Ah, Sangria. Such a pleasant word to say. Like the wine and fruit that go into making it, the word itself conjures images of a laid-back pleasures, beach or lakeside with friends. Sangria is a party drink, made by the pitcher to celebrate everything you’re not doing at that moment. Easy to make, if you have wine some fruit, a pitcher and about two hours before your friends arrive. Sangria can be a gift from the gods.
Because Sangria is the the drink of casual afternoons and often made at homes and at backyard cocktail parties, you might think that Sangria would not be the focus of experienced mixologists and cocktail wizards.
But in honor of National Sangria Day, we went looking to find out if Sangria is more important then we might think.
“I believe Sangria has worked its way into American culture due to the multiple varieties that it can be made, letting each mixologist use their creativity to play with different recipes,” said Devin Graham, one of the owners of 612 Kitchen and Cocktails, Kirkwood’s first 1920’s inspired cocktail lounge. “We believe dining and drinking are experiences that should be shared, cherished and enjoyed. We focus on hand crafted cocktails paired with thoughtfully prepared dishes.”
Most cocktails have a recipe allowing for variances along the way, but just do a simple online search for Sangria and you’ll find that it can’t be confined to just one recipe.
“Original sangria is just wine juices and soda, but with the evolution of mixology there are different plays on “original cocktails”. We change our sangrias for each season. Currently, we are doing a “Harvest” sangria. We always use fruits that are in season to create our recipes,” said Graham.
So, as you go about your Sunday, remember with Sangria, there are no rules. Get yourself some fruit, some red wine and a pitcher, hang your car keys on a hook stay in and have fun.
Visit 612 Kitchen and Cocktail
612 W Woodbine Ave
Kirkwood, Missouri
