DrinkWire is Liquor.com’s showcase for the best articles, recipes and reviews from the web’s top writers and bloggers. In this post, Creative Culinary offers a hard cider sangria.

White Wine Sangrias are fruity and lighter than their red counterparts but can still pack a potent punch. Try this Hard Apple Cider Sangria for your next event or football viewing party.

For all of the combinations I’ve put together over the years, the one thing I’m not crazy about is a red wine sangria. Maybe I just prefer my red wine plain? But I love making sangria all year round with white or sparkling wine. It complements fruit so well, eliminates some of the dry qualities I don’t love with whites and can easily be changed up with different fruits and liqueurs.

For this sangria, I added a bit of vodka to the hard apple cider and sparkling wine. Absolut is a favorite of mine; it’s smooth, mixes well and has a great price point. I’m not as enamored of all of the available flavors, preferring to both flavor my cocktails with real fruit and quite honestly not have to stock my bar with a dozen different flavors!

You really can mix up the fruit in this Hard Apple Cider Sangria. Of course I think apple is a necessity but beyond that I had a couple of peaches, some oranges, a pear and some raspberries in the fridge…so in they all went. If there is one downfall to a sangria, it’s that it’s meant for a crowd; I would love to make just one of these just for me more often! Cheers!

Ingredients

• 2-3 cups of your choice of sliced assorted fall/winter fruit: apples, pears, oranges, grapes, plums, pomegranate arils, cranberries
• 1/2 cup vodka
• 12-16 oz hard apple cider
• 1/2 cup of Calvados or other apple liqueur/brandy
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3-4 cinnamon sticks
• 1 bottle (750) of sparkling wine, (I used Prosecco) chilled
• 1/4 cup simple syrup (optional)
• 10-15 oz of dry apple soda, chilled (or sparkling apple juice)

For Garnish, choose one or more

• Fruit slices, whole berries or cinnamon sticks

Instructions

1. Place the sliced fruit in a large pitcher. Add the vodka, hard apple cider, apple brandy, honey, and cinnamon sticks. Let the fruit, syrup and liqueur macerate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Add the sparkling wine and mix gently. Taste and adjust the amount of sweetness, using the simple syrup as needed.
3. Serve the sangria in individual glasses over ice and top with the sparkling apple soda. Garnish with fruit or cinnamon stick.

Recipe Notes

For a non-alcoholic version, omit the Calvados and replace the hard cider with sparkling apple cider. The sparkling wine can be replaced with sparkling lemonade or even a lemon-lime soda. Taste first before adding the simple syrup since those drinks are already quite sweet.