This gorgeous drink has a base of moscato with aaaall the guava juice and tropical fruits before summer ends! Enjoy this sangria with a homemade brunch on the weekend.
Happy Sunday! What better way to end the weekend than a tropical inspired sangria?! My spring/summer obsession has been everything and anything guava and I'm definitely carrying that into the rest of the year!
My go to choice of wine is always a moscato. Neha, my best friend, first introduced me to the Cupcake moscato a few years ago and I was HOOKED. Before that, if a server asked me for what type of wine I wanted, me, an absolute pleb when it comes to wine, would say "just give me something that tastes like juice." face palm
A moscato is a very sweet white wine so it pairs really well with tangy fruits like guava, passionfruit, and kiwis to balance it.
Jump to:
What makes a Sangria?
A majority of sangrias are made of a few components:
- Wine, preferably a fruity Spanish wine that's dry
- Fruit juice
- Fresh fruits
- Optionally, a hard liquor like brandy
Sangria originally came to the US during the World's Fair in 1964 in NYC (Source)! It has become sooo popularized in the US since then with a boom in brunch and cocktail culture that sangria has become almost unrecognizable. There are a ton of variations to what Spaniards consider "traditional" sangria (Source).
Some are incredible, some not so much... Yes, there's bad sangria out there!! A good sangria to me is a sweetened dry wine that has chilled for a few hours so the fruits absorb some of the alcohol and fruit juice. I want to be able to scoop those suckers out! They're the best part!
But let's be honest, no one does it like they do it in Spain. Ooooh the THINGS I would do for a socially acceptable afternoon siesta with tapas and wine to look forward to after work.
Ingredients for a Tropical Sangria
Since we are now getting close to exiting summer and entering fall, I wanted to find ingredients that would be accessible as it gets colder.
Juices - The Vitasoy Guava (or any guava juice) and guava passionfruit nectar are both boxed/canned so they're available year round. The nectar is key to getting a gorgeous orangey-pinkish color to your sangria.
Fruit - I kept my fruit selection minimal since the juices are already sweet. I found fresh lychees while they were still in season, but canned lychees without the juice is totally acceptable. Golden kiwis are the (imo, more delicious) sister of the regular green kiwis we see and they're a bit sweeter. I didn't want to sour my sangria so these were perfect! They're in season from May - January, jackpot!!
If these aren't fruits that you vibe with, go with any tropical fruit! Think mangoes, pineapples, orange slices, etc. I'd avoid berries altogether for this one.
Wine - A crispy white wine is delicious for this sangria. I'd go with a moscato or riesling for this particular drink.
How to make Guava Sangria
There's really nothing difficult to making this sangria. However, it does require 2 hours minimum of chilling time, so be sure to incorporate that into your planning.
Prep your fruits first by peeling the lychee or using canned lychees. Peel kiwi and chop it into the preferred size. Cubes are usually best. Prep any of your other fruits that you'd like to add as well.
Transfer all of the prepped fruits to a large serving jug.
Next, simply pour the moscato and juices into the jug and give everything a stir. Store the jug in the fridge for at least two hours.
When serving, spoon a few fruits into each glass before pouring. For garnish, I like to use cubes of guava paste on a cocktail pick.
And there you have it! Tropical sangria! Feel free to spike it with some brandy or rum if you want to increase the alcohol percentage.
Please drink responsibly!
More Guava Recipes to try
Recipe
Tropical Guava Sangria Bianca
Ingredients
- 750 ml moscato, dry
- 250 ml guava juice
- 300 ml guava passionfruit nectar, (Hawaiian Sun brand)
- 2 golden kiwis
- 10 lychees
- guava paste, for garnish
Instructions
- Prep the Fruit - Dice 1 golden kiwi and slice the other kiwi into circles. Peel the lychees. Slice half of the lychee and carefully remove the pit. Dice guava paste into small cubes and skewer them on to toothpicks.
- Mix the Liquids - Pour the bottle of moscato, the Vitasoy Guava, and the guava passionfruit nectar into the pitcher. Stir it well.
- Add in the diced kiwi, half of the sliced kiwi, and the lychees. Chill the sangria in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours. Refrigerate the rest of the sliced kiwis and guava paste skewers.
- Stir the sangria before serving. Add a slice or two of the kiwi into each glass. Strain the sangria as you pour it into a glass, and then spoon out some of the fruit. Top with a guava paste skewer.
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