How to Make Sangria - The Best 6-Step Pitcher Recipe

You need 2 lemons and 2 oranges for the sliced citrus, plus 1 more orange you'll juice in step 2. Set a cutting board down and grab a chef's knife. Trim a thin slice off each end of every lemon and orange - the rind ends carry bitterness without much fruit, so they go in the compost bin, not the pitcher.

Slice each lemon and orange into thin rounds, about 1/4 inch thick. Thin slices release more flavor into the wine and look prettier in the glass. Move the slices to the side of the board as you go so the next piece has room.

Drop all the lemon and orange slices into a large glass pitcher or sangria jar. Mason-style beverage dispensers with a center ice column work beautifully - they hold a full double-bottle batch and look great on a buffet table.

Take the third orange, trim the ends, and squeeze it through a citrus juicer right into the pitcher. Julia uses a hand-held lime juicer for this and it works fine on oranges; you just have to squeeze a little harder. So that's two oranges sliced, one juiced, two lemons sliced - all in the pitcher.

Make a quick simple syrup if you don't have one ready: pour equal parts boiling water and white sugar into a heatproof glass measuring cup and whisk until the sugar dissolves. That's it. Cool slightly. Add 4 ounces (half a cup) of the syrup to the pitcher.

Then add 4 ounces of Grand Marnier. This is the ingredient that makes a good sangria. Grand Marnier is orange-flavored triple sec spiked with brandy - it carries both bitterness and sweetness in balance, which is exactly what an over-sugared sangria is missing. Cointreau or a basic triple sec also work; Grand Marnier is the upgrade.

Open both bottles of wine. Screw tops are fine - this isn't a tasting flight, and the rule in Julia's house is no pomp and circumstance with a corkscrew when a twist gets you there in two seconds.

Pour both bottles into the pitcher. Here's the restaurant trick: swirl the bottle gently as you pour and the wine comes out almost twice as fast. The swirl breaks the airlock at the neck so the wine doesn't glug.

Put the lid on the pitcher and slide it into the fridge. Sangria needs at least 2 hours to chill and let the citrus flavors infuse the wine. Eight hours is the upper end, after which the citrus skins can start to turn the wine bitter.

For a cookout, make it the morning of the party (or the night before if you're under 8 hours). The cold and the rest make a huge difference. Warm sangria poured over ice in a hot glass gets watery in about 90 seconds; cold sangria over ice stays drinkable for an hour.

Pour the chilled sangria into wine glasses or short tumblers over plenty of ice. Spoon a few of the citrus slices into each glass for garnish. A skewered strawberry and a folded orange slice on the rim looks great if you want to dress it up for a party.

If your pitcher has a center ice cylinder, fill the cylinder with ice instead of adding ice cubes to the pitcher itself. The cylinder keeps the sangria cold without diluting it - smart for a long afternoon.