One of the all time favourite summer classics revisited for more mindful and more delicious recipes!

There are few things tastier, or indeed more summery, than a big jug of sangria garnished with seasonal fruits and good company! Meaning “blood’ in Spanish, traditionally sangria is red wine with chopped fruit and spices, often fortified with another flavour or “spirit”. Can we Healthy Hedonists enjoy a culture that is so intimately “wine-based?” (Spoiler: of course, we can!)

Technically, a wine punch can only be called ‘sangria’ if the base product originates from Spain or Portugal; but as with most classic drink blueprints, there are soo many ways to get creative while honouring its culture and origins. The first sangrias were likely born of a desire to make water safer to drink (and the poor-quality table wine more palatable!) For this reason, it could be argued that low abv is the purest form of sangria… (not that we’re biased!) The key is in choosing a small quantity of good quality alcohol, if it suits you to use it : ) La Maison Wellness also has plenty of juicy non-alcoholic recipes, with all the sophistication of the traditional wine punch and none of the hangover(!)

Let’s Make it!

The heart of sangria is in its enjoyment, not the preparation, and this is one of the easiest cocktails to prepare for an upcoming social gathering (or party for one!) The key is to combine everything a few hours in advance, to really let those flavours mingle.

1) Wine

Choosing the wine is important as it’s the base of your cocktail but in here you want something delicious, well made and not too fancy as you will add fruits and other flavours (no this is not the place for your Chateau Margaux!)

Originally Red as in its more traditional form, these days sangria can be made with any type of wine. Sangria blanca (with white wine) is a more recent and great variation but also rosé and even sparkling… Whatever you love, sangria can be made out of it! If you want to go non alcoholic I recommend trying Cornish-based Wild Life Botanicals and organic French wine producer Zéra. Both produce non-alcoholic wines: the first de-alcoholised, the second using a unique technique with fermentation that never reaches the point of alcohol. Both make fantastic sangria! Alternatively, there are some beautifully crafted and lower alcohol wines that can be a great option for the mindful drinker. “Forever Summer” from Mirabeau Rosé wine is slightly lower in alcohol with 11% rather than 13% as well as being vegan and having no added sugar. Similarly Pierre Chavin has a Rosé at 5.5% alcohol. See recipes below for inspiration!

2) Seasonal fruits & Spices

The fun of sangria is its openness for creativity. Found a glut of fresh strawberries in your local farmers market? Let’s make sangria! Berries out of season? No bother, apples and pears (insert your favourite fruits here!) ARE available... and equally delicious!
A good way to create your sangria is to look at the flavour profile of the wine you have chosen, if it has citrus notes or berries or more stone fruits- let the wine show you the direction!
Depending on the season you might also want to make it more summery or wintery by adding more warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg or even star anise.

At La Maison Wellness we love to choose ingredients we’d like to shine for their health-giving properties: like citrus for Vitamin C and antioxidants, thyme for its cleansing and immune boosting properties or ginger for its anti inflammatory & spicy kick!
Then we can make our mindful cocktails delicious and with purpose.

3) Something Different

Quite often a sangria will be fortified with a fruit juice or liqueur to add flavour and give the punch its own character. In the Forever Summer, we match rosé with nectarines, Lyres’ non-alcoholic orange liqueur and raspberries; while the Paris Dakar pairs hibiscus tea with non-alcoholic Cabernet, pineapple and spices and Rosé Pamplemousse has Jasmine tea and orange blossom water…. The possibilities are endless! Starting with a drier fruit juice as a base (like white grape) and then adding a small amount of “spirit” or liqueur can be another great way to produce something lower in alcohol.

4) Ice Ice Baby

Sangria is at its best ice cold. Try freezing fruit into your ice cubes for a pretty and flavour-enhancing garnish!
Directly adding frozen fruit can also be an innovative way to chill without further dilution.

4) Last But Not Least… Bubbles

If you are adding a sparkling element to your sangria, like ginger beer or kombucha, do so at the very last minute- just before you serve- to keep that beautiful light effervescence.

Mindful Cocktails

sangria is practically a fruit salad to tick off your five a day right?!

In all seriousness we think sangria is a great cocktail to share beautiful moments and celebrate life as a healthy hedonist.
I wanted to share some of my more mindful recipes of this favourite cocktail