Hot sangria becomes hot mulled wine...very ski resort sort of drink.
How about spiked coffee?..you could put out the "spiking" stuff and make a pot of coffee....decaf would be best as people may drink several.
Things I have included are Kaluah (natch!) rum and grated dark chocolate and orange peel, brandy and cinnamon, creme de' cocoa and any kind of sprinkles...
Serve the bottles of liquors and a can of squirt whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles, grated orange peel, cinnamon, sugar and whatever else you can think of.
Hot tea is good too with lemoncello, and rum and honey and cinnamon schnapps.

I like it! Frangelico, Baileys, Godiva Liqueur are a couple bottles you might include...

Those are great ideas that I will hold onto for future get togethers, thank you. However, I don't think it's the best fit to go with the type of "munchies" they like - snack foods on the tables such as honey mustard pretzels, peanut M&M's, chex mix, Swedish Fish if you can believe it, stuff like that. I always add a couple appetizers & some fruit. They don't really want desserts like cakes, etc. which I associate more with tea & coffee drinks.
I think the wine coolers started instead of wine or liquor because it's a Tuesday night, vs. Friday happy hour, and they were looking for something lighter since we all have to work the next day! That's what made me think of combining wine with something to "lighten it up" a bit, I just didn't know what that something should be. Any additional ideas would be appreciated. Thanks so much.

I love mulled wine so I make it all the time. The slightest chill is enough to make me heat up a glass in the micro! A great way to kick mulled wine up a notch is to soak some dried fruit in the wine as you heat it up. Folks can either fish out the fruit and eat it over pudding or ice cream, or you can strain it out ahead of time and save it for a yummy compote later. Good ones to try are pears, prunes, figs and cherries. Of course you can also add fruity liquers to mulled wine, like pear or apricot brandy if you can find such things. I make them! I'm lucky and can buy apple wine from a local winery. You might look for some other types of fruit wines to spice and heat up, and even mix with grape wine. Orange slices are always nice in hot wine too.

Oh how I miss wine! I can't drink more than a stolen sip or two now due to health reasons. :(

Well, it is not hot but a wine punch (Bowle) might be the ticket. You can use any fruit you like for this, but the most common in Germany is either peach or strawberry. One warning though for the working set...don't eat the fruit. After mascerating (I let mine sit for about 8 hours) they are very potent and the hangover is a killer.

Here is a link that might be useful: Strawberry Bowle

Thanks a lot for the additional ideas!

LOL, Peppi, I made the same mistake once, eating the fruit from the Rumtopf at Christmas, LOL.

The other "issue" with spiked coffee is that a lot of people don't drink coffee in the evening, because of the caffeine. It sounds like you'd like to keep the wine, so I think mulled wine would be a good option and Peppi's punch sounds like something my family would like a lot, I might make a pitcher of that for Easter!

Well, probably not, since we're actually having supper and everyone else has to work the next day. Maybe this summer, for a pool party!

Annie

I think I've only ever made mulled wine once & sangria once, so they seemed like a bit of a "mystery" to me to "get it right." However reading this thread & looking at some on-line recipes makes it seem like there's lots of flexibility with ingredients. Thinking since I want to "lighten it up" a bit, I might go with a white wine sangria that I can add a sparkling beverage to. It should be way better & prettier to serve than any of those wine coolers! I'll see what fruits look good at the store tomorrow & take it from there, thanks!

Elba, the Sangria is lovely with fresh strawberries or peaches or mangoes or pineapple, whatever fruit is nice and ripe. Linda (doucanoe) makes an apple sangria, very good, so nearly any fruit will work, I think. Well, not bananas, probably. (grin)

My sangria usually has a fizzy ingredient, whether it's gingerale or club soda, so it lightens it up and makes it sparkling. I think it's a very good choice.

I also saw Giada DeLaurentis make a sparkling limoncello punch drink with blueberries that was pretty, kind of like an alcoholic lemonade.

Annie

The ladies Bunco was last night - I went with white wine sangria & it was a really big hit! I soaked apple, pear, grapes & strawberries in brandy and white cranberry juice overnight (since I had to work all day, I didn't think the flavors would have time to develop if I waited until I got home). Just before they came I combined the above with white wine & a bottle of sparkling apple juice. I was going to add an orange for additional color, but got distracted. I think it will be the new Bunco beverage of choice, thanks everyone!