Watermelon Strawberry Basil Sangria

Happy Sunday morning, friends. Isn’t it the best? There is perfect light gleaming through our kitchen window, I’m nursing a crazy delicious cup of joe from my friends at Anchored Coffee, and listening to the Velvet Underground. All things I highly recommend to up the awesome level of your Sunday morning.

When I was 18, I travelled to Montreal to see  a Radiohead show (yes, please), and this Maritime kid had his eyes opened. Wide opened. Firstly, the drinking age of consent in Quebec is 18 (bonus), but mostly there is just a culture of cool in Montreal that I’ve found nowhere else outside of Europe (I love you New York/LA/Nashville/Toronto/Halifax). The food is amazing, and the restaurant scene is booming with a high focus on best quality, local ingredients. The art & music scene are great. You can walk most places. People love (and promote) bike culture. And the architecture and cobblestone walkways of Old Montreal are straight out of a fairytale. So…yes, I’m a fan. Please visit Montreal.

And on that trip I was introduced to sangria. In the heat of summer on an outdoor patio, and with the most perfect cheese plate, we ordered a pitcher of sangria, and it changed the game for me. Even at that age I was struck by how many flavour possibilities that this pitcher of awesome could contain. Honestly, I have no idea at this point what fruit or flavourings were in that first drink, just that it was perfect in the hot sun, and that it was a glassful of possibility.

Ok. Back to Lou Reed, my coffee, and so much sunshine. Sunday, I love you. Maybe I’ll make more sangria.

Watermelon Strawberry Basil Sangria 

1 bottle white wine

1 cup lemoncello

1 cup gin

2 cups watermelon

1 cup strawberries

1 kiwi

1 lemon

1 lime

1 tablespoon mint

1 tablespoon basil

Ice, for serving

Dice your watermelon into small cubes, place them in a large pitcher. Hull and quarter your strawberries, and toss them in. Slice your lemon, lime, and kiwi into rounds, and then cut those rounds into half moons. Add them to the pitcher. Finely slice your mint & basil, and add them in.

Pour over your wine, lemoncello, and gin, and mix together. Place the pitcher in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, so the flavours have a chance to marry together.

Add some ice if that suits your fancy, and serve. Delicious.