This Sangria Alternative Is a Game Changer

Spain's Tinto de Verano is a refreshing red wine cocktail that's super easy to craft at home in mere minutes. If you love drinking Sangria but hate cutting up fruit, then this summer sipper is for you!

Tinto de VeranoPhoto by2foodtrippers

With a name that literally translates to red wine of summer, it's not hyperbole to refer to Tinto de Verano as a quintessential summer sipper. But it's not just its name that makes this Spanish red wine cocktail ideal for the warm weather months. You'll understand after one sip although its practically impossible to stop sipping Tinto de Verano until the glass is empty. Consider yourself warned.

What Is Tinto de Verano?

Tinto de Verano is a cocktail that's crafted with just two ingredients, red wine and lemon-lime soda, in a 1:1 ratio. A handful of ice cubes and an orange wedge or wheel complete the easy Tinto de Verano recipe.

You may be wondering if this Spanish cocktail is similar to Spain's more famous wine-based cocktail - Sangria. As we learned during a fun Seville food tour, the simple answer is yes. But that's not the full answer.

Both of Spain's popular Spanish wine-based cocktails are fun to sip on a hot afternoon or while eating tapas. However, unlike Sangria, Tinto de Verano is pain-free to craft at home.

You don't have to chop up fruit or wait for the flavors to combine when you whip up a glass or pitcher of Tinto de Verano. In other words, it may take you more time to open a bottle of wine than to craft the ruby red drink.

History of Tinto de Verano

While Spain's Tinto de Verano is ready for its moment in the sun, it's far from a new or trendy tipple. Spaniards have been sipping the delightful drink on verandas and at tapas bars for more than a century.

Legend has it that a Cordoba bartender crafted the original Tinto de Verano more than a century ago with equal parts of red wine and Gaseosa, i.e. lemon soda. Today, many mixologists replace Gaseosa with Fanta, Seven-Up or Sprite while some use lemonade instead.

Ingredients

The Tinto de Verano ingredient list includes the following items:

• 4 ounces red wine (chilled)
• 4 ounces lemon-lime soda (chilled)
• ice cubes
• 1 wheel orange (garnish)

You don't need to buy a special bottle of wine to craft this recipe. We keep to theme by using Spanish wines like our favorite, El Pacto, a moderately priced La Rioja crianza produced with 100% tempranillo grapes. Your favorite red wine will work just fine even it it's not Spanish.

Any lemon-lime soda will suffice. We typically use 7-Up because it's easy to find where we live. Another option would be to make soda from scratch using fizzy water, lemon juice and simple syrup.

How to Craft Tinto de Verano

As we alluded above, the most difficult part of crafting this red wine cocktail is opening the bottle of red wine. Once you accomplish that task, the first step is to fill a glass half way with ice.

Next, pour both liquids into the glass.

Gently stir until the liquids are combined.

Pro Tip: Don't overstir or you'll lose the soda's fizz.

Once you garnish the Tinto de Verana with an orange wheel or wedge, it's time to start sipping.

Variations

While we've chosen to honor the simplicity of the original Tinto de Verano recipe, you may want to jazz it up a bit with one of the following variations:

• Add a splash of vermouth.
• Replace the lemon-lime soda with lemonade.
• Replace the lemon soda with orange soda.
• Replace the orange garnish with lemon garnish.
• Make a pitcher using full bottles of wine and soda.

This recipe was originally published on 2foodtrippers. Consider subscribing to 2foodtrippers if you enjoyed it.