It's officially Christmas time. Only 11 days away!! I definitely still have some shopping to do. We've finally decorated our tree, all lights are up and the decoration bins are empty and put away! It took a while to get into gear this year but now I'm finally in the grove. Let's rock some Love Actually (or Die Hard because it is most definitely a Christmas movie), turn on the fire (Yule log on Netflix anyone?), and drink some delectable, festive red wine Christmas sangria!
Wanna hear a quick story about said tasty little beverage? Well. If you recall, I've had a nasty cold the past week and I've been a little behind on Christmas spirit. As this recipe literally takes 5 minutes if you're not into chilled red wine, I threw it together and went to go sit down on the couch with two wine glasses full for my husband and I because I was miserable and it was Saturday so why not?
Anyhoo, hubby comes home, and he's been amazing enough to bring me food because I can't even fathom standing for more than 5 minutes at this point in the flu cycle. After I've gotten my plate ALL set up, I realized I didn't have a fork (there was totally one in the take out bag by the way), and I attempt to stand up and walk to the kitchen.
My entire life I've had this habit of not paying attention to where I'm walking, like spatially. My elbows are constantly bruised from banging into doorways and wall corners. I have no idea why this is, especially as I have a pretty intense personal space bubble. You'd think I'd be more aware but NOPE!
Somehow, my arm smacked into my glass of Christmas sangria and the thing went FLYING across the *carpet* and shattered.
Red. Wine. Everywhere.
You know what I was most upset about? Not even the fact that the carpet looked like the some kind of cinnamon stick and cranberries everywhere crime scene but that now there was only ONE GLASS left and Dan and I would have to share it?!
For all those concerned, we did get the crime scene situation out of the carpet (thank you OxiClean!). But this red wine Christmas sangria is just too good to waste! All the best flavors of the holidays, and it's oh-so-festive.
My favorite part is actually the ginger beer. My go to cocktail is some kind of variant of a whiskey ginger depending on my mood, so this was always bound to happen. Plus, throw a little brandy, apple cider and cranberry juice to add some holiday flavor and we've got that Christmas Eve cocktail taken care of!
PS. This sangria has just a hint of sweet, but not too much so you don't have to worry about that sugar-wine headache. If you're looking for a little more sugar in your cocktail, add a little more apple cider, and/or grab some cranberry juice cocktail instead of the 100% juice kind. You can also opt for a sweeter red wine, but keep in mind that'll change the overall flavor.
Red Wine Christmas Sangria
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 1 bottle of your favorite dry red wine (I used cabernet sauvignon)
- 1 ½ cups apple cider
- 1 cup 100% cranberry juice (not juice cocktail)
- ½ cup brandy
- 12 ounces ginger beer, chilled
- 2 oranges, sliced thinly
- 2 granny smith apples, sliced thinly
- 1 pear, sliced thinly
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 1-2 cups fresh cranberries
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients except the ginger beer in a large pitcher and stir together. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- When ready to serve, stir in ginger beer. Pour into a festive Christmas glass and enjoy!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
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