Southern Sweet Tea Sangria

Sweet tea sangria takes the southern staple to the next level with the addition of Moscato and lots of fruit. It's easy to adjust the sweetness to your preference.

It's another Progressive Eats meal, and this time, we're having Southern cuisine, thanks to our host Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories.

One of my favorite recipes from the south is sweet tea. How does a born-and-raised Philadelphian come to love sweet tea? My great-uncle was in town, visiting from Georgia. He made a batch, and I was hooked.

While you could use store-bought iced tea to make this recipe (use unsweetened if you're going to add your own simple syrup), I love making the tea from scratch.

For this batch of sangria, I used some loose tea leaves from The Art of Tea, the same summer peach blend I used to make peach sweet tea ice cream a few years back.

Of course, it only made sense to add peach slices (and some mixed berries) to the sangria. Being February, the fruit isn't in season, so I used frozen, which has the added bonus of keeping the sangria cold while I sip.

The recipe below for simple syrup will make slightly more than a cupful, so if you prefer a really sweet tea, you can add more syrup. A level cupful was plenty for me.

For the wine, I used a Moscato, an Italian fizzy white wine. Look for one that has notes similar to the flavors you plan to include in your sangria, whether those come from flavored tea leaves or the fruit.

On a funny note, my husband knows I want to drop some weight, and what's worked for me in the past is avoiding all carbs for two weeks, then gradually re-introducing whole grains into my meals (the South Beach Diet). He asked if carbs included alcohol, while watching me make this sangria.

Maybe I'll start that diet next week ... Can't let all this delicious sangria go to waste!

Food From the South

Welcome to Progressive Eats, our virtual version of a Progressive Dinner Party. Each recipe in our menu this month features food from the South, and our host is Karen who blogs at Karen's Kitchen Stories.

If you're unfamiliar with the concept, a progressive dinner involves going from house to house, enjoying a different course at each location. With Progressive Eats it’s a virtual party. A theme is chosen each month, members share recipes suitable for a delicious meal or party, and you can hop from blog to blog to check them out. Come along and see all of the delicious dishes from the South!