A drink a day: Sangria

"Bar Month" at OnMilwaukee.com is back for another round! The whole month of February, we're serving up intoxicatingly fun bars and club articles -- including guides, unique features, drink recipes and more. Grab a designated driver and dive in!

If you ask for a list of my five favorite restaurants in the world, I'm going to put Los Dos Molinos in the top five.

Located off Baseline Road and Central Avenue in Phoenix, Los Dos serves incredible salsas, great carnitas and outstanding dishes like enchiladas, shrimp Veracruz or adovada ribs.

Even though the margaritas are tasty and the Mexican beers are cold, I have to order sangria every time I hit Los Dos. It might not seem like the most masculine drink, but I don't care. The fruity bouquet provides the perfect complement to the ultra-spicy food.

A lot of people try to make sangria. They'll use red wine, various fizzy sodas and slew of different fruit slices and go to town. The results are usually very good. My theory on sangria, though, is that simple is better.

Cheap red wine. A little sugar. Some triple sec. Oranges and lemons. Lemons and oranges. Let the citrus play off the wine and go to town.

Here is a simple recipe, which can easily be doubled or tripled - depending whether you want to make the batch by the pitcher or punch bowl:

Ingredients
1 bottle (750 ml) of fruity, full-bodied red wine (don't spend more than $8 or $10 on it)
¼ cup sugar
¼ triple sec
1 large lemon, washed and sliced
2 large oranges, washed; slice one and put in the pitcher and squeeze the juice from the other into the mix

Directions
Put the fruit and sugar into the pitcher and mash it gently with a wooden spoon.
Squeeze in the orange juice, add the triple sec and wine.
Refrigerate for at least 3 hours (preferably overnight).
Before serving, add eight ice cubs and stir briskly.
Serve over ice with a lemon and orange garnish.