During the Bells Up Independence Day celebration we hosted for our Fanfare Club members, we introduced a new summer drink based on “The Bellobang” cocktail—The Bellobang Sangria.
A lighter twist on the Bellobang Cocktail, the Bellobang Sangria adds a touch of sweetness and citrus, and gets lightened up with club soda.
Like the cocktail, the sangria recipe uses Bells Up Firebird Walla Walla AVA Syrah mixed with Interrobang‘s Sweet Vermouth No. 47. While the cocktail highlights the full-bodied plum and blackberry characteristics of the Syrah with the sweet blackberry, rosemary, dark chocolate and coffee notes of the Vermouth, the sangria adds more citrus, a touch of sweetness, ice and light carbonation with the addition of club soda.
Here’s the recipe…
The Bellobang Sangria
- 1 part Interrobang Sweet Vermouth No. 47
- 2 parts Bells Up Firebird Syrah
- 1 part simple syrup (made with equal parts granulated sugar and water brought to a boil for 3 min and cooled)
- 1-2 large oranges, sliced into 1/4-inch rings and quartered
- Club soda, chilled
- Ice
Mix the vermouth, syrah, syrup and oranges thoroughly in a carafe or pitcher and chill in refrigerator for at least 6 hours (or overnight). To serve, pour over ice with half Sangria, half club soda per glass. Stir with a straw and enjoy.
NOTE: When we made this for our Independence Day holiday event, we mixed the following amounts and divided them equally between two 2-quart carafes of sangria mix. For us, the proportions worked out like this:
- 1 375 mL bottle of Interrobang Sweet Vermouth No. 47
- 1 750 mL bottle of Bells Up Firebird Syrah
- 375 mL of simple syrup (poured into the Interrobang bottle to measure)
- 2-3 large oranges, sliced and quartered
If you have a larger pitcher or a punchbowl, you can add the ice and club soda into the same serving pitcher that’s holding the sangria. We didn’t, so we kept them separate and mixed them together over ice in the glass.
