In the Drink

Sangria For All Seasons

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Sangria is never out of season at Chapel Grille in Cranston. This month, though, you won’t find the drink in its characteristic warm weather form. Instead, they serve a version called the Eve Sangria, which channels fall with fresh apple cider, applejack brandy and cinnamon.

This isn’t a rustic batch affair like many sangrias. Instead, bartenders mix and pour each one as an individual cocktail. The pour is not quite the volume of, say, drunk Aunt Patty’s jumbo-size chardonnay, but it’s pretty darn generous. It packs quite a wallop, too, thanks to a healthy dose of house-made spiced rum. It is named after a notorious troublemaker, after all, so there’s truth in advertising.

The drink is the brainchild of Bar and Dining Manager Jennifer Nietupski, who has long overseen the restaurant’s bar program. She changes the menus seasonally, but keeps a biblical theme running throughout the year in homage to the 1891-built chapel that’s the restaurant’s namesake.

“We’re a restaurant bar,” Jennifer says with a warm, no-nonsense humility. “We aren’t a fancy cocktail bar. We like to make sure we offer things that are classic and complement the food, but then we also offer what we call an ‘iconic’ menu with something a little different.”

That’s where the Eve Sangria comes in, which is straightforward enough to easily make at home, but offbeat enough to stand out.

Eve Sangria
Serves one

• 4 oz pinot grigio
• 2 oz fresh apple cider
• 1 oz house-infused cinnamon spiced rum
• .5 oz Laird’s AppleJack brandy
• Splash of Cointreau
• Soda water
• Dash of cinnamon
• Apple as garnish, optional

Make the spiced rum: Choose a dark rum and insert whole cinnamon sticks into the bottle. Cap it, and leave to infuse for several days or one week. 

Make the sangria: In a cocktail shaker with ice, add the wine, cider, rum, brandy and Cointreau. Shake to blend. Strain and serve in a cocktail glass, finished with a splash of soda water and a dash of cinnamon.

Chapel Grille
3000 Chapel View Boulevard, Cranston
944-4900

Chapel Grille, chapel grille cranston, sangria, cocktail recipes, emily dietsch, in teh drink, providence monthly, meghan h follett

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