Recipe: Christmas Orange & Spice Sangria

Sangria is an easy-to-prepare, crowd pleasing cocktail.

Batched drinks are the easiest way to cater for a crowd!

If you’ve got a Christmas party or family gathering coming up (or if you’re on drinks duty for Christmas Day), mix up a batch of this.

Sangria really is one of the easiest drinks you can make - there’s no fancy equipment or faffing around required.

Just mix everything together in a big jug or pitcher, and chuck it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

I love the combination of orange and spice, so I’ve opted for Cointreau and fresh sliced orange, with cinnamon and star anise.

You can get creative with the fruit here - sliced apples are great, as are berries of any kind.

You can also swap out the Cointreau for your favourite liqueur; Chambord or amaretto would work beautifully.

Serve this in a big jug and let your guests serve themselves, or if you’re expecting some thirsty guests, pre-portion your glasses!

There’s nothing better than a chilled glass of sangria on a hot day - even more so when it’s got some festive flair!

Christmas Orange & Spice Sangria

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 x 750ml bottle red wine of choice
• 1 x 330ml bottle apple cider
• 90ml brandy
• 90ml Cointreau
• ¼ cup pure maple syrup
• 1 orange (skin on), thinly sliced
• ½ punnet blueberries
• Large handful fresh cherries, pits removed and halved
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 star anise

Method

1. In a large jug or pitcher, mix together wine, apple cider, brandy, Cointreau and maple syrup to combine. Add fruit and spices and mix to distribute.
2. Set in the fridge for 3 hours or overnight, to allow the flavours to develop and the drink to thoroughly chill. Serve chilled.

• Olivia Moore and her Taupō business That Green Olive offer recipe development, food photography - in studio or on-location - for restaurants and cafes, recipe video creation and social media content creation. Visit Olivia’s website for more recipes: www.thatgreenolive.com

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