Sangria!

Since my last post, I been feeling the need to post a few more of my recipes. So, here's one for Spanish Sangria - one of my favorite drinks!

But, before I start, let me tell you the story of how this came to be one of my favorite drinks: It was in June '08, and I was in Barcelona. I was at this neat hostel somewhere near the city center. I was sharing a room with a few others, and luckily for me, all of them turned out to be really nice! From what I can remember, there was Francisco from New York, and Tima from Amsterdam. I'd returned late that night, after doing a hop-on hop-off of the city. Frank thought that it might be a good idea for a few of us to head out and get some sangria. So, we did. It was one of the nicest nights I'd had. We were out until 2.30 in the morning, drinking pitchers of sangria at a local pub, and talking about travel and cultures. Since then, every time that I've made or ordered sangria, I've been reminded of that fabulous night. 

So, this recipe is dedicated to that night!

Here's what you'll need:

2 pc. oranges

1 pc. apple

1/2 pc. pineapple

1 pc. pomegranate

3 pc. lemons

4 cups sugar

1/2 l. of orange juice

2 cups rum/brandy

1 l. of any red wine 

1/4 l. of club soda

Here's how you make it:

1 Cut all the oranges and 2 pieces of lemon in rings, the pineapples in cubes, and the apples in little pieces. Pluck out all the pomegranate seeds. Put all of this in a big jug. 

2 Add the sugar and squeeze out one lemon on to the fruit. Then add the orange juice. 

3 Add the rum/brandy.

4 Leave this mixture in the fridge overnight.

5 Before serving, add all the chilled red wine to the mixture. Also add the soda, to wake the drink up and give it fizz.

It's now ready to serve! 

Some other tips:

~ you can actually add any fruit you like

~ if you want to make it stronger, just add more rum/brandy

~ to dilute, add more fruit juice

~ for some zing, add a few mint leaves