If we’re creating brandy cocktail recipes that involve bubbly, that can only mean one thing….we’re making sangria! And of course, we’re topping that sangria off with some bubbly because everything is better with bubbly.
Bubbly Sangria
Ever since I went to study in Spain (many, many years ago) and was handed a glass of sangria at some place in Sevilla (I wish I could remember where), I was hooked. I had to know how to re-create this when I got home. They generously told me the keys to a perfect sangria and then of course, I had to top it with cava to take it to the next level.
So we have been playing with sangria recipes for years. And a traditional sangria is made with brandy so we decided not to alter that as we created for you two new very easy, four ingredient brandy cocktail recipes in the form of ice cubes for you to turn into a bubbly sangria.
Brandy Cocktail Recipes
We have never created a sangria recipes using boozy ice cubes before and we absolutely loved it. And I’ll share more why and how we used them. But let’s get to the good stuff…the actual brandy cocktail recipes made into Ice cubes.
These two recipes are very similar and yet when you add them to the base wine they have very different flavors. We truly couldn’t decide which one we liked better, so you truly can’t go wrong. And honestly, we even used both just for fun and that was great as well.
Strawberry Rosé Sangria
- 1/2 c Strawberries
- 2 oz Brandy
- 1/2 c Sparkling Strawberry Juice Beverage (from Trader Joe’s)
- 1/2 c Sparkling Rosé
- In a cocktail shaker, combine strawberries and brandy. Muddle well.
- Add Strawberry Juice and Sparkling Rosé and stir well.
- Pour into (you can strain if you don’t want strawberries in your ice cubes) an ice cube tray and freeze overnight.
Strawberry Lemonade Rosé Sangria
- 1/2 c Strawberries
- 2 oz Brandy
- 2/3 c Simply Lemonade
- 1/2 c Sparkling Rosé
- In a cocktail shaker, combine strawberries and brandy. Muddle well.
- Add lemonade and Sparkling Rosé and stir well.
- Strain into (you don’t have to strain we actually love it both ways) an ice cube tray and freeze overnight.
Brandy Cocktail Ice Cubes
Normally, we’d just make a typical sangria, create the brandy cocktail part, add wine to it, let is sit in the refrigerator for a few hours and enjoy….topped with bubbly, of course. But you know, right now we’re on this boozy ice cube kick, I thought, why not give this a try.
So, here’s what we loved about this way to create a sangria.
- Everyone could customize their own drink. Meaning, if you wanted it stronger, you would add more ice cubes. But if you don’t like it quite as potent, you would add less.
- The sangria was always cold because of the ice cubes.
- The fruit was frozen into the ice cubes so it had time to marinate in that delicious brandy and bubbly rosé. (Even if you strain your brandy cocktail mix, you will still get some fruit in the ice cube tray.)
- You can add additional fruit as garnish, but the ice cubes are so pretty, sometimes you don’t need more.
Ice Cube Tray Tips
We have been using two ice cube trays on repeat over here. And they are linked in the Bubbly Side of Life Amazon Store.
The square ice cube tray is 1/2 oz per square. So we recommend 2-4 square ice cubes for your sangria.
The round ice cube tray makes 1/4 oz per ball. We recommend 4-8 ice cubes if using this tray for your sangria.
Of course, add as many or as few as you like to make the perfect brandy cocktail for you!
Lemonade Sangria with Bubbly Brandy Ice Cubes
Now that you have the brandy cocktail recipes, you the rest is simple. You just need some wine for the sangria base and, of course, bubbly to top it off.
The inspiration for this sangria type recipe came when I kept seeing bottles of wine with ‘lemonade’ on the label. Of course, curiosity got the best of me and I had to try them all to see what kind of bubbly cocktail we could create with them.
The first one is from Main and Vine Wine and it’s their Lemonade Stand Strawberry Rosé wine. It’s very sweet on it’s own with a very low 6.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) and only 90 calories per glass making this a very low calorie sangria treat.
The second one is from Day Wines in Oregon and is a blend of 94% pinot noir and 6% grenache. This was the least sweet of the three we tried.
The last one is Pink Lemonade from Porch Swing. Similar to the first one, this one is sweet with a low 6.8% ABV.
To make this lemonade sangria, it’s quite simple.
By the glass, choose the amount of ice cubes you want and add them to your favorite champagne glass, add about 1/2-3/4 glass of the lemonade wine of your choice and then top the rest with the sparkling wine of your choice.
To make it by the pitcher, add all of the ice cubes to the pitcher and the entire bottle of lemonade wine. Pour into a champagne glass about 2/3-3/4 of the way and top with sparkling wine.
When we were tasting this, we tried the wine separately, then the wine with each of the ice cubes topped with bubbly. We truly couldn’t decide which we liked better, but each ice cube offered different enhancements.
And to be honest, when we made the pitcher, we dumped what was remaining of both of the trays of ice cubes into the pitcher first and then added the rest of one of the wines. This was also quite delicious, topped with bubbly, of course.
Top With Bubbly
When you’re making champagne cocktails most of the time people truly don’t use champagne if just because of the price point alone. And I have always said (along with many others), you don’t need or want an expensive bottle of sparkling wine when you’re just adding it to other flavors to creating champagne cocktails.
Furthermore, if you have a bottle of bubbly that you LOVE and I mean love by itself, please enjoy that bubbly goodness and don’t dilute it with other flavors. Even we don’t turn every bottle of bubbly into a bubbly cocktail.
On hand to top our bubbly ice cube recipes, we always have a bottle of LaMarca Prosecco or Freixenet Cava. Of course, I do enjoy a glass of these by themselves as well. And that’s a great point to make.
Sometimes you can turn a not so great bottle of wine or sparkling wine into a good cocktail, but not always. But it’s always worth a try in our opinion.
Want more?
Our sparkling wine cocktail and boozy ice cube recipes can be found in two places: the recipe section of this blog and Bubbly Side of Life on Instagram.
Do you want to learn more about the types of sparkling wine in your own private, customized bubbly tasting party? We host them virtually and in person and would love to work with you to create the perfect event. Email us to learn more.
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