This Brazilian Sangria Cocktail recipe will surprise you. This version contains the fruit of your liking, a bit of cachaça, brandy, red wine and—here is the kicker—absinthe. Of all the sangria recipes out there, this happens to be one of the most creative and tasting it is an experience.

This Brazilian Sangria Cocktail recipe takes an entirely different approach to Sangria. This one is made in a glass, not a punch bowl, and the red wine is a float rather than the main component. It also prefers Brazil’s cachaça over other types of rum, although it pairs that with Spanish brandy so that you get both liquors in one drink where it is typically one or the other.

Fruit plays a significant role here, like all sangrias, but it is your choice as to which ones to include. Have fun with this part and find the freshest or most exciting fruit in the produce section that you can at the moment. You cannot go wrong because you mix this drink with a new taste each time.

Some History of Sangria

Early Greeks and Romans combined wine with sugar, spices, and whatever was on hand. It was called “hippocras,” sometimes heated like mulled wine. Hippocras is likely the common ancestor of Sangria and mulled wine and was drunk everywhere because the water was bacteria-filled and dangerous to drink. A dash of alcohol made the liquid drinkable, and mixing the watered-down wine gave it flavour. People who lived in modern-day Spain did something comparable with grapevines planted by the Phoenicians around 1,100 B.C. and then with vines planted by the Romans afterward.

But in the 700s, the Spanish wine industry, and by extension the Spanish sangria industry, weakened. Islamic Moors occupied the peninsula in 711 A.D. Sangria did not return until the Moors’ rule ended in 1492, and Sangria was born with the return of wine.

Deviations of house sangria — which means blood in Spanish, about the red wine used — ruled in Spain. Traditionally, they made it with Spanish Tempranillo and other wine from Rioja with added citrus fruit. And even then, non of their Sangria was made the same.

In the 1700s and 1800s, a type of Sangria was made in England and France using traditional French grapes. There was also white Sangria, sparkling Sangria, and Sangria made with peaches, called zurra. The drink in all its forms had flashes of popularity in the U.S. in Spanish restaurants and certain city alcoves.

The current obsession for Sangria in the U.S. dates back to the 1964 World’s Fair. Spain’s sponsored tent featured the drink, and Americans have been thirsty for Sangria ever since.

Under European law, all Sangria must be made in Spain or Portugal and have less than 12% alcohol by volume. The best Sangria, however, is homemade

Bar Tools

More Brandy Recipes