Learn how to make your own kombucha sangria, from bottling & flavoring your kombucha to concocting the fruity sangria mix.

In our family, we love making cocktails from scratch using our homegrown herbs and home brewed kombucha. The kombucha cocktail tradition started when we were hosting Sangria Night and we were short on carbonated water. My husband had the bright idea to switch it out for our berry-flavored fizzy kombucha, and it turned into our favorite party cocktail. Since then, we’ve been incorporating kombucha into other cocktail classics, like the Peruvian whiskey drink Chilcano de Pisco, where we switch out the ginger ale for our home brewed ginger kombucha instead!

For those of you who are new to kombucha, it’s a delicious fermented tea that you can brew at home or find in a growing number of grocery stores and coffee shops. The tea can be flavored with berries, spices, herbs, or even edible wildflowers. There’s no need to brew it yourself to make your own kombucha sangria, but if you do want to learn the process of brewing, flavoring, and bottling your own kombucha, watch our video tutorial for beginners and read about it here.

Here’s how to make your own kombucha sangria! (If you count on buying the berry kombucha instead of making it yourself, skip to stage 2.)

Stage 1: Making the Berry Flavored Kombucha

The key ingredient in this sangria recipe is the fizzy berry flavored kombucha! You can purchase ready-made berry kombucha locally, or make your own from scratch following these steps:

Time: 2-4 days (for carbonation & fermentation)

Quantity:

• 1-2 bottles of kombucha for 4 glasses of sangria
• 2-3 bottles of kombucha for 1 pitcher of sangria

Ingredients & Materials:

• 16 oz sealable glass bottle 
• Plain raw kombucha, not fizzy (learn how to make kombucha) 
• A handful of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries
• 1 tbsp. of rose petals and/or calendula flowers
• 1 tbsp. of lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. of agave

Instructions: 

1. Pour the lemon juice and agave into the sealable bottle. Add the rose and calendula herbs. Push the fruits in 1.5”-2” up.
2. Pour the kombucha into the bottle, making sure there’s at least 2 inches of free space at the top of the bottle before you shut it airtight.
3. Place your bottle out of the sunlight and allow it to ferment for 2-4 days (or longer). IMPORTANT: After the 2-4 days, make sure to open your bottle. You must open your bottle at least every 2 days to release built-up gases in the bottle. This is called ‘burping’. Do not forget to burp your bottle or it may eventually explode!
4. Taste after 2-4 days. Once it’s reached the flavor you like, refrigerate the fizzy kombucha bottle to slow the fermentation process.

Stage 2: Making the Kombucha Sangria

Time: 15 minutes

Servings: 1 half-pint jar (8oz); make the cocktails by the glass*.

Ingredients: 

• ½ cup of berry flavored fizzy kombucha (homemade or purchased) 
• ⅓ cup of red wine (preferably organic Tempranillo)
• Ice cubes, 6 small or 3 regular 
• 2-3 Tangerine wedges
• 2 orange slices 
• 4-5 small apple slices
• 4-5 small pineapple slices
• 4-5 berries (blueberries, blackberries and/or raspberries)
• 3-4 fresh mint leaves
• Pinch of cinnamon powder

*Making a large sangria bowl instead? Use 4 parts of kombucha, 3 parts of red wine, 1.5 parts of fruits & mint. Refrigerate, then serve in a glass of ice.

Instructions:

1. Combine the ice cubes, tangerine wedges, and one orange slice in your jar and crush the citrus fruits. 
2. Add 2-3 mint leaves. Crush and stir. 
3. Add the apple, pineapple, wine and kombucha. Add the berries at the top and combine gently.
4. Decorate with your second orange slice and last mint leaf.
5. Sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon on top.

That’s it! Now you can enjoy your delicious chilled homemade cocktail that’s sure to be a party favorite!

Make sure to watch the kombucha sangria video tutorial.

We hope you love this kombucha sangria recipe as much as we do!

¡Salud!

Cristina.