Rainbow Sangria

This Rainbow Sangria is an easy, refreshing summer libation that’s as beautiful as it is delicious!

We celebrated Pride Month in June by creating this bright and cheery rainbow sangria. 

Packed with strawberries, watermelon, orange, mango, pineapple, kiwi, blueberries, and grapes — this recipe is basically a fruit cocktail that is also a cocktail cocktail. It’s meant to be slowly sipped and served with both a straw and a spoon, to dig into the wine-soaked fruit and enjoy the layers color by color.

This sangria is perfect on a hot day and I especially like serving it in place of dessert. It’s so refreshing and serves as a post-dinner drink and dessert in one! 

So, while you could just pour the wine over the fruit and it would still be amazing, we make a sangria mix with Pinot Grigio, orange liqueur, fresh lemon juice, and fresh lime juice. Then, the sangria gets topped with sparkling wine (preferably Cava) to give it some fizz.

Fruit for Rainbow Sangria

You don’t have to use the same exact fruits I did and can use your favorite combinations. 

Just follow the ROYGBIV pattern in terms of fruit and you’ll have yourself a rainbow! Here’s some ideas:

Red Fruit: Strawberries, raspberries, watermelon, pomegranate seeds, pink grapefruit, red grapes, cherries, red dragon fruit, and blood oranges. You can also use fruit such as rhubarb and cranberries, but these are not meant to be eaten raw. You could also use fruit that has a red skin — such as red apples or red pears — but just make sure it’s arranged in the glass so the skin is visible.

Orange Fruit: Oranges, cantaloupe, apricots, persimmons, peaches, nectarines, tangerines, kumquats, and papaya. 

Yellow Fruit: Yellow apple, pineapple, golden kiwi, golden fig, banana, lemon, yellow watermelon, yellow cherries, star fruit, and mango.

Green Fruit: Kiwi, green grapes, honeydew melon, limes, and green apple.

Blue and Indigo Fruit: Blueberries, blackberries, currants, and Concord grapes.

Purple Fruit: Purple grapes, plum, figs, and purple dragon fruit.

A Drink to Celebrate Pride

To circle back as to why we made this rainbow sangria in the first place, it was to celebrate Pride. I am always looking for new ways to continuously learn, be a stronger person, and to be a better ally.

I took some time to learn even more about the history and importance of Pride.

The history of Pride is rooted in various riots where the LGBTQ community stood up to police harassment, with the Stonewall Riots being one of the most well-known. Following the riots, it was clear that the LGBTQ movement needed to be loud, clear, and visible to demand change. The Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations proposed that a march take place in New York City following the one year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. 

When deciding on a slogan for the event, there was discussion between “Pride” and “Gay Power.” Pride was eventually chosen, noting that while many gay individuals lacked power at this time, one thing they certainly had was pride.

The official chant for the march became: “Say it loud, gay is proud.” The rainbow became the symbol of Pride to represent the diversity of the community and the “spectrum” of human sexuality and gender.

We wanted a drink that was significant and fun. It takes a lot of different colors to create a rainbow. And whether it’s in life or in a recipe, it typically takes a lot of different ingredients to create something impactful. Whether that’s a drink, a change in awareness, or a change in how we treat each other, it isn’t just up to one but rather up to all.

This drink is made to exclaim the pride of a group of people who simply want to be treated as humans.

We hope that you make and enjoy this Rainbow Sangria! What are your favorite summer libations? Let us know in the comments below.

Rainbow Sangria

• Author: Tiffany
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Inactive Chill Time: 3 hours
• Cook Time: 5 mins
• Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
• Yield: 8 1x

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Description

This Rainbow Sangria is an easy, refreshing summer libation that’s as beautiful as it is delicious!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• Fruit, peeled and chopped I used strawberries, watermelon, oranges, mango, pineapple, kiwi, blueberries, and purple grapes — see blog post for other ideas and options
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 bottle Pinot Grigio or Pinot Gris
• 1/3 cup orange liqueur
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 bottle sparkling wine such as Cava
• Lemon and lime slices, for garnish
• Colorful edible flowers, for garnish (optional)

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Instructions

1. Bring the sugar and water to a boil to make the simple syrup. Once simmering and the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and let cool.
2. In a pitcher, mix together the white wine, orange liqueur, lime juice, lemon juice, and cooled simple syrup. Chill for at least 3-4 hours.
3. Wash, peel, and cut all of your fruit into small chunks. Grapes and blueberries can be left whole.
4. In tall glasses, layer the fruit in even layers to make a rainbow (ROYGBIV). Start the glass with the purple fruit on the bottom. The final layer, from the top, should be red fruit, orange fruit, yellow fruit, green fruit, blue/indigo fruit, and purple fruit.
5. Pour the sangria mix in the glasses until 3/4 full. Top the rest of the glass with chilled sparkling wine.
6. Garnish with lemon and lime slices and edible flowers, if serving. Serve with both a spoon and straw. Enjoy!

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