Happy Weekend!

Happy Friday everyone! It felt wonderful to get back into the swing of things this week! Sadly, I managed to come down with a slight cold this week, which is probably my body’s way of letting me know not to rush too fast back into a hectic schedule. So I’m off to rest and enjoy the weekend… I hope you all can do the same! But in the meantime…

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Photo Credit: Sugar Paper for J.Crew

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

Check back soon for this week’s cocktail! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here next week! xoxo

Friday Happy Hour: The Danish Mary

Here’s a confession: I’m not the biggest fan of the Bloody Mary for two big reasons. First, all that tomato juice: I’m not crazy about savory drinks. Second, all that vodka: there’s no room in my bar for a neutral spirit that basically exists to liquor up a drink without adding any flavor. So for those of you desperately searching for a post-New Year hangover cure looking for a delicious brunch cocktail, here’s a slight variation that’s even better than the Bloody Mary: the Akvavit-based Danish Mary. – Andrew

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Illustration by Shauna Lynn for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Danish Mary

2 oz Akvavit
4 oz Tomato Juice
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
2 Dashes Worcestershire Sauce
2 Dashes Tabasco Sauce
A Pinch of Salt + Pepper

Combine everything in a glass filled with ice, the pour back and forth between two glasses to roll the ingredients together. (Tomato juice foams a lot when shaken; this is a much gentler method of mixing.) Strain into a new glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with lemon and/or celery and enjoy!

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The Danish Mary is rich and savory, with a touch of spicy heat, just like a Bloody Mary, but even more complex, thanks to the herbaceous spiciness of the Akvavit. Akvavit (also Akevitt or Aquavit) is, as we’ve mentioned before, is a Scandinavian liquor flavored with spices and herbs, primarily flavors like caraway and dill, but also lemon, mint, ginger, cardamom, allspice and the like. It imparts a depth of flavor to the Danish Mary that vodka can’t match.

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The easiest way to make a Danish (or Bloody) Mary is with bottled tomato juice. No one will judge you if you use this. But fresh juice really does make a difference, in this drink and every other. I muddled three medium tomatoes on the vine to get about 5 oz of juice; just make sure to filter the juice through a fine sieve or cheesecloth, or your Danish Mary will be pulpy. If you’re feeling extra fancy, try heirloom tomatoes. Modern tomatoes are bred for their color, firmness, and smoothness, but definitely not for taste, so heirloom tomatoes will give your drink a much richer tomato flavor. If that’s your thing.

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The origins of the Bloody Mary are a little murky, but may have been invented at the New York Bar in Paris – the same bar at which the French 75 was invented – in the early 20th century. It makes sense that no one really remembers who first mixed one up, since it was invented as a hangover cure. Everyone around was probably too drunk, or too hungover, to write down or remember the details.

Just make sure to finish your Danish Mary before brunch ends. I’m pretty sure it’s against the law to drink one of these at any other time of day.

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

A New Year’s Eve Cocktail Dinner Party with St-Germain: The Recipes

New Year’s Eve. Is there a holiday that more loudly calls out for a cocktail party? (Hint: no.) Ring in the new year in style, impress your friends with interesting and well-crafted drinks, and celebrate without trudging outside in the cold. So here are some St-Germain cocktail recipes to try – or to spark your creativity. You still have a couple weeks left. Send out some invitations and start stocking up your home bar!

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Alliance Club Punch

1 Bottle (750 ml) Genever
1/3 Bottle (250 ml) Cognac or Brandy
8 oz St-Germain
4 Lemons
1 Cup Sugar

First, thinly peel the lemons and muddle the peels in the sugar to extract the lemon oils. Let this sit for an hour, then remove the peels, squeezing out as much sugar as possible. Juice the lemons, combining about 8 oz of fresh juice with the sugar, then muddle again to combine. Pour the sweetened lemon juice along with the Genever, Brandy, and St-Germain into a punch bowl. Add two quarts of cold water and top the bowl off with ice. Invite your guests to serve themselves from the communal bowl.

