Frozen Sangria

I’ve been making sangria in the freezer for years. Because of the alcohol content in the wine it won’t freeze completely and the fruit (which does freeze completely) doubles as ice cubes. Best of all, the ice crystals that form in the fruit as it freezes helps release its juices into the drink as it thaws, adding flavor to the sangria while giving you perfectly macerated fruit to eat by the time you’re done drinking your sangria.

Although the components were always there for making a frozen sangria, it never occurred to me to blend the mixture until a recent scorcher when I was tempted to empty out my freezer so I could huddle inside to cool off.

I didn’t get the freezer emptied, but I did find a batch of sangria I’d made previously that was more frozen than it should have been. While it may not have been drinkable straight out of the freezer, it was soft enough that I was able to break it up into chunks with a spoon. Unwilling to wait until it thawed, I decided to throw it in a blender.

What came out of the blender wasn’t a traditional sangria, it was more like a grown up slurpee. Smooth, fruity and most importantly brain-freeze inducingly cold. I also realized it’s not necessary to add as much sugar to the sangria as you normally would because the ripe fruit tends to sweeten it quite a bit.

This particular combination works so well because the white peach adds a sweet floral note, mellowing out the strong melon flavor, but you could really do this with any combination of fruit and wine. Paired with a plate of Jamón Ibérico, Manchego and Marcona almonds and it made for a fabulous light meal one a day when I really didn’t feel like eating anything.