Sangria Cocktail Recipes

Georgia is known for its peaches, and the South loves its bourbon. To paraphrase Rick in “Casablanca”: "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship." This is a variation on a Georgia Mule:

Peach Blossom Mule
-8 ounces Sabrosa Sangria’s Peach Blossom sangria
-1 ounce of your favorite bourbon
-1½ teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice
-1 slice of lime (garnish)

Blend the first three ingredients, pour into a highball glass, add ice and garnish with a slice of lime.

This is a deceptively easy-drinking beverage. It starts off with a well-balanced sweet-tart peach flavor, then a hint of the lime comes in. The bourbon gives it a slightly spicy finish, reminiscent of peach pie.

Learn more about Peach Blossom

This mixology recipe comes courtesy of Bob Arnold, a good friend and a regular at Sabrosa Sangria. He uses Beach Day sangria for this recipe, but since we don’t have any made yet for the season, I used Peach Blossom. The recipe features Drambuie®, a liquor made from Scotch whisky, heather honey, spices, and herbs. Starting with the Peach Blossom, we add a bit of Cointreau® to give the drink a little orange kick, then some Drambuie® to provide some gentle spiciness as well as a little sweetness from the honey.

Scottish Sunset
-6 ounces Sabrosa Sangria’s Peach Blossom
-2 tsp. Cointreau®
-2 tsp. Drambuie®
-Orange slice for garnish

Blend all three of the ingredients and serve on the rocks with an orange garnish.

This is another drink that would fit just right on a hot beach somewhere. Starting with an aromatic nose of orange zest and peaches, the flavor is candied orange peel and peach preserves, and the finish is a lingering orange blossom, honey, ginger, and nutmeg. Cheers!

-Kevin, Sangria Artisan

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My grandmother used to work at Sanders Chocolates, and every Christmas she made some wonderful chocolate covered cherries that were soaked in brandy. This memory serves as the inspiration for this drink.

Spiked Cherry Pie
-8 ounces Sabrosa Sangria’s Springria
-1½ ounces of brandy
-1 tablespoon Fireball® whiskey
-1 orange slice (garnish)

Blend the first three ingredients, pour into a highball glass, add ice, and garnish with an orange slice.

This is another easy-drinking beverage. It begins with a brandy-soaked cherry flavor, then a hint of citrus and cinnamon. The finish is fruity & warming, like cherry pie.

-Kevin, Sangria Artisan

Learn more about Springria

Springria is my favorite Sabrosa sangria; I love anything with cherries. I also like drinking Mudslide cocktails, so I thought, why not combine the two?

Cherry Avalanche
-6 ounces Sabrosa Sangria’s Springria
-1 Tbs. Kahlúa®
-1/2 Tbs. banana liqueur
-Slice of banana

Blend the first three ingredients and serve on the rocks with a banana garnish.

This is a drink where all of the ingredients have a bold flavor contribution, but they balance and complement each other perfectly. Rich cherries, coffee, a little chocolate, and a hint of banana in the finish. Cheers!

-Kevin, Sangria Artisan

Learn more about Springria

Summergria is our traditional red sangria, and because the flavors of this sangria are so balanced, I looked at it as a fairly blank canvas to play with some other flavors. The overall fruitiness of the drink begs for more fruit flavors to be added along with some spice to complement these flavors. So, I started with some apple schnapps, but I would suggest avoiding Pucker® Apple schnapps. We are looking for some good apple flavor here, not sour apple candy flavors. I used Schönauer® Apfel Schnapps, but you can use any other good apple schnapps. To this I added some Captain Morgan® and some Goldschläger® to spice it up a bit. For those of you that love our Fall spiced sangria, Mulled Harvest, this drink is for you.

Apple Harvest
-6 ounces Sabrosa Sangria’s Summergria
-1 tbs. Apple Schnapps
-2 tsp. Captain Morgan®
-1 tsp. Goldschläger®

Blend all four of the ingredients and serve on the rocks with a lime garnish.

This drink is a feast for the senses. The aroma is apple, fruit, and light spices; the taste is cherries, apple butter, and cinnamon; the finish is cinnamon, allspice, and brown sugar.

