Hot Sangria Drink

Ahh, December! This is the month most have been waiting all year long. The icy atmosphere is festive, fun, joyous and you want to be celebrating at home with your loved ones, probably in your onesie no doubt. For these cozy times, you need a recipe to match the mood. That’s where the hot, simmered sangria drink comes in. Steaming cups of hot red wine are very common in Christmas markets around Europe and it is very easy to make a homemade version of them as well.

When making a homemade hot sangria you can choose your favorite wine, spices, amount of added sugar and can also control exactly what is in your drink. If you’d like, you can make it ahead of time and keep a sangria pitcher in the fridge for when guests arrive. When you want a drink, just heat and pour.

The base of the drink is dry red wine. You can also make it with white wine but I think that white wine sangria is more of a summer drink than a winter one. To the wine, you add fruits usually citrus fruits, and spices to add more flavor to the drink. The common spices are cinnamon, anise stars and nutmeg. To include an alcoholic base, you just add brandy.

In order to keep the alcohol in the drink, you need to heat it gently and not boil it. Because there is sugar in the drink, it needs to dissolve in liquid before adding the wine so that you avoid overcooking the wine and losing the alcohol. I used water but you can also use orange juice or apple cider, both fit the drink since there is orange and apple in it.

For the kids in the family, you can make this hot cocoa drink and if you are interested in more cocktail recipes, you can find them in my drinks recipe index.

I hope you enjoy this easy and fun hot sangria drink, here is the recipe: