Want to know what I’m thinking today?
Besides how giddy I am that Scott Speedman is back on cable television?
And besides how I don’t know if I can handle not ever knowing WHAT happened to Mark Sloan on Grey’s?
That this week deserves a big, cold glass of sangria.
It has been… a week. Uh huh. And it was “a week” AFTER I had this sangria last weekend. Fair? I think not.
Sooooo. You know, I’m all about the chilly weather cocktails. Last year I made pomegranate vanilla sangria along with apple cider margaritas, and now I’m like why didn’t I ever just make apple cider sangria? I don’t know. Sometimes I am just totally clueless.
Oh and I’m also freaking out over the fact that pomegranate season is HERE! Only one of my favorite fruits, um… EVER.
But it’s not about poms today, it’s all about the apples. I guess it’s been all about the apples all week, yes? Huh. Sorta crazy over them.
They only get better in sangria. Trust me.
Apple Cider Sangria
Yield: serves 4-6
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
1 bottle (standard size) of pinot grigio
2 1/2 cups fresh apple cider
1 cup club soda
1/2 cup ginger brandy
3 honey crisp apples, chopped
3 pears, chopped
Directions:
Combine all ingredients together and stir, stir, stir. Refrigerate for an hour or so (or longer!) before serving.
[Regular brandy can also be used, I simply used ginger brandy to give it more autumn flavor.]
Cheers?
I’m Jessica and this is where I share my stuff. You will find a balance of healthy recipes, comfort food and indulgent desserts.
I am a Sangria girl all the way. love this for fall!
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This looks like a delicious way to enjoy sangria in transition from summer white sangria to winter red sangria, but I have one question – is there enough wine?
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Uh, it freaking snowed here today and there you go showing me SANGRIA like it’s mid July. I’m jumping into that glass and never emerging.
(Um, Ben Covington? What show is he on now?!)
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I’m sooooo all over this! post pregnancy, of course ;)
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Ashleee — October 26th, 2012 @ 6:33 pm
I am having to say the same thing. I am maybe going to be nice and make it for the family for Thanksgiving!
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Scott Speedman. Swoon.
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I’ve been waiting for this! Sounds soooo good. It’s finally gotten below 90 degrees here, but hasn’t dipped below 70, so I think this drink is still pretty California-fall-weather appropriate.
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Clearly, I am going to need to doctor this by using sparkling hard apple cider that we have in abundance here. Actually, I’ve never seen soft, non-sparking apple cider in Paris. Whatever. More booze! And bubbles!
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Can it be made without the brandy?
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I think this sangria would go great with a Felicity marathon :) It looks almost as great as Scott Speedman!
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A WHOLE week with out sangria? Ridiculous indeed! I love the ginger brandy addition, yum-ME.
O.k. so I have a potentially very embarassing quistion…….
I don’t have cable and I’ve been hearing Grey’s Anatomy remarks here and there but watched all the old episodes waaay later on Netflix. So my question is Are there some new episodes as of lately?!!!!
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I LOVE sangria!!! What a great way to make it ready for fall. Can’t wait to make a batch (or 3)!
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Weird, it won’t let me go back to my comment to respond to your response to my comment (did that just make sense?) Yeah, I guess I knew about “the surge” because it happened with my aunt this summer. However, IT? did not look like that. I call bullshit. And also, agreed, WHAT illness. #ineedtogetalifeandstopobsessingovergreysanatomy
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LOVE Sangria and apple cider!! Can’t wait to try this!!
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I made this last night for Cocktail Club and it was a huge hit! A few notes: I found it wasn’t sweet enough so I made a simple syrup and added a little of that. I also couldn’t find ginger brandy so I went with regular brandy and didn’t notice the difference. It definitely tastes like fall.
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Bringing this to girls’ night next week– to watch Grey’s of course. I’m pretending the first episode of the season isn’t real…
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i still can’t believe McSteamy is gone. I think I might need a sangria (or three) to console myself!!
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That looks so good! Perfect for fall!
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Love. That is all.
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Love your seasonal sangria! All good things in one lovely glass!
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Beautiful pics!! Oh and I wish I was slurping this out of a wine glass with a straw right now!
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Made this for an Octoberfest BBQ last night and it was a HIT! I replaced the Pinot Grigio with Vino Verde from Trader Joes and Bourbon for Brandy. It worked really well!! Thanks Jessica for the inspiration!!!
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Ohhh…. I want. Badly. Cannot think of anything better for a day when the leaves have turned and I’m like, totes done with mulled wine and non-alcoholic (?) cider. Delish!
And, Speedman FTW.
