Adding a Little More Punch to my Already-Delicious Sangria

Sangria is, and has been for some time, my favorite summertime drink. Cool, a little sweet, great depth of flavor, and it can pack a punch if you let it.

This past Tuesday I decided that I wanted to pack a little more punch into this awesome wine-based drink, sort of make it more like a cocktail. My girlfriend, Kristi, or KP as I call her, had just got into town and I wanted to celebrate a little!

Regarding the Sangria, my first thought was to just double the rum, but my culinary intuition persuaded me that the flavor would be off if I only did that.

So I start thinking about all the good Sangria's I've had over the last year--Cha Cha Cha's in San Francisco's Haight district, Sharkeez in Newport Beach, CA, and some other little cantina off the Balboa pier in Newport Beach, CA. The only thing all three have in common is pineapple juice . . .

What a gem of an idea: add pineapple juice. I don't like sugary things so I was a tad reticent to add such a sweet juice. But sometimes there is only one way to find out: Just freakin' do it. So I committed and made a sample batch, test-kitchen style.

This sangria rocked our socks off, and user be warned: you only need a couple glasses before you're no longer able to drive.

We loved this recipe. Here's how it went down:

Ingredients:

• 1 each lemon, pear and apple
• 2 oranges
• 1 large bottle bargain Sangria wine (the HUGE bottle)
• 4 cups white rum
• 1, 16-oz can pineapple juice
• A tall glass pitcher
• Wine glasses
• Ice

Process:

1. Slice the fruit. Put half into the glass pitcher, set aside half for the second part of assembly.

2. Add half the rum to the fruit in the pitcher. Stir a few times.

3. Add half the can of pineapple juice to the fruit in the pitcher. Stir.

4. Add half the wine to the pitcher (or however much it will hold). Stir.

5. Add the other half of the fruit, rum, and pineapple juice to the bottle with the remainder of the wine in it.

6. Leave out for up to 12 hours, refrigerate after that. 

7. Serve in red wine glasses with lots of ice. If desired, you can make a beautiful presentation by alternating a few ice cubes with slices of orange, created a layered look.

Note: You may need to use a strainer to keep pulp out of the glasses if the wine sits for several hours.