Give Sangria A Flavor Boost With One Easy Substitute

Traditionally, sangria is made from Spanish red wine, brandy or other liqueurs, and local types of fruit. This combination of ingredients is equal parts fruity, boozy, and fun — but you can make it even better. Hard seltzer is another ingredient you can add to your sangria to boost your beverage's flavor. Undoubtedly, hard seltzers have taken the alcoholic beverage space by storm for a big reason: A typical hard seltzer provides fruit flavor at 5% ABV, 100 calories, with two grams of sugar. What better way to take even a bottle of two-buck chuck and transform it into a luscious and bubbly seltzer-laden sangria?

There are a couple of methods to add hard seltzer to your sangria. You can top off your glass of sangria with a splash of hard seltzer, providing a fizzy finish. You can pour the hard seltzer into ice molds before adding them to your glass or pitcher for pops of fruity flavor, or you can batch-make sangria with seltzers by pouring multiple cans of your desired flavor into a pitcher before serving for a blast of fruit throughout. Just note that the longer the seltzer sits, the less fizzy it will be, so it you want frothy pop in every sip, consider adding it straight to your glass.

While you can always make Giada De Laurentiis' sparkling sangria or use Alton Brown's secret ingredient for irresistible sangria, adding seltzer makes things so easy. The most popular flavors in the U.S. are black cherry, mango, lime, berry, grapefruit, pineapple, watermelon, strawberry, and raspberry. Before combining any of these popular seltzers with your sangria, consider how their flavors will marry; after all, certain flavors pair better with red wine than white. 

Red wines are known for their dark fruit flavors, like blackberries, cherries, and black currants. Therefore, adding black cherry-flavored seltzer to red wine, cherry juice, and orange liqueur is a great way to achieve a well-balanced sangria. Any type of berry seltzer, including strawberry and raspberry seltzer, also pairs well with red sangrias due to their complementary notes. 

Some common white wine flavors include but are not limited to citrus like lemons, limes, and grapefruits; tropical fruits like mangos and pineapples; and other fruits like watermelon, peaches, and apples. With this in mind, mango and pineapple seltzers are lush flavors you can easily incorporate into white wine tropical cocktails for a lively twist. Lime or grapefruit hard seltzer can add a much-needed tart kick to recipes like a spicy sangria. And for an ice-cold white wine watermelon sangria that doesn't get diluted, freeze watermelon hard seltzer into ice molds before topping off with more seltzer.