Our nation of immigrants has a reputation of adopting the world’s culinary traditions and juicing them: witness deep-dish pizza. The foot-long frankfurter. The Choco-Taco. If you order sangria in Spain, you may as well have a sign that says “Turista!” on your forehead: the locals are more likely to be drinking Tinto de Verano (wine and Sprite) or Calimocho (red wine and cola). Red wine and cola?! I know – I’ll take the one with the fruit in it, too.

Sangria is a lovely mutt: take any cheap wine (red or white), marinate with citrus and fruit, sweeten a tad, goose with a tipple of harder stuff, and serve over ice, topped with something bubbly. Them’s the rules – from there, it’s all creation, kismet and personal preference.

The Fruit: strawberries? Slice ‘em up. Kiwi fruit? Mint? Gorgeous – in white wine, it will look like a terrarium. Be sure to have citrus – lemon, lime or orange – one per pitcher, squeezed for juice. After that, honeydew whatever you like. Stick it in the fridge, and let it steep while you sleep.

The Sweetener: don’t go crazy: sometimes a little OJ does the trick. Otherwise, just 3 or 4 tablespoons of sugar or honey (how cheap was that wine?).

The Spike: again, whaddaya got around? Triple Sec, great. Brandy, dandy. Rum, yum. Cachaça, gotcha. Three shots per pitcher.

The Ice: frozen water, handiest in a geometric form.

The Bubbly: seltzer to top it off – or tonic, or prosecco. No need to go cuvée here.

Some combos to consider: white wine, apples and applejack, with cinnamon stick stirrers. Rosé, blueberries and gin. Red, pineapple, rum and ginger beer. White, frozen grapes, tequila and chili-salt-rimmed glasses!

Spoon some of the fruit into each glass, so your guests don’t look quite so crazy when they’re staring at their glass, wondering, Yum, how did she make this?