd! lol!!
        Thanks for the clarification!

  3. Woohoo, back in my mailbox! And thanks for the recipe. We have a party coming up this weekend and I think this is what is on the menu. xo

  4. Do you really mean seven bottles of wine?

  5. Wish I’d been at your house to have had some of this! Thanks for the recipe and I may have to try making something similar!

    • Thanks Jane! It’s the only Sangria I’ve ever tasted that I actually liked. I had a typo originally…I even proof read the silly thing but missed it…so it’s 1 bottle of wine, not 7! 🙂

  6. Kathy B. says

    Your refrigerator disaster with the sangria had me saying some curse words for you. HA! Had to be such a mess…so sorry. It’s always something isn’t it?!
    This may be a dumb question, but did you pour all the club soda in the beverage dispenser right before serving, or did you top each person’s glass with a little bit of it as you served? If it’s the latter, about how much club soda did you put in each glass? Uh, needless to say, I’m a bit of a novice at these things.
    Thanks!

    • That’s a great question, Kathy. The recipe didn’t specify…just said to top off each glass with the club soda. At first I thought I would add it to the whole batch but since the directions said to “top off the glass” I just put the club soda beside the server and let everyone add what they wanted. If I make it again, I may go ahead and add it directly to it. I bet the recipe suggests adding it to the glass because they may be afraid folks would pour it all in when making the recipe the night before, then it would be flat the next day when serving it. If the club soda was added to the whole container right before serving it for the party, it would probably still be zippy and not flat. What do you think?

  7. Elena Wortman says

    This recipe looks like a really good one for Sangria with white wine–I think I’ll try it for a future party. When hubby and I travelled through Spain a few years ago, we noticed was that every restaurant/bar had pitchers of red Sangria sitting on the bar counter, ready to be served in an instant. It was very charming. We actually consumed no other alcoholic beverage besides Sangria while we were in Spain. Thanks again for sharing your recipe. Have a great day.

  8. Carolyn Price says

    That post sent before I was finished “editing.” : / I know to begin sentences with capital letters but this osteoarthritis ….
    I will look on the website for that champagne cocktail Denise mentioned.
    Thanks for all the fun, Susan!!

  9. Thanks for the great recipe. We are all Sangria vans here, so I will give this a try when I host my sister’s birthday dinner.

  10. This Sangria looks wonderful Susan! Thanks, I love it!
    Hugs,
    FABBY

  11. I have a recipe I have used for a many years that we love…it packs a bit more “punch” than the one you found, but still refreshing. Just be sure your guests have a way to get home safely afterwards… This was served at my wedding as ‘punch’.

    The secret is Champagne. Yes, instead of adding Club Soda before serving, top off with a little bit of chilled Champagne.

  12. Linda Page says

    When I lived in West Texas (many moons ago), I was introduced to Sangria served in a really good Mexican food restaurant and I really liked it. It was made fresh daily and always had lots of fruit in it. Once I left West Texas, I never found Sangria that I liked. But this recipe sounds just wonderful and I am going to try it at a brunch that I am planning for mid-summer. Thanks for the great idea. I hope I don’t have the same disaster that you did!!! :>)

  13. Seven bottles of wine and I would not have cared whether the dishes were done or not!! I will try this one soon, thank you!

    • LOL! Yeah, I don’t think you would be worrying about much of anything. HA! Do not use 7 bottles of wine unless you X7 all the other ingredients and invite the entire neighborhood! Hee, hee! Sandra, you cracked me up! 🙂

  14. This recipe sounds luscious. How could you make it non-alcoholic? Thanks

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