A Winter Spiced Sangria Cocktail, with fruit, liqueurs, warm spiced simple syrup and herbs, makes for a perfect winter cocktail sip.
The Best Cocktail With Warm Spices For Winter
There’s something magical about a winter sangria made with deep red wine, warm spices, and glistening winter fruits. It’s the kind of drink that greets you like an old friend, comforting, aromatic, and just a little bit festive. While summer sangria is all sunshine and sparkle, winter sangria feels like candlelight: richer, slower, and wrapped in the flavors of the season.
Cinnamon sticks swirl through the pitcher like tiny wands of holiday spice, citrus slices glow like stained glass, and pomegranate seeds fall to the bottom like garnets. Every sip is a blend of cozy warmth and refreshing brightness, making it perfect for gatherings where you want something celebratory but not too heavy. And the best part? It’s gloriously make-ahead. Mix it up hours before the doorbell rings and let the fruits, wine, and spices deepen into something unforgettable.
This is the sangria people hover over at parties, the one that looks like a centerpiece and tastes like a holiday memory in the making.
Winter Sangria
Every winter sangria must start with a good bottle of red wine. Dark red wine brings a velvety warmth that feels more “winter appropriate” than the bright, crisp wines used in summer sangria. It adds depth, structure, and a little romance.
Never use a wine for a sangria that you wouldn’t want to sip on its own. The idea of a winter sangria is to take a rich red wine and deepen its flavors with the addition of warm spices that have steeped in a simple syrup.
Winter Fruits
Using winter fruits, such as apples and oranges, brings a freshness from the fruit but, my oh my, wait until you bite into that apple that has been soaking up the wine!
Pomegranate arils, oranges, pears, apples, cranberries… these fruits are both beautiful and naturally suited to stewing gently in wine. They infuse flavor and turn each glass into a colorful, edible garnish.
What Is A Winter Spiced Sangria Cocktail?
A dark red winter sangria lends itself to warm winter spices to flavor the simple syrup, with fruits that best compliment the liqueurs chosen to add. Cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, cardamom, these spices instantly signal winter comfort. They give the sangria a mulled-wine vibe without being heavy or too hot to sip indoors.
An Apple Brandy makes a great addition to a dark red wine. Add a splash of apple cider simmered with cinnamon, cloves and orange rinds, and you’ve got the perfect fruit sangria for the winter months and holiday occasions.
Sangria Origin
Sangria, derived from the word ‘sange’ or blood in Spanish, originated as a way to ward off bacteria in water many years ago. It was believed to protect the blood from bacteria related diseases.
Having spent a greater part of my child rearing years with a large Italian family, I became aware that Sunday Suppers, always included wine. Even the kids table had a watered down wine at their seat; sorry I didn’t know this family when I was a kid!
I was a bit taken aback when I saw this, until I was in the kitchen and happened to see the children’s glasses being prepared; a glass of water, a drizzle of Chianti. When I asked why, the answer was; ‘tradition’!
I guess it stemmed from bad water, many centuries ago, and like an ‘old wives tale’, it stuck.
Winter Spices In Sangria
Many cultures serve warm spiced wine drinks during the winter months, and the spices are an important aspect of this tradition.
It is believed that many of the whole spices, such as cinnamon, star anise, cloves and others, carry medicinal benefits.
What better way to boost your immune system in the winter months of colds and flu, than to bring these spices into foods and drinks.
Many cocktails start off with a simple syrup, a boiled mixture of sugar and water.
For this cocktail, the syrup is where the flavor and health benefits will come from, simmering apple cider with whole spices and a splash of honey.
My First Fruit Winter Sangria Cocktail
I must admit, my first glass of sangria, with all the luscious fruits, didn’t happen unto the late 90’s.
Having gone to a fabulous Spanish restaurant in Baltimore Maryland, for the best Paella I’d eaten in a restaurant.
Proudly I say that, because one of my sons makes the very, very best Paella I’ve ever had in my life!
Old World Pitchers Of Sangria
I happened to notice nearly every table had a huge ornate pitcher of sangria, loaded with fruit.
I felt sure that the ornate pitchers were hand painted in Portugal, wink! I had to have one.
