It wouldn’t be the High Holidays without a cold pitcher of my Rosh Hashanah Sangria! Celebrate the Jewish new year with this sweetly symbolic beverage, featuring several traditional holiday ingredients. A sweet drink for a sweet new year. Shana Tova!
Symbolic Foods for Rosh Hashanah
When creating this recipe, I wanted to include as much holiday symbolism as possible. It’s a honey sweetened beverage decorated with fresh fruit– apples, pomegranates and grapes.
During Rosh Hashanah, we eat apples dipped in honey to symbolize our hope for a sweet year to come. We eat pomegranates to symbolize “new fruit” (the first of the season).
Pomegranates represent the 613 mitzvot – the fruit has 613 seeds. Additionally, pomegranates remind us that our good deeds in the coming year should be plentiful.
Round foods (like grapes) are also part of the holiday. They represent the cyclical nature of the year and the continuity of creation.
How to Make Rosh Hashanah Sangria
This sangria is cold, bold, and delicious. Prepare it a few hours ahead of time so it has a chance to chill and marinate in the refrigerator. The fruit will soak up the drink, and flavors will develop over time. My favorite part of the drink is the little pomegranate seeds; they burst on the tongue, releasing their delicious juice.
Warning – this goes down very easily!
Use any brands of liquor you prefer in this recipe. If you’re keeping kosher for the holiday (or just in general), be sure to choose kosher certified liquors. I’ve included a mocktail version and some other variations in the notes below.
Cheers to a sweet new year!
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Rosh Hashanah Sangria
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 pomegranate
- 1 apple, cored and sliced thin
- 12 ounces seedless grapes
- 750 milliliters red wine (syrah/shiraz works well) (1 bottle)
- 2 cups pure 100% pomegranate juice
- 1 cup grape juice
- 1/4 cup brandy
- 1/4 cup triple sec
NOTES
Instructions
- Pour honey and ½ cup water into a small saucepan. Heat over medium, stirring constantly, till the honey is completely dissolved into the water. Do not boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool. This is your honey simple syrup.
- Meanwhile, seed the pomegranate. Discard the rind and pith. For instructions, click here.
- Place the pomegranate seeds into the bottom of your pitcher.
- Place the apple slices on top of the seeds...
- ...and the grapes on top of the apple slices.
- Pour the entire bottle of red wine into the pitcher.
- Add the pomegranate juice, grape juice, brandy, triple sec, and honey simple syrup to the pitcher. Stir gently with a long handled spoon to blend all the flavors together.
- Place pitcher into the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours before serving. This will allow the flavors to blend. Stir again before serving.
Nutrition
This will be my second year making this. Love it!
So happy to hear that!
Can’t wait to try it
I’m having 12 for holiday dinner so I wanted to make this on Sunday morning for Monday night. I read that I should substitute sugar for honey. How much? Is it bad to make it too much in advance?
Thank you
What you can do is mix all ingredients except for the honey simple syrup, refrigerate overnight, then stir in the room temp honey simple syrup 3-4 hours before serving. It’s not a big deal, but the honey syrup can settle if left for too long in the fridge. I’d prefer this method over using sugar, because you keep the symbolism of the honey. 🙂
Looking forward to making this!
Married into a Jewish family. Not converted but fully embrace traditions, I added this last year to our Rosh Hashana evening. Huge hit! Especially when the meaning of the ingredients was explained. Definitely a new tradition for us. Tks!
Our New Year is not complete without this Sangria…my whole family loves it!
I have made this and it was a big hit!
This is brilliant!
Hi Tori,
Greetings from Miami. I am making a couple of your delicious Rosh Hashanah Recipies. Regarding the red wine for the sangria-what can I replace the Syrah/Shiraz wine with?
Thank you,
Leah-shanah tova
Shana tova Leah! Any fruity red wine will work. Try Beaujolais or California Zinfandel… or ask the person at the wine counter to recommend a fruity red wine (not dry). Enjoy!
I made this for Rosh Hashanah the other day, it was delicious! I need a larger pitcher, though….I had a 2.2 quart which I thought would be enough but it started to overflow. So I took out some of the fruit. It is a very sweet drink, but really tasty! AND, I learned how to get the seeds from a pomegranate! Thanks!
Just made this recipe for T B’Shevat, and it was a big hit!
I used half the recommended honey simple syrup, to make it a little less sweet, but everything else exactly as written. Thanks so much for sharing!