At-home sangria beats stores to the punch

Spanish for “bloodletting,” sangria is the ideal cheek-flushing summer drink for Hispanophiles.

Students can reclaim this overpriced eat-out favorite with a little prep work and logistical planning—no crystal punch bowls are necessary for a decidedly less glamorous presentation for dorm gatherings.

Though sangria is typically made with red wine, Vino Fino owner Jorge Alvarado explained that, when it comes to making sangria, “There are multiple choices—just like life.”

The standard choice, red wine, makes for a richer, darker, and more complex drink, while white wine lends itself to a milder and sweeter concoction. Alvarado, who prefers white sangria, recommends choosing a dry white wine, pointing out a $14 Puerta Vieja bottle available at Vino Fino. “I find the white sangria a little more refreshing—which is funny, because I prefer red wine,” Alvarado said.

Alvarado also recommended using an Italian wine called Lambrusco for students short on time. “It’s already sweet and carbonated,” he noted, meaning that students can skip adding the carbonated water and extra sugar in typical recipes.

Although it may be tempting to scrimp on wine because of all the add-ins, Alvarado advised against this decision. He stated that students should go for a $10-15 bottle of wine versus the always-tempting two-buck chuck. “You’re still going to get the dryness, the minerality, the tropical notes,” Alvarado said of pricier bottles, regardless of the fruit.

As for the fruit, most recipes call for apples and oranges, with variants requiring anything from peaches to passion fruit. Alvarado also revealed a trick of the trade, advising students to divide the process, first combining the hard alcohol—typically triple sec and brandy or vodka—with the apples, letting it marinate for an hour, and later adding the wine, soda, and other fruit.

Lastly, to throw a successful sangria get-together, students will need a large container. Anything from a plastic storage container to two soup pots should work for preparing and serving, depending on the amount of confidence guests have in their hosts’ routine cleanliness. And when the carefully crafted concoction runs out, just slice oranges into jungle juice. By this point, people will be too drunk to notice the difference anyway.