Sorta kinda sangria-ish-mocktail-esque punchy thing
I am tending to an absent friend’s backyard raspberry bush right now, which means I’m a bit scratched up but also have a lot of raspberries at my disposal. I also have a lot of strawberries, thanks to our local CSA, and a bunch of blueberries from my new BFF Imperfect Foods.
So something good to drink was clearly in order. But something light, something that will be gone in a day but can be drunk all day, cup after delicious cup, healthy and refreshing and easily repeatable. Tom asked me what I was making while I diced strawberries, and I said, “I don’t know,” and then said what’s in the subject line of this email. It is not sangria, which is stronger and has its roots in a particular place and culture; it is not a punch because it doesn’t really follow the rules for a punch (one of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak); it’s not a spritz. It’s not anything except good.
Here is what you need:
Some berries
I went with all of the kinds of berries I had, and diced the strawberries down to be raspberry-sized. I think this would be great with frozen berries. I filled the (big, wide-mouthed) pitcher halfway with them. There are a lot of berries in this thing.
I didn’t do anything to the raspberries except wash them because I like it when you can still eat the fruit out of a fruity drink, but I did mash about half the blueberries for flavor.
You could, I am sure, use non-berry fruits as well. Diced apples are a sangria staple. I guess probably mango or pineapple would work. I would not use, like, a banana. Use your best judgement.
Iced hibiscus tea
Okay, so obviously you can skip this part or use something else. But let me briefly say that keeping iced hibiscus tea (which is the kind of thing you can order as agua fresca at a Mexican restaurant!) around this summer has been the best idea. It is a perfect nightcap, it’s amazing for your liver and your blood pressure apparently, it’s full of vitamin C, and you can mix it with anything and adjust it.
Here is how I make it.
Boil 4 cups of water. You have choices!
You can do this on the stovetop and add some sugar (between 1/2 c and 1 c, depending on your tastebuds) to make a kind of simple syrup-ish thing; in that case, bring it to a boil and stir until the sugar dissolves, then take it off the heat.
I don’t like sweet things in my drinks very much and sugar is terrible for you anyhow, so if you’re like me you can just boil the water but throw a few things in. Some ideas: a few slices of fresh ginger (no need to peel); half a cinnamon stick; a few pods of star anise, which we have a huge container of for reasons that would take too long to explain; a few allspice berries; a few peppercorns; dried lemon or lime or orange peel; dried orange of any kind; really anything you would put into mulled wine or mulled cider.
Or, you could also do the other thing I do and just bring 4 cups of water to a boil in your kettle.
Either take the pot off the heat and dump in 1 cup of dried hibiscus, or put the hibiscus in a heatproof container (such as a Mason jar) and pour the water in on top of it. I have done it both ways, and both work.
Let it steep for 15 mins to 1 hour. I wouldn’t go too far past an hour but I doubt it will hurt anything.
Strain the mixture into another container. I do this with a fine-mesh strainer into a mixing bowl that has a little pouring spout (side note: I have no idea where we got this bowl; I think a former roommate must have left it behind, but we’ve lived with so many different people at this point that I have just decided it’s ours; it’s very good for pancake batter, if we ever ate pancakes). It strains very easily.
Pour the strained tea into a bottle or jar (I like this Weck one, which I have in several sizes) and put it into the refrigerator to chill.
A few hours later you will have iced hibiscus tea. Probably don’t drink it straight, as it is tart and concentrated; the best plan is to go half and half with water or — if you want to have fun — club soda, or even flavored seltzer. It’s extra good over ice. You can also add bitters (I have been adding mole bitters! yum!) or liqueurs (elderflower and lavender are both great) or simple syrups of various kinds, or even actual booze; I’d spring for a nice tasty gin if I were you, but you could use boring old vodka, or maybe rum? Anyhow, have fun.
Right, so back to the not-punch. I had about a cup of hibiscus tea concentrate left, so I poured that into the pitcher, and then immediately set another batch of tea a-brewin’.
Club soda, or something a little sparkly
Club soda is cheap and basically neutral, and we buy a lot of it. Seltzer is just as good. I think mineral water would be great, and tonic (though it’s sugary) would be super tasty. If you’re looking for something a little stronger, maybe prosecco, or a sparkling wine (mm, rose), or just sparkling cider. You want something that dances on your tongue. I put half a liter of club soda in.
Consider something sweet
This is where those weird liquors and liqueurs you might keep sitting around can come in. I put in maybe 3 oz of St. Germain. I thought about putting Creme de Violette in (which I love), but maybe later. There are a lot of options here, if you want a little alcohol: Aperol, Lillet, and so on would all be good, and if you want something nonalcoholic maybe a sweet juice or simple syrup would work well. (We have a bottle of blueberry simple syrup that could be delicious.)
Maybe some wine?
Honestly at this point you could just drink it, especially if you are trying to keep things light and weekday afternoon-y, or you’ve got kids to think about. But I wanted something weekend-y, so I pulled out the box of red wine (yes, box, we drink boxed wine sometimes) and poured in probably a cup and a half of red wine. You could obviously use virtually any wine. They’re all good. It’s a great way to use up the leftover stuff in a bottle that will be vinegar if you keep it any longer.
Make sure you’re tasting this along the way, by the way, so it doesn’t get too sweet or too sour or too anything.
Eh voila
There you have it. This is not a recipe, or even really a “thing” — it’s just a spark of a concept. But man it is good. I also crushed up a few sprigs of rosemary and mixed them in, and Tom preferred his over ice. I plan to just keep replenishing it with stuff till the berries are gone; spoon some into the glass, of course, when you serve it. And don’t skimp; they won’t be good forever. Summer, in a nice little cup.
