Your Favorite Fall Fruit Deserves A Place In Halloween Sangria

Sangria is usually a summer drink — perfect for sipping on long, sunny August evenings or at a boozy picnic in the park. But, a few tweaks can push the summer classic firmly into fall territory. Yes, Halloween sangria can even earn a starring role on your party table come October's chilly end. Just make sure not to forget the apples.

The Spanish drink usually mixes a base of red or white wine with other ingredients like juice, chopped fruit, seltzer water, and other liquors like rum. Oftentimes, sangria recipes go heavy on the citrus to enhance the refreshing acidity of the wine by adding chopped oranges, lemons, limes, and even grapefruit. However, neglecting to include a milder, sweeter fruit to complement the citrusy flavor is a mistake everyone makes when making sangria, one that can strand the drink in the hottest summer months. 

Apples are the key to your Halloween-forward sangria — both chopped and stirred in or in liquid form (juice or cider will do) — but you can complement them with other additions like oranges, pears, cranberries, pomegranate, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, or other fall flavors. You can even add to the spook factor of your Halloween sangria by tossing in frozen grapes to mimic eyeballs, as many Halloween punch recipes call for.

Halloween sangria should be one of the apple recipes you make this fall. The fruit brings fall flavor and influence to the drink, evoking memories of going orchard picking, bobbing for granny smiths, and eating glistening candy apples. This favorite fruit also adds crunch and sweetness, and all the better that it's seasonal in October. 

Similar to sweet red sangria, Halloween sangria works best with a red or rosé wine base, which lends an on-theme, blood-red color and a richer, spicier flavor profile that fits the season best. For the extra spike of liquor, rum or vodka will do fine, but something on the darker side fits the mix nicely, as well, and adds a boldly autumnal element. Many recipes call for brandy to bring out the fruit flavors and add another dose of fall. Fizziness can be added in the form of ginger beer, sweet sodas like Sprite or ginger ale, sparkling cider, or seltzer, depending on how much flavor (and booze) you want to add alongside the bubbles. Cinnamon makes a nice ingredient or garnish by imparting a warm flavor that contrasts with the cold refreshment. 

For dramatic flair, finding a spooky pitcher or glasses featuring any of your favorite Halloween motifs (think blood, gore, skeletons, and spiders) will pair nicely with the taste and keep things festive. Now, you can upgrade your iridescent Halloween punch to a more sophisticated, apple-infused sangria.