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GENIUS!
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I love Sangria in all forms. So does my best friend but we hadn’t even thought of apple! i usually don’t use pinot grigio in my sangria (bad peach sangria experience), but I can see this would work great with thus. Question – she is allergic to ginger. Think it would be okay without the ginger brandy? Or can you suggest something to use instead?
Love your blog.
Thanks,
Lin
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Beautiful! Love the ginger brandy in this!!
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I’m totally making this for when I host our playgroup. Yes, that’s a playgroup for babies. They get to drool on each other’s toys, we get to drink this. Fair, right?
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Such a great recipe! I made it Saturday night to take to an outdoor performance with friends. Everyone went crazy for it, next time I’ll make a double batch ;)
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Not sure if they have it everywhere, but Polar makes a seasonal flavor of seltzer water, Granny Smith Apple! This is the icing on the cake for this recipe….so good, drinking it now ;)
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That looks almost as awesome as Speedy without a shirt. Almost. ;)
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I am so totally all over this it’s not even re-heal.
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just made this and letting it soak!! I couldn’t find ginger brandy so added a dash of ginger. Thank you for the recipe!!
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So this solves a problem that I’ve had since moving to LA, namely that autumn festivities (college football, Halloween) arrive well before autumn weather, and no one wants hot chocolate and Baileys when it’s 80 freaking degrees outside. Problem. Solved.
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What a beautiful post! Love the pictures. I’m having an autumn ladies lunch on Friday and I am so going to serve this! Thanks!
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I’m not really a big drinker (pretty much wine only and an occasional cocktail out) and don’t like to buy liquor… Is there anything I could do to replace the brandy??
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Jessica — October 18th, 2012 @ 8:28 pm
I’d just leave it out!
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Amazing! I cannot wait to try it this weekend at our tailgate. Thanks for posting!
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I added some cinnamon. Amazing!
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Question! Does it have to be fresh apple cider? Could I just buy bottled cider from the liquor store? Or is fresh apple cider just fresh apple juice?
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This sounds awesome! I’m going to try this for my Pampered Chef party this weekend. I was thinking, would you try this with hard cider?
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I substituted Ginger Beer (Ginger Ale would work too) for the soda water. Gave the drink a great taste!
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Looks so good. How long doe sit keep. I am the only drinker in the house. Could I sip on this for a couple of days?
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I used regular brandy because that was all I had and sprinkled in a healthy dose of cinnamon! Next time I’ll pick up some cinnamon sticks!!! Very delish!!
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I did not use brandy and used ginger ale instead of club soda. I used a Reisling wine. Everyone is calling for the recipe after my party. Had to keep making over and over.,thanks for the recipe.
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This was delicious! Made this as our Thanksgiving Day drink. Made it the night before without any issues. In fact, I made a second batch the day of. Yum!
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Made this for Thanksgiving…it was yummy…instead of pinot grigio wine I used a Cranberry wine, and I did not add any club soda…it went very fast, and was definately a HIT! Thanks for the recipe!!
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Hi! I just wanted to firstly say how beautiful this post is and how inspiring the photography is. Thanks so much for posting this. I pinned it via Pinterest and made the recipe for our first ever married Thanksgiving. It was a huge hit and just wanted to say thanks and I appreciate you sharing it!
Here’s the link- I made sure to link back to you. Take care and Happy Turkey Day!
http://somethinganniemade.com/?p=429#
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OMG this is SO good!!!!
I used Ginger Liqueur instead of Ginger Brandy… and Ginger Ale instead of Club Soda…
AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!
Everyone really loved it!!
Thanks so much for posting!!
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I made this last night. It’s pretty good. Next time I’m going to make it a day early so that the apple & pear taste is better extracted into the liquid.
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I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a raging sucess!!! If you’re thinking about it you should just make it!! I followed the instructions exactly. I did buy a really cheap wine though, but everyone said they liked it.
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I made this and it was incredibly delicious. I did it almost as written except that I used a sparkling apple cider and poured that and the club soda in just before serving to maintain the fizz. It made for a really crisp and delicious drink, a perfect cold weather sangria. I’m also wondering if some hard cider might be delicious in it as well instead of fresh (especially for those who are looking for the drink to pack more of a punch).
Quite delicious! I’ve always been a fan of the Sangria Flora from Food & Wine and this recipe is definitely up there as well.
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I made this tonight and it was AWESOME! I couldn’t find ginger brandy so I just added some ginger to the brandy before adding it. And….I had no clue where to find fresh apple cider and had to use instant and it this sangria still got rave reviews! Thanks so much for sharing.
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