Blackberry Sangria

I was asked today on Twitter what my blackberry sangria recipe was and I thought, what the hell! I'll share on the blog, too!

I use a bottle of red wine, generally something with matching notes of citrus, blackberry and vanilla. For tonight's Sangria, I used Gato Negro Cabernet Merlot. Sweet, but not too sweet. It helps balance the homemade blackberry syrup. It's hard as hell to find pure cranberry juice, so in a pinch I used a cranberry blackberry juice cocktail. The recipe is WAY better with pure cranberry juice. And, because it's delicious, I add in a little Tuaca. Mmmm.

To make blackberry syrup, you'll need two pints of blackberries. Put them in a food processor or blender and add a little water to blend them together. Run the berry pulp through a sieve using a wooden spoon. Discard the seeds. Add a cup and a quarter white sugar and bring to a boil. Allow to cool. You can substitute whatever blackberry syrup you'd like instead. I believe Carabba's uses Monin in their blackberry sangria.

Sangria:

One bottle red wine
16 oz cranberry juice
16 oz blackberry syrup
8 oz Tuaca
orange, lemon and lime slices
fresh blackberries

Put all liquids together and stir well. Add fruit. Let chill in the fridge overnight. Serve over ice.

When we break this out tonight, I'll be sure to tweet how it turned out.