One Drink, Five Ways: Sangria

Simo’s Cafistro

227 Fifth Ave., West Des Moines, 274-2463

Restaurant manager Randy Simonini knows what’s going on across the pond. After traveling around Europe, he put the beloved sangria on his menu to complement his one-of-a-kind café-bistro’s New Orleans-style dishes. And Simonini found it also eased one of his major stressors — tossing out half-empty bottles of wine. So he throws the leftover reds (and occasionally whites) into a cooler and pours in triple sec to give it an orange flavor. To serve the drink, the long-brewing combo of wines is shaken with fresh fruit juice, a bit of lemonade, and we’re thinking more than a tiny amount of brandy. It’s served in an opaque royal blue glass with a cherry and lemon pierced through a cocktail sword

The Price: $6.50 a glass

The Verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. Who knew recycling could be this much fun? The brandy gives Simo’s sangria a major kick that completes the “heavenly combination.” A bit more fruit would bump this rating up a star, but we’re told the cooler the restaurant uses is a liquid-only contraption.