A spring sangria!

Sangria hails from Spain. It typically was created using red wine, fruit, and brandy. This punch was produced because water was not safe yet to drink. It originally had spices, red wine and possibly water.

Nowadays, sangria can have any variety of wine, juices, sweeteners, liquor and fruit. It's basically an adult fruit punch. Any variety you can think of is out there. Of course, you can buy it pre-made at the supermarket, but its not nearly as delicious as homemade. When you make it yourself, you can customize it to the sweetness and alcohol content to your liking.

For spring, I wanted to make a sangria that screamed SPRING. If you can't find pink lemons, regular will do just fine. This delightfully pink sangria looks gorgeous and taste amazing! You make need to make a couple of pitchers for company.

Rhubarb Sangria

Serves: 6-8      Cook Time: 15 min      Prep Time: 5 min

• 4 stalks rhubarb, cut in to 1/2" pieces
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 pint strawberries, sliced
• 1 bottle sparkling wine or presecco (either rose or white)
• 1 cup selzter water
• 1 pink lemon, sliced

Rhubarb, sugar and water

Simmering rhubarb

Straining out rhubarb to reveal pink simple syrup

Directions

Combine rhubarb sugar and water. Cook until tender. Strain out rhubarb and reserve syrup. Save the cooked rhubarb to top ice cream, use in a tart, or to eat with yogurt! Place syrup in fridge. When syrup is cold, place in pitcher. Add sparkling wine, strawberries, lemon slices and top off with water.

A beautiful sangria for any occasion!

A B.V.I specialty cocktail!

The view on Tortolla

I recently went to the British Virgin Islands. The water was a brilliant turquoise and you could smell the salty ocean in the air. The mountainous region was covered in tropical plants and large cactus. The locals were always greeting you with a smile. In this wonderful paradise, the drinks were abundant and magnificent! One of the signature drinks of the B.V.I. was the painkiller. This drink lives up to its name! Its a lighter take on the popular Pina colada. The grated nutmeg may seem strange, but brings this drink to another level of flavor. The inventor of this drink is said to be the bartender at the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jose Van Dyke, but it is still debated. This was my favorite drink of choice while in the islands. If made with the local rum from Tortola, it can almost take you back to paradise. Take a trip to paradise and make this amazing drink!

BVI Specialty Rum

Ingredients for the cocktail

Painkiller

Serves: 1   Cook Time: 0 min      Prep Time: 2 min

• 3 oz. dark rum
• 3 oz. pineapple juice
• 1 oz oj
• 11/2 oz cream of coconut
• garnish with fresh nutmeg and pineapple wedge

Directions

Place all ingredients except for nutmeg and pineapple wedge in shaker with ice. Serve over ice and garnish with fresh grated nutmeg and pineapple. Enjoy!

Grated nutmeg is the final touch

A summery sangria!

When I'm entertaining, I like to have a cocktail that is a showstopper. Sangria fits the bill perfectly, plus it's simple to make, and looks amazing in a glass or pitcher. This is one of my favorite drinks because fruit is a main ingredient. The fruit shines through the wine and is wonderfully colorful. Sangria can easily be changed to fit any occasion, and can be made any time of year. For fall, make an apple sangria. At christmas, make a cranberry sangria. Don't be afraid to play around with different combinations of wine, fruit, and liquors. The only limit is your imagination. So have fun with it and invite some friends to try out your experiments!

Peach Sangria

Serves: 4-6         Cook Time: 0 min         Prep Time: 5 min

• 2 bottle Chenin Blanc/Voigner
• 1/2 Cup Peach Schnapps or Brandy
• 1 Cup Peach nectar
• 2 Peaches, thinly sliced
• 3 apricots thinly sliced

Directions

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate over night. Garnish with fresh mint or lemon balm.

Tip- Sangria flavors, can be made with any combination of wine, fruit and liquors. Here are a few ideas you might want to try!

• Rose wine, strawberries, strawberry dessert wine
• Red wine, apples, oranges, triple sec
• White wine, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, orange juice, triple sec
• White wine, honey dew, grapes, kiwis, white grape juice, rum
• Red wine, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, brandy, sprite
• White wine, pineapple, mango, kiwi, pineapple juice, rum

Drink me!

For a friend