Non-Alcoholic Sangria

I have been in Bermuda for a little over five years now and I swear this summer been the hottest and most humid I have experienced. I probably say this every year because I prefer cold weather to hot weather. When its cold, you can layer on clothes, drink lots of tea, make a yummy soup or switch on a heater and you get more work done. However, when it is hot you have fewer options, all I want to do is take all day naps. I could go to the beach but I do not like going to the beach. Truthfully, I like being at the beach but I do not like the sand that I bring home so I avoid it. Leo likes playing in the sand and getting it in his hair and when we leave the beach; he goes to sleep right away, so perhaps I should go more often.  Yeah, I just don’t like summer, never did. The only good thing is that I remember to drink water more often and other fluids.

I was watching Bobby Flay make a sangria and it reminded of the fruit punch I used to make in Zimbabwe. I would cut up some fruits and mix an assortment of fizzy drinks. There really was no recipe to it, just whatever I had available and we would drink it almost immediately. Now I know better, if you make the drink ahead of time it tastes better and gives the fruits time to release their flavours. 

I used a base of rooibos tea. Rooibos tea is indigenous to South Africa, it is red and caffeine free. When we were growing up it was mostly Adventists who drank it but it has become more mainstream. Now it is the only tea I like to drink, everything else is just blah. I infused the rooibos tea with two cinnamon sticks and it just smelled absolutely wonderful. From now on I will drink my tea infused with some cinnamon.

I used cranberry juice and filled with lots of citrusy goodness that makes it so refreshing on a hot summer day.

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Non-Alcoholic Sangria

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings 8

Author Princess Tafadzwa

Ingredients

• 2 Rooibos tea bags
• 2 Cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 cups cranberry juice
• 1 sliced orange
• 1 sliced lemon
• 1 sliced lime
• 1 cored and chopped apple
• 2 cups soda water

Instructions

1. Infuse the tea and cinnamon sticks in 3 cups boiling water for five minutes.
2. Add the sugar, stir and pour in the pitcher.
3. Add the orange juice, cranberry juice, orange, lemon, lime and apple. Put in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.
4. Add soda water immediately before serving.
5. Pour over ice cubes.