This week, we continue on our month long ode to the apple with a little cocktail inspiration.  During the Fall season, it’s not just the leaves that change, but our palates too.  Now I love a good sangria anything, and when I looked at a Fall variation to try out myself, every recipe I found called for things like brandy or a flavored liqueur.  But me and my old roommate Meggie liked bourbon and we used to stock a lot of it.  So a couple of years ago, we decided the world needed a fall guzzler that catered to all those bourbon drinkers (re: southerners) out there.  We did borrow from what we saw in other recipes like crisp apples, cranberries, and using apple cider as a mixer.  However, with the dark hue of the bourbon and the apple cider, we decided to lighten the flavor a bit with a crisp white wine.  One word of caution when drinking this little libation, it goes down like juice and the soaked apples are irresistible, so the effects tend to creep up on you (may even cause you to use your grandmother’s punch bowl as a communal cup).

Fall Sangria

Ingredients:
3 McIntosh Apples, 2 diced and 1 sliced horizontally
3 cups of Cranberries
20 cinnamon sticks
Fresh Thyme Sprigs
1 cup Bourbon
4 cups Apple Cider
1 bottle of mild bodied White Wine like a Pinot Grigio

Directions:
1.  In a large pitcher, combine 2 cups of cranberries, approximately 3/4 of the diced apples, 6 thyme sprigs, and 8 cinnamon sticks
2.  Combine bourbon and apple cider in pitcher; stir to mix
3.  Let pitcher chill for a minimum of 4 hours to give fruit and chance to absorb the flavors
4.  To serve, divide the remaining cranberries and apples among 6 wine glasses; add two thyme sprigs and cinnamon sticks to each glass
5.  Pour apple cider mixture, filling each glass about half full; fill the rest of the glass with chilled white wine
6.  Garnish each glass with one apple slice and serve!