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!
Recommended Products:
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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
Love the website your ears should be burning as I talk about it often. Made this for Sukkot Sangria in the Sukkah a huge hit. Used 2 types of fruit liqueurs as brandy was too hard to find. Highly recommended.
It was a big hit at my home on Rosh Hashanah. It looked beautiful and tasted great. I also liked the pomegranate seeds in it a lot. Thank you!
Hosted a huge Rosh Hashana lunch for my husband’s whole family and made this sangria. They LOVED it!!! Perfect blend of fruity flavors and just the right amount of alcohol, thanks for all your awesome recipes!!
what type of honey did you use?
Wildflower, but any kind will do. If you plan on refrigerating it for longer than 1 night, you may want to use sugar instead of honey– the honey tends to settle in a cold refrigerator over a long period of time.
This sangria looks wonderful 🙂
This sangria looks fabulous! I haven’t had pomegranate sangria before, and now I want to try it — will make some this weekend 🙂
not only clever, inspirational and symbolic, but spiritually comforting. i’ll serve this sangria with my fish. thanks from a Sephardi friend.
Just emailed this to my mom- she’s having people over tomorrow for the holiday and this is perfect! Lovely recipe and gorgeous photos!
When I saw this recipe today, I had to add it to our holiday menu. I’ve got a pitcher each of the real stuff and a nonalcoholic version. Can’t wait to serve this! Thanks Tori!
L’Shana Tova
This is a pretty and I am sure tasty drink..I love the symbolism attached
So happy to see other Rosh Hashanah recipes! I published one today, too.
L’Shana Tova–have a sweet new year and may your name be inscribed for another year.
What a delicious Sangria! I love the symbolism (and love) you put into this one…
What a lovely idea, and a beautiful presentation! I love including the honey and pomegranate for the symbolism! L’shanah tova to all! <3
What a wonderful drink to celebrate with!! I love sangria, but I’ve never tried a pomegranate version! It looks so delicious!
Hi Tori!
Cheers! Great drink to celebrate Rosh Hashanah! Very clever, love the symbolism. Bet it tastes heavenly…
Wishing You a Sweet New Year My Dear.
L’Shana Tova!
LL
P.S. We are having an exciting time over here, one cousin is due with twins and another cousin is having a baby boy. Happy new year indeed!
This looks so yummy Tori. I’d love to try this sans alcohol. I think you’re going to have the sweetness new year ever my dear.xx
Oooh, yummy! We made some sangria with pomegranate juice last year and it was divine! Yours looks beautiful!
So fun! Looks like and refreshing!
Totally giving this a whirl! Glad I found it before heading to the store in an hour!
I love Sangria! I am certainly gonna try this!