Refreshing Red Sangria Recipe

If you thought summer was the season for sangria ... well, you're right. It's hard to beat a glass of cold, tasty, refreshing sangria on a warm, sultry summer afternoon. But if you thought sangria was only a summer drink, then recipe developer Christina Musgrave of Tasting with Tina wants you to think again. "This is great in warm and cool weather," she says. And the way to make sangria work best depending on the weather is all about how you pair it. "It's great with light apps, tapas, or any fruit dish," Musgrave says, the fruit being perfect for summer sipping, while an app like patas bravas or a good, bold cheese are ideal for enjoying sangria on cooler weather days.

Now, whether sangria is best served as a brunch drink or a libation served in the evening, that's one we'll leave up to you, with the caveat that your evenings may be a bit slow moving if you do make it a mid-day treat. Either way, let's get mixing some refreshing red sangria.

To make a generous serving of sangria, you'll need on entire bottle of red wine, some grand mariner, some granulated sugar, orange juice, an apple and an orange, both sliced, and a lime, cut in wedges. "Use a dry red wine," says Musgrave. "You will get sweetness from the orange liquor and orange juice, so keep the wine dry or else the sangria will be too sweet. I like using any dry Spanish or Italian red wine."

With sangria, it's really all about the prep. Wash and dry each piece of fruit, then core the apple and slice it into pieces. Then slice the orange into discs, which you'll then halve. Finally, cut the lime into wedges. Then measure out the sugar, the juice, and the liqueur and pop the cork out of your wine bottle, because it's time to mix.

Okay, let's make this drink! First, pour the entire bottle of wine into your pitcher. Then add the Grand Marnier and the orange juice, and then pour in the sugar, stirring all the while as it goes in. Stir everything well until the sugar has dissolved into the liquid.

Next, add in all of the fruit and stir again, then add plenty of ice to the pitcher and stir once more. Now pour out servings and enjoy!

The name of the drink "sangria" comes from, you guessed it, blood. Per Spanish Sabores, the name "sangria" comes from the Spanish word for blood, sangre, and just one look at the red-hued beverage makes this little fact check-out. Apparently, Romans were drinking a sangria-like beverage upwards of 2,000 years ago — so, when you sip on sangria in the present day, you're sipping on a pretty big piece of history, too!