Ok, I’m going to disappoint a lot of you here, but this Sangria has no alcohol. WHAT?!?! Yes, you read that right. Sans alcohol, alcohol free, virgin. Which leads you to your second thought… why in the world would you want to drink a cocktail without the best part? Well, mostly because Matt and I are smack in the midst of another Whole 30. So, we haven’t been drinking for the last 20 days. In that 20 days, I got really really nostalgic about summer happy hour. I was just drinking my sparkling water with lime and was a little underwhelmed. I also have a few pregnant friends right now, and I think they were feeling a little underwhelmed with their drink choices too, so I whipped this recipe up.
Here is how the idea came to me, I was minding my own business at the grocery store last week and picked up a bottle of Kombucha (which is Whole 30 friendly) and thought that although it’s super trendy and that kind of bothers me, I’d give it a try anyway. I immediately wondered where this had been all my life and why I had been reluctant. It’s my new favorite thing – whole 30 or not.
The Kombucha (if you’ve never had it) is a fermented tea that has live and active cultures (like yogurt, but I detest yogurt). When I opened that first bottle, I was pleasantly surprised that it’s lightly effervescent, and has a little bit of an acidic kick (like other fermented things (sauerkraut, kimchi… wine?!?!)). The idea of wine popped right into my head and I thought, this would make an amazing sangria. A sangria that is alcohol free, low in sugar, and has those active cultures?! Sign me up.
I’m going to go ahead and say this, if you’re a little scared about the Kombucha (or Kobukki as Matt calls it), don’t be. I get it in the natural foods section of my grocery store (in the refrigerated area near the tofu, coconut water, and kefir). It’s wonderful straight out of the bottle OR as a mocktail. If you can’t find this specific Cabernet Grape variety, don’t fret. Any red fruit type will work well. I won’t drink it at all during the day and just a little at night to add to the specialness factor.
If you’d want to make this into a legit drink, you can add probably 1/2 bottle of wine 4 oz Grand Marnier and 1 cup of OJ to the above recipe and see how that tastes. BUT I guarantee that if you try it exactly as I have the original recipe written, you’ll love it… and you’ll be doing your body GOOD!
So there you are, a Whole 30 Sangria that has style for summer soirees. I hope you love this as much as I do. Please give it a try and come back with your thoughts! I can’t wait to see what you think!
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