Spring has arrived in Spain, the days are becoming longer and temperatures are beginning to rise. It is the time of the year to welcome friends at home, and you want to welcome them with a fresh glass of sangria.
Whenever you visit Spain, you might think that sangria is one of our national drinks. You are right, we love sangria. It is fresh, cold, fruity and has some alcohol in it. It is the perfect drink for these hot Spanish evenings.
What´s a sangria?
We really don´t know the origin of this cocktail. It is said that in the XVII century some farmers in Valencia were collecting oranges and just added some of the left-over fruit to their wine. To tell you the truth, who knows and who cares, it is amazing.
The base of sangria is red wine, orange juice and sugar, but if you are going to make it at home and want to impress your guests, you might want to work it up a little bit.
Here is the perfect recipe.
2/3 red wine ? (the better wine you use, the better sangria you will have)
1/3 orange juice ?
1 pinch of Cointreau ?
sugar to taste
You also need to cut very small pieces of oranges and lemons. I love to put small pieces of apricots or peaches and a small cinnamon stick. Mix all of this together in the morning and put it in the fridge so it macerates long enough. At the very last minute, whenever your guests arrive, put some ice cubes in it. Do not put the ice in before, because they will melt and the sangria will be watered down.
There is another Spanish cocktail, it is called Kalimotxo. In fact it is more popular in the north of Spain, and to be more exact, in the Basque Country. Well, it is much simpler to make, but it is as refreshing.
The recipe is like this:
½ red wine ?
½ coke
Do not use diet, light or zero. It has to be the original one. Serve your kalimotxo very cold with some ice cubes.
The base of both drinks is alcohol and sugar, this means a quick alcohol rush, which is perfect when you are in college, but also great on a hot summer day. The biggest difference is that sangria is the fashionable drink among tourists, so the price in tapas bars is too high while Kalimotxo is popular among locals and the price is OK.
Here you have a couple of coctails you can use to impres your friends, I hope you enjoy them. I bet you have never tried kalimotxo, give it a go.
Just remember that consuming alcohol should be done in moderate quantities, and you sould NEVER drive after drinking any alcohol at all. If you are drinking, call UBER. They will be happy to drive you home.?
Happy Spring!