18 Dec 12 Drinks of Christmas: Spiced Winter Red Sangria
12 Drinks of Christmas: Spiced Winter Red Sangria
For the tenth drink of Christmas, my true love served to me … a spiced winter red sangria. It’s the 10th of our 12 ideas for how to make your holiday parties merry and your nights by the fire bright.
This is our third and final (thus far) experiment with taking the ultimate summer pitcher drink into winter. For what it’s worth, when our friend Kariuki tried these recipes out at his Thanksgiving dinner, he found this one particularly popular with the ladies.
It features a bottle we find ourselves turning to a lot this time of year (and not at all the rest of year): St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram.
It’s a rummy liqueur that brings a warmth and spiciness that tastes quintessentially like winter. It’s the perfect bottle to get you through the cold winter nights. When the daffodils bloom you can move it to the back of the shelf again until the first frost.
Ingredients
- 1 bottle of cheap red wine–fruitier is better
- 1 cup St. Elizabeth’s allspice dram
- 1/2 cup orange liqueur (we’ve used Curacao and triple sec and liked them both)
- 1 or 2 cups seltzer
- 1 orange, sliced
- a few cinnamon sticks
Instructions
- mix the wine, allspice dram, and orange liqueur in a pitcher ahead of time
- at time of serving, add the seltzer, orange slices, and cinnamon sticks
- serve in ice-filled glasses, or add ice to pitcher, or both
Notes
In a further taste test, our friend Dan found that while he liked our recipe as is, he enjoyed it even more with a splash of brandy. If you have some around and like your drinks to be higher proof, consider giving it a try.
