Sangria
- 700ml cheap red wine
- 50ml Cointreau
- 200ml rum (also known as a Spanish bartender's double measure)
- 100ml fresh lime juice
- 50ml fresh lemon juice
- 100ml fresh orange juice
- 2 limes, thinly sliced
- 2 oranges, thinly sliced
- 1 vanilla pod, split
- 2 bay leaves (optional)
- 1/2 cup of castor sugar
- ice
- soda water
A Spanish schoolmate taught me this way of making cheap wine bearable. I don't know how the vanilla pod or the bay leaves found their way in there but it all works, giving complexity alongside all that sugar and acidity.
Method
Pour everything (except the ice and the soda) into a jug or bowl, stir thoroughly and then let it macerate in the fridge for at least four hours.
Feel free to tweak the proportions to your taste but it should be fruity.
This mixture can be drunk neat - it is quite sweet - but on a hot day serve poured over ice in a highball glass topped with soda. The hotter the day, the more soda you'll need.
