Melon Ball Sangria from Episode 30
In celebration of our 30th episode (cue trumpets), we need a drink! And we chose another gem from Laylita.com. She has so many great cocktail recipes, we recommend you try them all--you're welcome. This one is Melon Sangria. First you use a melon baller (or in Bossy's case, a cookie dough scooper) and soak them in a little grappa, honey and lime juice. You let that sit in the fridge, and then you add some wine and chill it for another hour or two. To serve, you add a some seltzer, mint leaves, and lime slices. To be really fancy, you can also make some melon ball ice balls (and you know how we love fancy ice balls ;-)). To make those, you put some melon balls on a tray in the freezer and then once they're frozen (in a couple of hours), you put them in a container in the freezer. And then you're ready to party whenever the mood strikes. Your future self will thank you for balling up the melons, even if ours are not as perfect as Laylita's!
Melon sangria (Recipe from Laylita.com)
Refreshing and delicious melon sangria recipe made with a mix of melons, including watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew melons, moscato wine, honey, lime, grappa (an Italian grape brandy), sparkling water, and mint.
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Prep Time: 30minutes minutes
Macerating time: 1 hour
Total Time: 30minutes minutes
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Servings: 8
Ingredients
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~3 cups of mixed melon balls watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew
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2-4 tablespoons of honey adjust to taste
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1 lime juiced
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¼ cup to ½ cup of grappa adjust to taste – can also use pisco or a clear grape brandy
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1 750 ml bottle of moscato wine, chilled
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~ 1 ½ cups of sparkling water chilled
To serve and garnish:
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Mint leaves
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Lime slices
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Frozen melon ball ice cubes or regular ice cubes
Instructions
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Place the melon balls in a large pitcher, add the honey (2 tablespoons to start), lime juice, and ¼ cup of grappa. Mix gently and let rest in fridge for 1-2 hours or until 1 hour before serving.
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Add the moscato wine, mix gently, taste and add more honey or grappa if desired. Keep in mind that you will top it off with sparkling water right before serving, so it’s okay if it’s on the sweeter/stronger side. Refrigerate for another hour.
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Right before serving, add ice (or frozen melon balls as ice cubes), lime slices and mint leaves to garnish, and top off with sparkling water. You can prepare the final mix in the pitcher or serve it directly into glasses with melon ice cubes and top off each glass with the sparkling water.
Notes
For a mocktail sangria variation, omit the moscato wine and the grappa, and replace with a sparkling white grape juice and sparkling lemonade.
