Pumpkin Sangria with Bourbon

👩🏻‍🍳 Tamara Talks – Pumpkin Sangria Inspiration

Whenever I make a pitcher of sangria, I find myself reminiscing about a lovely fall evening on our balcony overlooking the Organ Mountains in Las Cruces, New Mexico over a decade ago. My sister was visiting from California, and some of our kids were over. Our second son was a bartender, and he got creative with the sangria. It had a plethora of “fruit and booze,” and we did fine until we finished the pitcher and decided to eat all the brandy-soaked fruit. Yee haw! It was so delicious, but it was too much!

Years later, the “fruit and booze” still brings a chuckle. When I started brainstorming ideas for a fall sangria recipe, I really wanted to do something just a little different. Apples and cider are pretty typical in a fall sangria, but I didn’t see a lot of pumpkin-themed recipes. I am not a fan of “pumpkin spiced” everything, but I make homemade pumpkin butter that is easy and quite amazing. I want to taste the pumpkin along with the spice!

So, how did the bourbon end up in the mix? The vanilla flavor notes in bourbon just seemed like a perfect pairing with warm spices, pumpkin, and fall fruit like pear and apple. And what better way to top off the glass than with a couple of ounces of good ginger beer?

If you’re looking for a new cocktail recipe that’s easy to make for a gathering, you need to give this pumpkin sangria with bourbon a try!

📋 Ingredients

Here is a quick look at the ingredients in the recipe – it’s handy to use at the grocery store or as a summary of what you need. Skip to the recipe for quantities.

• fruit – I used seasonal fall fruits (pear and apple), but you can get creative with the fruit!
• bourbon – While I never suggest reaching for spirits on the bottom shelf for sangria, you do want to use a solid bourbon. I chose one that I know has vanilla flavor notes as I love to layer flavors. Evan Williams is the bourbon we keep on hand for mixing, and it’s great.
• chardonnay – Again, I’m not using expensive ingredients in this sangria. The Dark Horse Buttery Chardonnay is about $11.00 a bottle.
• ginger beer – While I was testing this sangria recipe, we tried Fever Tree ginger beer, and Reed’s sugar free ginger beer. Both are non-alcoholic. We have used Bundaberg ginger beer in my pumpkin Kentucky mule. They’re all very good, but the spicy Reed’s was our favorite! If you want to add more alcohol 😳 Crabbie’s ginger beer is delicious. I’ve definitely used it (and love it), but we’re trying to reduce alcohol and calories, so I go for the no sugar/no alcohol Reed’s ginger beer.
• garnishes – As you can see in the photos, I chose to garnish the sangria with rosemary sprigs (from my garden), cinnamon sticks, and slices of cara cara orange. We love the hint of fresh citrus!

🔪 Instructions

step 1

Make the “fruit and booze” – Prepare your fruit. I used honeycrisp apples and red anjou pears. Choose the best quality available. Barely ripe or slightly under-ripe pears are best because they hold together better. Small dice or thin slices work best to maximize surface to bourbon ratio and allow it to macerate better. Add the bourbon. Macerate 1 to 3 hours.

NOTE: If the fruit is not covered, stir occasionally. The fruit does not have to be covered.

step 2

Prepare the pitcher of sangria – Strain the fruit from the bourbon, and set aside the fruit. Pour the bourbon into the pitcher, add the pumpkin butter, and stir to combine. Next, pour in the chilled bottle of chardonnay. Stir. Lastly, use a spoon to add the fruit (to avoid a mess!). Give it another stir. Chill until ready to serve.

Hint: Thoroughly chill all ingredients prior to making the sangria! 1 to 2 hours is ideal!

step 3

Serve the sangria – Add ice to glasses (I use a single large cube to minimize dilution). Fill glasses about 3/4 full, top off with ginger beer. Give it all a little stir, and garnish as desired. Cheers!

💭 Tips

Cheap wine makes bad sangria! You don’t need “top shelf” ingredients, but you should only use fresh, high-quality, ripe fruit, decent bourbon, decent chardonnay, good pumpkin butter, and good ginger beer if you want GREAT PUMPKIN SANGRIA!

Thoroughly chill all ingredients before serving. This will help reduce the amount of ice needed. Ice dilutes cocktails!

Invest in cocktail ice molds or reusable whiskey stones, to reduce or prevent drink dilution.

The fruit doesn’t need to be covered with bourbon. If you want a less boozy sangria, use less bourbon. Stir frequently as it macerates.

❓ FAQ