I have to admit, if there is one really good reason to order a pitcher of winter sangria, other than the fact that it tastes fabulous, it’s because you can drink a whole lot more during the course of an evening without feeling over the top!
Kind of healthy, I guess!
Sangria Popularity
Part of the food and dining experience is about the drink! While I can pop the cork on my favorite bottle of wine, I knew very little about cocktails.
I went to have my niece (a wedding planner), give me a few lessons on cocktails, what people like and why.
The first, so called, cocktail she wanted me to learn to make was Sangria with fruit. She said it lends itself to such a huge variety of additional liquors, fruits, herbs and spices that it should be the first cocktail a home cook would want experiment with.
She explained also that there are a variety of ways to make a sangria, for a variety of seasons; which lend to a lovely springtime White Wine Sangria Cocktail.
Serving Sangria As A Cocktail
While Sangria was originally prepared in beautiful over-sized handmade clay pitchers with traditional painting on the sides, we Americans seemed to have changed that.
In our quest to appear to live a casual lifestyle, we have started serving Sangria in oversized Mason Jars! Geez!
I went out to buy half dozen of these jars and found I enjoyed drinking my daily Mint Water out of them, but using the lids for a very practical Pie Crust Hack.
Just think, you can have a Mason Jar filled with an array of fruits and herbs, sip on it all day and no one will suspect ‘ya got booze’ in there!
Ingredients Needed
- At the heart of this Winter Spiced Red Wine Sangria is a deep, generous Red Wine, something fruity and full-bodied that can stand up to spice and cold. It’s softened and sweetened with apple cider, bringing the flavor of late-season orchards and crisp air.
- The warming spices do the quiet, essential work: a cinnamon stick for familiar comfort, fresh ginger for gentle heat, star anise for its subtle licorice perfume, and whole cloves for that unmistakable winter depth. Together, they turn the sangria into something closer to a simmered memory than a simple cocktail.
- A spoonful of honey rounds everything out, smoothing the edges and adding a soft floral sweetness.
- Fresh apples soak up the spiced wine like little jewels, while orange slices brighten the glass with citrus oils and color.
- A splash of brandy deepens the warmth, adding richness and a lingering finish.
- Served over ice, this sangria stays refreshing even as it carries all the comfort of a crackling fire and a long winter evening, perfect for gatherings that stretch late into the night.
Equipment Needed
This sangria begins not as a mixed drink, but as a gentle infusion, which is why the equipment matters just as much as the ingredients.
- Saucepan – is essential for warming the wine, cider, and spices slowly, allowing the flavors to bloom without boiling or losing their nuance.
- Pitcher – once infused, the sangria is transferred to a pitcher, where it can cool, mingle, and become something meant to be shared. The pitcher also allows the fruit to settle and soften, turning each glass into a layered experience.
- Measuring cup and measuring spoons ensure balance, too much spice can overpower, too little can disappear. Precision here keeps the sangria warming rather than overwhelming.
- Stirring spoon brings everything together, gently marrying the flavors without disturbing their clarity. It’s a quiet reminder that winter drinks are less about speed and more about patience.
- Stovetop or burner provides controlled heat, just enough to coax the cinnamon, ginger, and citrus to release their aromas while keeping the wine smooth and balanced.
Winter Spiced Sangria Cocktail
Equipment
- Small saucepan
- Large pitcher
- 2 Serving glasses
Ingredients
- 2 cups Red Wine favorite choice
- 3/4 cup Apple Cider homemade
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 1 cup Apples thinly sliced, red and green
- 1/4 cup Brandy apple brandy is yummy
- 1 Orange in slices
- 1 cup Ice
- 3 Cinnamon sticks 2 are for garnish
- 2 Star anise pods
- 3 Whole cloves
- 1 inch Fresh ginger slice
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, place apple cider, 1 cinnamon stick, remaining spices and honey. Bring to a simmer, turn off, cover and let steep for 15 minutes. Cool. Remove spices.
- In a large pitcher, place ice, wine, brandy and fruit, reserving a few oranges and cinnamon sticks for garnish. Stir.
- In large glasses, place an orange slice on the rim of the glass, 1 cinnamon stick each and pour the sangria in each glass. Serve. Allow pitcher to sit out room temp while sipping.
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I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.