I mixed up a second glass, just to make sure it tasted exactly right. Cheers!

-Kevin, Sangria Artisan

Learn more about Summergria

Autumngria is our raspberry sangria, which has been described as “jammy” due to the intense raspberry character of the drink. I thought that this bold flavor would hold up well in a martini, so I gave it a try.

Now, the debate will forever rage over Gin versus Vodka martinis, and I won’t get involved except to say that I have enjoyed both versions. Having said that, I thought that crafting a martini using both would create another layer of complexity to the drink. So, here we go:

Raspberry Sangria-tini
-A light splash of your favorite gin-2 ounces Absolut® Citron
-2 ounces Sabrosa Sangria’s Autumngria
-A lemon twist for garnish

Now you may ask, what is a “light splash” of gin? I wanted just a hint of the gin character; I didn’t want it to be the primary flavor of the drink. So I took a splash of gin, swirled it around in the martini glass to coat the inside surface, and dumped the excess. Add more if you want more gin character; it’s up to you.

Pour the Absolut® Citron and Autumngria into a martini shaker, add ice, and shake for 10-15 seconds. Pour into the martini glass and garnish with the lemon twist.

This martini has a nice balance between the citrus of the vodka, the raspberry of the Autumngria, and the herbal woodiness of the gin. I think that even 007 would approve. Cheers!

-Kevin, Sangria Artisan

Learn more about Autumngria

This mixology recipe comes courtesy of Lauren Arnold, another good friend and a regular at Sabrosa Sangria. She blends ginger beer with Autumngria and lets the spiciness of the ginger beer enhance the bold raspberry and apple flavors of Autumngria.

Not Your Kid’s Raspberry Tart
-3 ounces Sabrosa Sangria’s Autumngria
-3 ounces Ginger Beer
-Lime slice for garnish

Blend the Autumngria and Ginger Beer, and serve on the rocks with a slice of lime.

This is a very easy-drinking cocktail. Starting with aromas of ginger, allspice, and raspberry, the flavor is like a raspberry Jolly Rancher® with a dry raspberry and apple Sweet Tart finish. Thirst-quenching and flavorful, this will be a hit at your next cocktail hour! Cheers!

-Kevin, Sangria Artisan

Learn more about Autumngria

Wintergria is the perfect sangria to use; its orange and pineapple flavors are a great start for a drink worthy of the Islands. I also used two liquors for this drink; the first was an aged dark rum, Flor de Caña. It's a premium rum from Nicaragua and has great depth of flavor. The other liquor is a little more obscure, Taylor's Velvet Falernum. Falernum is a syrupy mixer infused with clove, almonds, and lime. Made in Barbados, it is commonly used in many classic tropical drinks, like the Mai Tai and the Rum Swizzle. Time to mix that sangria!

Winter in Barbados
-4 ounces Sabrosa Sangria’s Wintergria
-1 Tbs. aged rum (such as Flor de Caña)
-1 Tbs. Taylor's Velvet Falernum
-A slice of pineapple for garnish

Blend the Wintergria, rum, and falernum and serve on the rocks with the pineapple garnish.

This drink certainly takes you to the tropics. The aroma is pineapple and allspice; the taste is orange peel, pineapple, clove, and lime; the finish is spiced rum and a little more pineapple.

Mix up a glass of Winter in Barbados, and dream of summertime and the beach! Cheers!

-Kevin, Sangria Artisan

Learn more about Wintergria

I started thinking back to the “old days” of going to one of the shopping malls in metro Detroit. If you are old enough, who remembers having an Orange Julius at the mall? Hence my inspiration for today’s sangria drink.

Sabrosa Julius
-6 ounces Sabrosa Sangria’s Wintergria
-1½ tbs. vanilla vodka
-2 tsp. Triple Sec orange liqueur
-A light splash of cream - just enough to lighten the color

Blend all four of the ingredients and serve on the rocks.

This drink takes me back. Tastes just like an Orange Julius, but more adult-like! Cheers!

-Kevin, Sangria Artisan

Learn more about Wintergria