Recipe: Blood Orange Autumn Sangria
Sangria typically reminds us of summertime in Spain. For Nick and I, it reminds us very specifically of a delicious dinner in a locally ran restaurant situated down a side street in Barcelona, one hot evening in July 2012.
When we discovered ‘autumn sangria’ was a thing, therefore, we were quite dubious of whether it would work.
So, we got all of the ingredients together, made up the sangria, left it to steep in the fridge for about 3 hours, and hoped for the best.
And, guess what, it’s great! Perfect for early autumn, this refreshing sangria has the hints of the spices of autumn but a real freshness from the pomegranate and blood orange juice!
By the way, I had never drunk blood orange juice before, what a game changer! 100% worth the extra money vs normal OJ for this sangria and I’m definitely switching out the standard morning OJ for this now. And, I think it would make a delicious twist on the traditional Orange Juice Mimosa!
Another thought on this recipe, I have recently become slightly obsessed with the cocktail ‘Charlie Chaplin’ which features apricot brandy… and as I am typing this recipe out it’s got me wondering whether apricot brandy, rather than regular brandy, would make a tasty twist on this recipe and perhaps substitute some of the sugar syrup as it is a lot sweeter? If anyone tries that instead, let me know, and over the next few weeks of autumn I may try it myself!
Blood Orange Autumn Sangria Recipe
Serves: 4 (multiply recipe as needed for larger amounts)
This recipe has lots of ingredients but is very quick and easy to make.
INGREDIENTS
1 Bottle white wine - we used a white Rioja
200ml Cointreau (or other orange liqueur)
100ml cup of brandy
200ml blood orange juice
200ml pomegranate juice
50-75ml simple syrup (to taste)
4 sprigs rosemary
4 Cinamon sticks
4 slices of blood orange
INSTRUCTIONS
In a large pitcher/jug (or mixing bowl even, if you don’t have a pitcher) Add all of the ingredients, starting with 50ml of simple syrup, stirring to combine.
Taste the mix and see if you would like any more sweetness (this is a personal preference) and add more simple syrup if so.
Cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours.
When ready to serve, fill 4 glasses with ice. Using tongs, put a cinnamon stick, slice of orange and sprig of rosemary into each glass then pour over the sangria (This will stop any messy accidents - clumsy people like me, I’ve got you!). Or, if they are looking a little sad, use fresh rosemary, cinnamon sticks and slices of orange to garnish)
Serve.
Now, if you’ve read to this point then you deserve to know a teensy spoiler. The eagle-eyed of you may have even already noticed… I could not, for the life of me, get actual blood oranges anywhere (of course because it is September and they aren’t in season yet)… so, I added normal orange slices to my sangria whilst it steeped, and then for the sake of these pictures used slices of grapefruit! I don’t recommend this for flavour purposes… but there’s a little move magic secret for you, as a reward for reading all the way to the bottom!
This recipe is an adaptation of the original by Jennifer Meyering - check out her website, she has some amazing recipes!
If you make any of these recipes we would LOVE to see your cocktails, please do tag us on social @thefizzypheasant. If you have another favourite autumn cocktail, tell us in the comments below so that we can make those too!
