Shinsei Sangria

I made this Sangria last Sunday for my 4th of July BBQ and it turned out perfectly refreshing and delicious. The key to this recipe is prepping the sangria 24 hours in advance of serving it so that your fruit can infuse itself into the wine/sake/vodka mixture. I stored mine in giant mason jars (pictured above) but you can use any non-reactive bowl or pitcher that you have on hand. I made a couple of adjustments to this recipe which came from Shinsei Restaurant in Dallas, Texas. Instead of using canned lychees, I opted for Hana lychee infused sake which I liked because there was a lot of lychee flavor but none of that sugary syrup that you get when you use canned lychees. I only used about 3/4 of the fruit that the recipe called for because as you can tell from the picture above, I couldn't fit anymore fruit into the jars! When you are ready to serve the sangria, pour over ice and add some of the soaked fruit for garnish.  For added color, toss some fresh blackberries in right before serving. 

SHINSEI SANGRIA

INGREDIENTS

• 
  
  1. 3 pears, sliced
  2. 3 oranges, sliced
  3. 6 Granny Smith apples, sliced
  4. 24 canned lychees, drained
  5. 1 1/2 pineapples, peeled and cut into large chunks
  6. One 750-milliliter bottle vodka
  7. One 750-milliliter bottle Sauvignon Blanc or other dry, citrusy white wine
  8. One 750-milliliter bottle sake
  9. Ice