With the summer heat, nothing goes down better than cold glass of something sweet. A lot of folks think about beer first when it comes to a cool outdoor beverage. I personally am not a huge fan of wine coolers, so I have to admit to enjoying beer on occasion when it is 90 degrees in the shade, and it very often is down here in sunny Florida.

Another alternative, though, is Sangria. In many ways, it is similar I guess to a wine cooler you might purchase, but at least by making your own Sangria you can be sure you use some quality wine as well as other fresh ingredients.

I did some surfing and found a number of Sangria recipes.

The About.com Wine Guide has a recipe she calls The New Zealander.

Also at About.com is the Cocktails Guide's Sangria punch recipe.

Then, of course, one of my favorite About.com food related sites is the Southern Food site, and she also has Sangria Recipe.

And, one last one for you over at E-How, How to Make Sangria.