Few fruits evoke the flavors and feel of summer as peaches do. Juicy and bright, peaches conjure sunny days spent poolside or enjoying an outdoor picnic under a shady tree. When summer peaches are ripe and ready, it’s time to enjoy their wonderful fragrance and flavor in every possible way, and fresh cocktails are the perfect concoction to showcase the fruit. If you’re looking for an easy option that you can make for a crowd, adding peaches to sangria should be at the top of your list.
“White peaches and yellow peaches are both great to use in peach sangria,” says Jankel Aleman, Food and Beverage Manager at The National Hotel Miami Beach, who spoke to Tasting Table to share his expert tips for making a mouthwatering peach sangria. Both colors of peaches work well because “they will absorb the beautiful colors of the beverage,” he says. If you can find them, try using some of each to make your peach sangria even more beautiful.
A refreshing blend of wine, fruit, and sparkling water at its very basic, sangria is the way to go for a crowd-pleasing summer drink. And while red sangria might be the most common, don’t limit yourself to using red wine. A beautiful rosé or white wine sangria opens possibilities for showcasing a whole different palate of fruits with more delicate or tropical flavors, as white wines often have natural flavors reminiscent of stone fruits like apricot, nectarine, and peach.
The best types of peaches to use for peach sangria
Another great thing about peach sangria is its versatility. Not only can you use a variety of wines and types of peaches, but you can also use frozen or canned fruit when fresh peaches are not available. “Whichever type of peaches are convenient can be used in sangria,” says Aleman. “Frozen peaches can be easy to use as they are easily found out of season and don’t have to be sliced around the pit.”
Obviously, when using fresh peaches, you will need to slice them or dice them, so pre-sliced frozen peaches would be a huge time saver. Plus, adding frozen fruit to sangria helps chill it without diluting the drink. However, using fresh peaches also offers the opportunity to embellish your drink even further, such as grilling the fruit before using it, as in this grilled peach rosé sangria recipe, to add extra layers and deeper flavors.
Another option is canned peaches, but you will require an extra step before adding them to your peach sangria. “Canned peaches are often coated in a sugary syrup that should be rinsed off before adding the peaches into a sangria,” says Aleman. So, unless you decrease the amount of sugar in the recipe, be sure to rinse them first if you use commercially canned peaches. If you enjoy preserving your own summer fruit, consider this simple recipe for preserved peaches and use them later in your sangria for extra convenience and flair.
Other recommended additions to enhance your peach sangria
Enhancing a peach sangria with a few extra ingredients will make it stronger, fruitier, or more refreshing, depending on which way you want to go. If you wish to emphasize the peach flavor while upping the alcohol content, Aleman says that “adding peach schnapps or peach vodka can add additional flavor.” When making a white peach sangria, Aleman says that “other fruits like grapes, cherries and oranges can also be fun and colorful additions to a peach sangria, as well as fresh herbs like mint to add a refreshing note.”
If you’re the adventurous sort or are curious to try the rising trend of spicy cocktails, try this unique peach jalapeño sangria, which uses an Austrian Grüner Veltliner white wine, dry vermouth, peach nectar, and fresh muddled jalapeños for a different take on sangria.
If you prefer a traditional sangria, use red wine, you can still enjoy the peachy flavors, says Aleman. “One can add club soda, fresh fruit like blueberries and lemon to balance red peach sangria,” he recommends. Of course, picking the right wine for sangria is very important, so when using red wine for a peach sangria, choose a lighter-bodied one that will not obscure the flavors of the fruit.
Should you make peach sangria ahead of time?
In general, when making sangria, it is best to do it ahead of serving time to let the flavors combine thoroughly, as the fruit releases its juices while absorbing the color and flavors of the wine. “It is recommended to make peach sangria ahead of time to chill and allow the flavors to meld,” says Aleman. “This allows the fruit to soak and the drink to taste even better.”
Some recipes, such as this summery watermelon sangria, call for macerating the fruit with sugar for 30 minutes — in this case, blackberries and peaches — before mixing with the wine. This technique extracts the juices from the fruits into the sugar, creating a natural syrup with concentrated fruit flavor. If you wish to try this step, you can add the liqueur or brandy to the sugar and fruit, as well, if you are using it. The recipe then recommends refrigerating the finished sangria for a few hours to let the fruit steep.
According to Aleman, “Peach sangria can be made a few hours or even the day before serving.” For better results, add the ice and sparkling water or sparkling wine just before serving so the sangria doesn’t dilute overnight and is as fizzy and cold as possible. Use a spoon to add some of the chopped fruit to each glass and garnish with a slice of fresh peach or a sprig of mint. Serve and enjoy the first taste of summer in your glass.
