Sangria - El Diablo's refreshing cocktail

Sangria, the sacred drink from Spain, can  be very dangerous as many people would confess. Once tasted it can never be undone. My virgin experience with this sweet, intoxicating drink of varying strength was in South Africa, prepared by a real Spaniard. Many people have various stories about experiencing this popular drink. So, is this the drink prepared by the devil himself or is it ambrosia? The only solution to answering the question is to try it yourself. Come with me on a trip exploring my sangria experiences and my attempt to replicate it.

Sangria ready to be consumed!

This wine punch served in Spain, Portugal and Argentina has a typical dark red colour and is therefore named after the Spanish name for blood, "sangre". There is also a sangria bianca made with white wine as a base although the red version is more well-known.

I can still  remember the very hot South African day when I first tasted sangria. The Spaniard, a factory worker from the South of Spain, didn't make a big deal out of preparing the sangria, nor did he have a purist view on this sacred Spanish drink. El Diablo, like a fallen angel called Raphael, went ahead and prepared it in a 20 litre Coleman container - yes straight in it - adding lots of ice, some roughly cut up oranges, red wine, vodka, brandy and god-knows-what-else with an alcohol content of more that 40% to it and then topped it up with fizzy drink - Schweppe's Lemon Twist at that occasion. It was disgustingly sweet and had a kick to it blowing your brain apart - and that was only the first sip! Anyway, after drink number three from a plastic cup no-one seemed to care about the masses of prawns forgotten to be de-veined being barbecued - prawns alla Spanish style, or so he told us, but maybe our fallen angel was just lazy or had an early start at the sangria. I vividly remember the impressionable and very tipsy woman with some prawn antennae and eyes still peeping out from her teeth thanking our host for carefully cleaning the prawns - sangria was now the drink of oblivion. Or maybe she was just not used to eating prawns!  The 20 litre sangria did not last a long time in the heat, so the next batch of increased strength was prepared. I must add that there were a couple of us quenching our thirst, even though that was an endless problem with this sweet alcoholic drink. Nevertheless the next batch was also finished quickly, or wait, I can't remember.

Years later in Spain we also had various experiences with sangria, although not as extreme as the first one. We observed that the 'recipe' changed from bar to bar and was also dependent on the mood of the bartender. We usually ordered a litre of sangria between the two of us. The bartender would first scan the bar for whatever bottles of alcohol were almost finished, like vodka, brandy or something similar, and what reds were open. He would then slap together a concoction of anything 'leftover' in a jug, add lots of ice, pieces of oranges and apple - hopefully fresh - and something fizzy and this could be any soft drink to add to the sweetness. Let me tell you, there is NO love involved in creating this drink. And beware if ordering another litre of this bloody drink! The result will most probably be twice as strong as the first one. It seemed that bartenders were more interested in watching the football on the television and by increasing the strength they silently hoped that the client will not order another sangria due to fear or dying from alcohol poisoning.

Cubano sipping on a sangria served in a beer mug, somewhere at a Spanish plaza.

In Cordoba we had something different. This time the sangria was prepared with sparkling wine and the rest of the ingredients. That must have been the best. But it was late, very cold and we got lost and roamed the empty streets for hours trying to find our way back to our hotel. We decided to invade a nearby restaurant to satisfy our hunger when we eventually found our hotel. We had two glorious litres of this champagne concoction and good food to accompany it. It was after twelve when we struggled back to the hotel - happy as can be. That experience remains very soothing in my mind. I know that purists won't agree that the above description fits sangria, who cares! After what I have seen in Spain the 'pure' or 'authentic' recipe for sangria was lost many decades ago, that's now if it ever existed.

This drink became so popular that many people know about it and prepares it, especially for a typical holiday punch.

Sangria - the wooden spoon helps to keep the fruit pieces from landing in your glass.

I will attempt to prepare the type which floats around in my mind - the Lemon Twist version.

Sangria:
Author: Dulcie & Cubano

Serves 4-6
Ingredients:

1 bottle of dry red wine
500ml of Lemon Twist
2 tots of vodka
2 tots of brandy
(add any other leftover liquor that you fancy)
1 apple cut into pieces
2 oranges cut into pieces
5 whole cloves
sugar to taste

Method:

Add cloves, apple and orange pieces to the red wine, vodka and brandy mixture. Add ice to cool down. Just before serving add the soft drink. The vodka and brandy can be adjusted according to taste and courage.

Enjoy and remember not to plan anything else for the rest of the day! Oh, and on the question whether it is the drink from El Diablo, it depends which devil you allow to have a hand in mixing your punch. Like we teach our children: don't trust strangers. Better to keep an eye on exactly what goes into your sangria or alternatively mix it yourself otherwise you might just miss the rest of the party.