We at Slashfood seem to love our sangria - a Spanish cocktail made with wine, a few spirits, and fruit juices. But just like a good marinara sauce, everyone has their own recipe. Joanne makes a delicious one using quite a bit of fresh orange juice, but Deidre's heart was broken by a Gourmet magazine recipe for a cucumber, ginger and sake sangria. 

I made sangria last week for a Spanish-themed dinner party, and it was, if I do say so myself, one of the best I've ever tasted. Is that arrogant? Conceited? Nah, just honest. It had nothing to do with my ability or technique, and everything to do with the quality of the ingredients, so there.

Sarah's Super Sangria (guaranteed to be awesome only if you have awesome ingredients)

Pour 2 bottles of red wine into a large glass pitcher. Obviously, sangria was probably a way to use up nasty red wine, but if you use nasty red wine, you will end up with nasty sangria. Use the good stuff.

A few tips: 1) If you want to be authentic, use a Spanish red wine like Rioja, 2) a glass pitcher is the best because it shows off the pretty fruit inside, and 3) chill the red wine before you make the sangria to speed up the chilling process.

Add 1 c. brandy, 1 c. Triple Sec or Cointreau (orange-flavored liqueurs). Stir 1/2 c. sugar into 1/2 c. fresh squeezed orange juice and do the best you can to dissolve. Add sweetened orange juice to the pitcher, along with a squeeze of juice from half a lime.

Pour in 2 c. club soda. My friend Steve mentioned using orange-flavored Fanta instead of the club soda. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds like it could be Fanta-bulous!

Add thin slices of 1 orange, 1 lemon, 1 lime, and and 1 apple. Some people cut the fruiti nto small pieces, but I prefer the round slices because they look pretty and they stay in the pitcher. I like to drink my sangria without the fruit in my glass.

Chill the sangria for a few hours in the refrigerator. Don't add ice - it waters it down.