This recipe for warm spiced sangria is the cocktail collision of my two homes, a bit of rural Massachusetts mixed with cosmopolitan Madrid. Delicious served hot or cold, it's the perfect winter cocktail no matter where home may be!
If you love Spanish sangrias, don't miss these wonderful recipes for white wine sangria and the best traditional sangria!
Introduction
I'd never even heard of warm spiced sangria until I thought about making it, but quickly found out that many others have had this brilliant idea. My version adds apple cider, one of my favorite fall drinks in Massachusetts where we have many beautiful apple orchards. Warm spiced sangria would be great for a Thanksgiving cocktail or served along with other warm Spanish dishes!
Ingredients
Curious what you need to whip up a batch of this comforting warm spiced sangria? Grab these key ingredients (along with a few others), and you'll be ready to make this cozy winter drink in minutes!
- Red Wine: Choose a fruity red wine that's good quality (like a Rioja). It's the key ingredient, so make sure you enjoy the taste of it on its own!
- Apple Cider: Use unfiltered apple cider--or if you can't find real apple cider, fresh, unfiltered apple juice will work. Alternatively, try bumping up the alcohol even more by using hard apple cider instead.
- Honey: I like to add a touch of liquid honey to enhance the spices. Swap this out for sugar if you prefer.
- Spices: I like to use a mixture of cinnamon, anise, and cloves to bring a wonderful depth of flavor to the sangria, but feel free to tweak these as desired!
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Warm Spiced Sangria
If you’d like to see the full ingredients and instructions, scroll to the bottom of the post for the printable recipe card.
- Pour the apple cider into a saucepan, then add the whole spices and lemon peel. Bring it to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes to infuse the cider with the citrus and spices. (image 1)
- Meanwhile, slice some green apples and place a few slices into each glass for later. (image 2)
- Once the cider has simmered, let it cool for a few minutes, then stir in the honey and hard alcohol of your choice. Be sure to stir until the honey completely dissolves. (image 3)
- Strain out the spices and peel, then fill each prepared glass one-third of the way with the cider mixture. (image 4)
- Top up each glass with the red wine. (image 5)
- Enjoy this delicious warm spiced sangria right away! (image 6)
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you definitely can serve it either warm or cold! This version doesn't mull the wine with the spices, which keeps the alcohol content higher. Instead, apple cider is infused with the spices and lemon peel and then mixed with the red wine. It's comforting and delicious!
In mulled wine, the wine itself is steeped with spices. In my hot sangria recipe, the apple cider is steeped with the spices then added to the wine and sliced apples. Not infusing the wine keeps the alcohol content higher.
Serve
This warm spiced sangria is perfect for a chilly winter night, especially along with a comforting meal of Spanish food or with dessert. Pair it with main courses like carrillada de cerdo (Iberian braised pork cheek), fabada asturiana (Asturian bean stew), or chicken chilindrón. This would be a great pairing with a slice of burnt Basque cheesecake or chocolate olive oil cake, too!
Expert Tips
- Use a good quality red wine (such as a Rioja) with a fruity flavor that you enjoy on its own.
- Any unfiltered apple cider or apple juice will work well here; try using hard apple cider if you want a higher alcohol content.
- As far as the hard alcohol goes, I recommend trying brandy or vermouth; I've also used amaretto and loved it!
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Warm Spiced Sangria
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups apple cider or non-pasteurized apple juice or hard apple cider
- 1 lemon rind cut into strips
- 1 green apple thinly sliced
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 bottle light red wine like a young Rioja
- 2 cinnamon sticks plus more for decoration if you'd like
- 5 cloves
- 1 star anise
- ¼ cup hard alcohol such as brandy, vermouth, or amaretto
Instructions
- Pour the cider into a saucepan and add the spices and lemon rind. Cover and let it simmer for 30 minutes on low to infuse the cider with the spices.
- Prepare the glasses by placing a few green apple slices in each one.
- Take cider off the heat and let cool until it is no longer scalding, then stir in the honey and hard alcohol of choice. Mix until the honey has dissolved.
- Fill each prepared glass one-third of the way with the infused cider mixture, then top off each glass with the red wine. The final beverage should be warm but not too hot, as cooking the wine would remove some of the alcohol.
- Enjoy this warm spiced sangria right away!
Notes
- Use a good quality red wine with a fruity flavor that you enjoy on its own.
- Any unfiltered apple cider or apple juice will work well here; try using hard apple cider if you want a higher alcohol content.
- As far as the hard alcohol goes, I recommend trying brandy or vermouth; I've also used amaretto and loved it!
Nutrition
Photography by Giulia Verdinelli
Giulia
Perfect for fall and winter! I loved the apple cinnamon flavour probably too much, I ended up almost finishing the whole bottle. Oops.
Super delicious!
Luaay
Russians have very similar drink .
It's called:
"Glintweyn"
Bitefresh
By seeing itself it makes me to get admired in a right way. Thank you for your post
Jessica (Barcelona Blonde)
This sounds so yummy, and perfect for fall!
Sophie @ Sophie Speaking
I love cider and sangria- I absolutely have to make this! Just discovered your blog and off to a good start - thanks 🙂
Lauren Aloise
Thanks for reading Sophie! Let me know how it turns out 🙂