Peach + Brandy Tropical Fruit Summer Sangria

Every cook has the point where they realize that their last few recipes have left them with containers of this or that in their fridge. Now hopefully, if this person is a good cook, they are leftovers you don’t want to waste! I have a foolproof system of how to solve this dilemma. If it is meat or vegetable it ends up in a scramble, if it is greens, it either ends up sautéed or in a smoothie, and if it is fruit puree or juice it becomes a cocktail!

I love this particular recipe because the main ingredients can be combined ahead and then the rosé wine and ginger beer can be added right before the event that you are bringing it to. This makes it so much easier to bring to a picnic or a barbecue because you don’t have to bring all your measuring cups and blender with you!

The recipe is also very flexible depending on what fruits and juices you would like to add. I had been working this summer with mango and pineapple so I had them sitting in the fridge just waiting to be used but if you wanted to take this to a Christmas party you could just replace it with apple and cranberry. Whatever mood you are in, the flavors of ginger and brandy play nicely all year round!

With ginger beer, this drink comes out so bubbly and refreshing that it is easy to drink and tastes wonderful! Emily and I took this to a weekend barbecue and it was a major hit with the guests. If the drink is going to be sitting for a while just make sure you have a spoon to mix it back up because some settling will occur.

You won’t necessarily need a spoon for the initial mixing because the pouring in of the wine and ginger beer will do a pretty decent job of getting the puree mixed in evenly. If you are using a closed pitcher you could shake the mixture to mix it throughout your event; just be careful doing so, because shaking will activate the carbonation and can cause the lid to open. You don’t want to get covered in this delicious sangria!

…..or maybe you do, but that is a topic for another time.

The sangria concentrate (the puree mix) also makes a great mixer for other drinks. You can add a splash of it into a mule instead of the lime juice and make a nice tropical mule or just add some sparkling water to create a nice light cocktail. Emily added some of this mix the other night with apple pie moonshine and ginger beer and it was delicious! So feel free to get creative!

I would imagine that it would also make a great boozy popsicle!

Just remember as you use it in other uses that it already has a fair amount of brandy and peach schnapps so you can easily get a VERY strong drink when using it as a mixer. Not that strong drinks are necessarily a bad thing…..but falling off your chair can be.

I love ginger in pretty much everything I can get it in! If ginger is not your thing you may want to decrease the number of drops of the ginger essential oil or use a more gentle ginger soda. I use Bundaberg ginger beer because it packs a great ginger punch, but switching out for a ginger ale or even a Sprite or 7 Up would make it a lot more gentle.

I think that this recipe is nicely balanced and don’t anticipate that you would have any issues with the amount of ginger in it; but, I want you to always know that you can experiment and have fun with these recipes.

If you make a discovery that is amazing, make sure to leave it in the comments below so other people can enjoy it too!