Blackberry Sangria, the Carrabba's Copycat
A red wine sangria built on a homemade blackberry syrup, unsweetened cranberry juice and a vanilla-forward Italian liqueur, with the lemon-lime soda added at the glass so the last pour fizzes like the first.
Ingredients
Blackberry Syrup
- 8 ounces blackberries about 1 1/2 cups, fresh or frozen
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 strips lemon zest wide, taken off with a vegetable peeler
The Pitcher
- 750 milliliters Italian red wine one bottle, soft and fruit-forward, such as Bisanzio or a young Sangiovese
- 1 cup cranberry juice 100 percent juice, not cranberry cocktail
- 3 ounces Tuaca or another vanilla-forward Italian liqueur, or brandy
- 1 medium orange washed, cut into thin wheels
- 1 medium lemon washed, cut into thin wheels
To Serve
- 16 ounces lemon-lime soda chilled hard, 2 ounces per glass
- 1 cup blackberries fresh, for the glasses
- 4 cups ice cubes
Equipment
- Small saucepan
- Fine mesh sieve
- 2-quart pitcher
Instructions
Make the Blackberry Syrup
- Put the 8 ounces of blackberries, the sugar, the water and the lemon zest strips in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook 8 to 10 minutes, crushing the berries against the side of the pan as they soften, until the fruit has collapsed and the liquid is deep purple.
- Strain through a fine sieve into a jar, pressing hard on the solids with a ladle to get the pulp out, then discard the seeds and zest. You should have about 3/4 cup. Cool it completely, about 15 minutes in a shallow bowl, before it goes anywhere near the wine.
Build the Pitcher and Chill
- Pour the wine, cranberry juice, Tuaca and the cooled syrup into a 2-quart pitcher. Stir for a good 20 seconds, until the syrup has dissolved evenly into the wine rather than sitting at the bottom.
- Add the orange and lemon wheels and press them under the surface with a spoon, then cover the pitcher.
- Refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 8 with the fruit in. If you want to hold it longer than that, lift the citrus wheels out at 8 hours, since the white pith keeps releasing bitterness for as long as it sits.
Pour
- Fill each wine glass about half full with ice and pour in 2 ounces of very cold lemon-lime soda.
- Pour roughly 5 ounces of the chilled sangria over the soda, stir once, and finish with a few fresh blackberries and a wheel of lemon or orange. Serve straight away.
Notes
The syrup is the part worth making rather than buying. Bottled coffee syrups are sweeter and taste of flavoring rather than fruit. If you do use one, start with 1/2 cup and add a squeeze of lemon.
Wine: soft, fruit-forward and low in tannin. Bisanzio is the bottle the copycat names; a young Sangiovese, a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, a Lambrusco Rosso or a Garnacha all work. Avoid oaked and avoid aged.
Cranberry juice must be the unsweetened 100 percent kind, not cranberry cocktail.
Take the citrus wheels out at 8 hours. The pith keeps releasing bitterness for as long as it sits, and that is the commonest reason a pitcher turns harsh overnight.
Never put the soda in the pitcher. Two ounces per glass, over ice, before the sangria goes in.
Storage: 3 days refrigerated with the fruit removed. The syrup alone keeps 2 weeks.
Nutrition values are an estimate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1glass | Calories: 220kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 1g | Sodium: 12mg | Potassium: 160mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 120IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg