I know there are a lot of you out there that struggle with the holiday season because it means having to endure time spent with the family. In that case, Thanksgiving 2020 might be a blessing to you with the discouragement of social gatherings. That being said, in true 2020 fashion, we still need a good alcoholic beverage to get us through and yes, one day, we will be able to gather again and when that time comes, you will need a beverage to keep you from swearing at that one family member who always has something to say about your appearance. The perfect solution is a drink you can make in a large quantity to last all afternoon, aka sangria!
If you’ve ever tried to make an apple based drink in the fall, you know how fucking hard it is to find caramel flavored vodka from September to November. If you are lucky enough to find some, you’ll use about half of it for all of your fall drinks that year and then, it will sit on your liquor shelf until next September because it literally isn’t good for anything else. You know what kind of vodka doesn’t fly off the shelf in the fall and is also good for so many different kinds of drinks year round? Apple! I know what you’re thinking. I’m going to tell you to mix it with an apple based drink and you’re thinking that’s going to be a lot of apple on apple action but don’t you worry. I have a plan for that.
First, you will want to cut up your fruit. Obviously, you want to use apples. I would suggest using a harder variety of apple such as gala, honeycrisp, red delicious, etc. so it doesn’t go all mushy. You could also throw in some pear as well to change it up a bit. Add the fruit to your pitcher.
Next, get out your favorite 750ml bottle of white wine. Some will prefer using a sweeter wine in sangria and others will go for a dryer wine since we are adding other sweet components. Personally, I’d go for a nice pino grigio. Add your wine to your pitcher along with 6 cups of apple cider (I’d recommend a spiced apple cider, Trader Joes has a great one!), 1 cup of apple flavored vodka, 1/2 cup of caramel ice cream topping and 1 can of ginger beer or ginger ale.
Give your concoction a good stir and enjoy! Cheers!
Ingredients:
- 750ml bottle of white wine
- 6 cups apple cider
- 2 medium sized apples, diced
- 1 cup apple flavored vodka
- 1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping
- 1 can ginger beer or ginger ale