Every Thanksgiving dinner needs a cocktail, and my 2022 Thanksgiving menu has Fall Sangria. It’s loaded with fruit with cinnamon, maple syrup, and bourbon. But what struck me was this sangria is white wine based. I cook with it all the time, but I’m not a big white wine drinker. That made me a little hesitant, but I decided to take a risk because it sounded so perfect for my menu. It promises to be quick and easy and makes up a whole batch of drinks at once. This sounds like it’s made for parties and get together, so let’s find out if it lives up to its name!
You can find my 2022 Thanksgiving Menu as a free downloadable Google Doc. It includes a schedule, a shopping list, and an equipment list. The checkboxes on the lists are interactive and cross off each item when you click them. You may also print it or save it and make any changes you like.
This Fall Sangria with apple cider, bourbon, and wine is loaded with fresh apples, pears, and plums for a gorgeous fall beverage!
The Ingredients
I tend to keep bourbon and club soda stocked, and usually maple syrup. The real thing–it’s worth the extra expense, trust me. The rest I had to shop for.
Most of the ingredients were easy to find at my usual grocery store except the plums. I searched at least three stores and never found them. Fortunately, this recipe does invite customization, so I used red pears instead.
The Process
Sangria is easy to make, and this recipe was no exception. Just chop the fruit, add it to a pitcher with a few other flavorings plus the liquor, and stir well. But things didn’t go exactly as planned.
I used my largest ‘pretty’ pitcher, and the chopped fruit alone filled it almost to the top. It had just enough room to add the wine, bourbon, maple syrup, and cinnamon sticks, but not enough for the apple cider and club soda.
I had a mild panic moment until I remembered I wasn’t using my iced tea maker’s pitcher. It’s 3+ quarts, and it held everything with room to stir. Tip: The fruit and liquids filled the pitcher to the 2-quart mark (64 ounces). It wasn’t as pretty as the pitcher I originally chose, but it did the job. All I had to do was cover it with plastic wrap and let it infuse overnight in the refrigerator.
The next day I stirred in the club soda and transferred the sangria to a prettier pitcher to serve. I was able to fit about half the fruit into that pitcher with the sangria, so I held the rest to garnish each glass of sangria. And yes, the sangria-infused fruit was delicious too!
