With the liquor ready to go, I jumped into making my first drink: a Santa-Gria, a seasonal riff on sangria made with rum rather than red wine. After I inserted the Santa-Gria capsule into the hopper and closed the lever, the machine detected the type of alcohol necessary (rum) thanks to the barcode on the top of the pod’s seal.
If the appropriate type of alcohol needed to make the capsule’s drink isn’t in one of the two glass bottles, the drink won’t dispense. (Note: The flavor capsules themselves are alcohol-free, should be refrigerated per the instructions on the box, and are sold separately from the machine.)
Once the pod was in, the touchscreen illuminated with an icon of the suggested glassware to use and whether serving it over ice was recommended. These tips are tailored to every drink (again, based on the barcode). In the case of the Santa-Gria, the Duet suggested that I use a highball glass filled with ice. I didn’t have a highball glass available at the time, so I used a drinking glass, which wasn’t an issue. I also ignored the suggestion to pour it over ice (at least initially) so that I could taste the drink before it was diluted.
After I positioned the glass under the spout, the machine prompted me to select the strength of the beverage from four options: strong (2.5 ounces of alcohol volume addition), regular (1.5 ounces), light (1 ounce), and mocktail (0 ounces). I went with the regular choice, and the drink was ready for mixing. A push of a button and roughly 30 seconds of pure fascination later, a burgundy-red, holiday-inspired play on sangria appeared in the glass.
Although the rum-based Santa-Gria is far from authentic by traditional sangria standards, which typically calls for a combination of wine, fresh fruit, and brandy or orange liqueur, this variation, made with a blend of fruit concentrates including pear, passion fruit, and elderberry, was undeniably tasty and a drink that I know my 60-something-year-old mom would enjoy.
The drink wasn’t too sweet, and the alcohol-to-mix ratio was just to my liking. It also didn’t taste like boxed wine or a premade mix. It was delightfully pleasant over ice (as recommended), and perhaps with the addition of fresh fruit, it might rival some of the pitchers of sangria I’ve enjoyed on the cobblestone streets of Madrid.
I had a similarly positive experience with the vodka-based lemon drop I prepared, which was also well balanced and just as good as any I’ve thrown back at a musky dive bar. I also appreciated that these flavor capsules—made from a mostly simple list of ingredients, such as water, sugar, and juice concentrate—didn’t taste overly artificial.
