White sangria?

[John Rosevear]

I find myself, for reasons obscure, with an overabundance of cheap (but not quite awful -- think Black Box) Pinot Grigio. I would love to turn it into a gallon or three of crisp, refreshing white sangria, preferably something that will keep for a few days in the fridge. All I need is a great recipe. Got one?

[KatieLoeb]

Here you go. This is the house sangria at Amada restaurant here in Philly, in a single batch version. You can scale up if you need to. The most important thing is to keep the fruit separate until serving it, so it doesn't go all mushy and putrid. Use the cheap brandy and triple sec to marinate the fruit and the better stuff in the actual sangria. If you're feeling particularly inspired, you can make an herbal simple syrup to use in the sangria portion. Mint, Thai basil or a light rosemary simple works well in this recipe.

Salud!

Sangria Fruit

2 oranges, sliced into small wedges

2 pears, cut into small cubes

2 Granny Smith apples, cut into small cubes

6 oz. (3/4 cup) Simple Syrup

6 oz. (3/4 cup) Triple Sec

4 oz. (1/2 cup) Brandy

Macerate fruit pieces in syrup, triple sec and brandy (at least four hours and preferably overnight). Keep covered and refrigerated until ready to serve. When finished, fruit should be a bit “soupy” from the juices being drawn out.

Amada House White Sangria – single 1 Liter batch

1 750 ml bottle dry white wine

4 oz. plain or herbal simple syrup

4 oz. Spanish Brandy

2 oz. Torres Gran Orange liqueur, Cointreau or Combier

Optional garnish – Sprig of fresh herbs if an herbal syrup is used.

Mix wine, simple syrup, brandy and orange liqueur. This is the base wine product for the sangria. Keep refrigerated until serving.

SERVING DIRECTIONS:

Ladle 6-8 oz. of fruit and juices into a large pitcher. Fill with base wine product until almost full. Top with 4 oz. of club soda and stir to combine. Ladle a small amount of fruit into ice filled wine glasses. Pour in wine and garnish if desired.

This photo is of a slightly different recipe from a different job, but I thought I'd include it so you could see what the final product should look similar to.

[Lilija]

I got one!

Use your own judgement for the proportions, this is merely a guideline.

The wine

white or a light gold rum

triple sec

peach schnapps

mango or peach nectar

Portion wise, I take a two quart pitcher, load about 3 inches of fruit in the bottom, then a cup or so of rum, and half a cup each of the liquers, a 12 oz can of nectar, topped with wine.

for fruit, I keep it simple, only strawberries, white grapes, and either peaches or mangoes. Lots of strawberries.

Mainly it's a peachy/strawberry theme. I can drink this stuff by the quart.

You could add a splash of seltzer in your cup, but I am not a proponent of soda in my sangria. Ever. I like it straight up. My mom likes Sprite in hers, and if you like the sweet stuff, it's not half bad.

[KatieLoeb]

If you read the proportions in my recipe, there's a whole lot of booze in that glass. The club soda is both for much needed dilution as well as to "lighten it up" with some barely perceptable bubbles.

Don't think I'd like Sprite. Sounds too sweet. But the club soda works well...

[Emily_R]

Hi John --

I just made a batch of white sangria last week, and wanted to mention that the best addition was a small handful of peeled sliced ginger. Really added a depth of flavor that felt missing before.

Emily

[Lilija]

Katie, I posted without even seeing your post. Your versions look delicious, and way more polished. Mine was more the semi-drunken barbecue invention. I stand by it's yumminess, but I think I'll try your versions too. I know soda is a proper addition, (and not Sprite, that's purely my mom) and I always include when I serve it, for people to add their own. I just don't, haha.

[John Rosevear]

Katie, that looks excellent -- exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. I'll try it this weekend and let y'all know how it goes.

[KatieLoeb]

Lilija:

Some folks like it boozier than others I guess. I do believe that soda water is a proper ingredient in most recipes. My recipe is based on one given to me by the bartender at Sevilla restaurant on West 4th Street in the Village many years ago. I always loved the sangria there, so one day I arrived a bit early to meet my dinner companions and sat myself down at the bar and decided I was going to get that recipe out of the bartender by whatever means necessary. Turns out he was happy to share it. I've been using it as the "skeleton" for sangria variations ever since. It's pretty simple and very easy to vary. Actually the sangria in the photo is a variation with watermelon balls and limes rather than apples and lemons in the fruit and Thai basil syrup in the wine mix. It's quite refreshing on a hot summer day.

I learned about keeping the fruit and wine mixture separate when helping to open up Amada in 2005. It's a very high volume restaurant and it quickly became apparent that the fruit staying in the wine wouldn't work for several reasons, not the least of which being it clogged up the spigots on the barrels we kept behind the bar to contain the sangria mixes (both a red and a white). Keeping it separate also keeps the fruit from getting waterlogged and allows crisper fruits like apples and pears to retain at least a bit of their crunch. To this day, they still sell oceans of both red and white sangria at Amada every week, as well as having added a seasonal selection more recently. I comfort myself with knowing that I'll have played some small part in helping send Chef Garces' children to college some day.

[KatieLoeb]

So how did the sangria turn out? I'm awaiting your report with eager anticipation...

[Jaymes]

If you haven't made it already, or did and are still looking for something wonderful, here's a recipe I've been making to great success for many years:

PEACH SANGRIA

A particularly prudent choice of Sangria to serve when entertaining guests upon one's brand new light-colored carpeting.

* 2 ripe peaches, peeled & sliced (in winter, I use frozen)

* 1 lemon, sliced thinly, seeds removed

* 1 orange, sliced thinly, seeds removed

* 3 T sugar (or to taste, depending on size of lemon)

* 1/4 c Peach Schnaaps

* 750 ml dry white wine (about the size of one standard bottle)

Combine all and chill well, at least one hour. Serves two very jovial people at two generous glasses each.

As is immediately apparent, there is no brandy, so this is a pleasant, light, fresh-tasting summertime drink.

And on occasion I have, at the end of the evening, fished out any remaining peaches (now wonderfully marinated) and served them over pound cake and ice cream for dessert.

[John Rosevear]

So how did the sangria turn out? I'm awaiting your report with eager anticipation...

It was VERY popular with my guests. I let the fruit macerate for about 48 hours before we served it, and that worked out very well -- the apples and pears were still crisp and fresh, but well-flavored. For me, the assembled final product was a bit sweeter than I like, and I've been experimenting glass-by-glass as we drink down the last of it -- a little lemon juice, a little extra wine, a bit of lime and a float of Lemon Hart Demerara 151 (delicious, if decidedly un-sangria-like). I think it'll only need minor tweaking to make me happy, but I haven't quite hit on the tweak yet. But everyone else who has tried it has loved it.

Edited May 28, 2010 by John Rosevear (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Glad everyone liked it. A little bit of lemon juice in with the fruit soaking booze is never a bad thing - keeps the fruit from turning brown and can dial back the sweetness just a hair. My big batch recipe included it, I think, but that file got corrupted and I can't confirm that. Trouble with putting it the wine itself is that is makes things look cloudy and less aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

[Katiez]

For a lighter version:

1 bottle cheap white wine - fizzy is nice (I use a Spanish 'Blanc Pesquedor')

1 bottle fizzy water

1 lime

1 lemon

1 orange

1/4 cup peach schnapps

2 tbs sugar

lots of ice

Dissove sugar in schnapps in a large pitcher. Slice the fruite thinly, and, squeezing lightly, add to pitcher. Add wine, water and stir well. Pour over ice.

Edited May 30, 2010 by Katiez (log)