St-Germain New Year's Eve Cocktail Recipe Card by Dinara Mirtalipova for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Punch is pretty much the most perfect party drink you could wish for. It’s not particularly laborious to make a tasty, solid punch; a single punch can be enough to serve an entire party; and it brings your guests together to mingle as they refill their glasses. (This is why punch glasses should be tiny and demand frequent trips back to the punch bowl.) Punch has a terrible reputation thanks to years of abuse, so your guests might take some convincing. But a punch like this – boozy and sweet but not obnoxiously so, malty and complex from the Genever and St-Germain standing in for the punch’s traditional spice – should convince them. And feel free to play around with the recipe – just make sure to use full-bodied, pot distilled spirits. (You could replace the Genever with whiskey or maybe even rum, for example, but please don’t use English gin in its place.)

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The Entente Cordiale

2 oz Cognac or Brandy
1/2 oz St-Germain
Champagne
Lemon Juice and Sugar to Garnish

Add a splash of lemon juice to a chilled cocktail glass and swirl to coat the interior. Discard the lemon juice, then fill the glass with finely powdered sugar. Discard this too, leaving the interior frosted with sugar. Combine the Brandy and St-Germain in a mixing glass filled with ice, stir until chilled, and then strain into the sugared glass. Top with champagne and serve.

St-Germain New Year's Eve Cocktail Recipe Card by Dinara Mirtalipova for Oh So Beautiful Paper

The Entente Cordiale is a play on a classic drink, the Buck and Breck, named somewhat improbably for the winning presidential ticket in 1856, James Buchanan and John Beckenridge. Despite all that fancy brandy and champagne, it’s actually a pretty fun and bubbly drink – smooth from the brandy, crisp and fizzy from the champagne, with the champagne’s dryness balanced out by the floral sweetness of the St-Germain and the sugar garnish. It’s also a lot easier to make for a party than it sounds. Just measure out your ingredients into a large mixing glass and sugar your glasses before the party begins. Then, once it’s time to serve, add the ice, stir and strain into the prepared glasses, and top with champagne in front of your impressed guests.

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French 105

1 1/2 oz Gin
1/2 oz St-Germain 
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
Champagne

Combine the Gin, St-Germain, and lemon juice.  Shake with lots of ice.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass or champagne flute, top with champagne, and serve.

St-Germain New Year's Eve Cocktail Recipe Card by Dinara Mirtalipova for Oh So Beautiful Paper

The French 105 is our take on a classic drink, the French 75, invented in 1915 at the New York Bar in Paris. Like the French 75, the French 105 is named after an artillery piece – because this drink can pack a kick. It’s crisp and light and effervescent, and the gin and St-Germain lend a bit of floral flourish, but still boozy. This is another drink that’s pretty easy to prepare ahead in a big batch. Measure everything out ahead of time in a large shaker. Then, just before serving, add your ice, shake well, strain into chilled cocktail glasses, and top with champagne in front of your very impressed guests.

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Sparkle + Shine Mocktail

1/2 Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1 oz Grenadine
Sparkling Water

To make your own Grenadine, combine two cups of pomegranate juice and two cups of sugar, heating gently and stirring frequently until the sugar is dissolved.  Then add two ounces of pomegranate molasses and a teaspoon of orange blossom water, again stirring until fully dissolved.  Let the Grenadine syrup cool, then combine all the ingredients in a highball glass filled with lots of ice and serve.

St-Germain New Year's Eve Cocktail Recipe Card by Dinara Mirtalipova for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Ok, so not everyone drinks, but everyone can still enjoy the party. Sweetly-tart Grenadine syrup is a great way to whip up a fun mocktail – Shirley Temple, anyone? – but making your own Grenadine is a quick and easy way to elevate what could be a a phoned-in drink into a mocktail worth serving your guests. I like this one with tonic water, adding a bit of bitterness and depth. If you do this, I recommend adding a dash more Grenadine for balance.

All illustrations by Dinara Mirtalipova for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Calligraphy Cocktail Menu Cards: Meant to Be Calligraphy

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

This post is brought to you in collaboration with St-Germain. All content, photos, recipes, and words are our own. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that help make Oh So Beautiful Paper possible!

 p.s. In case you missed them, you can see our first three cocktail party posts right here: a housewarming cocktail party + recipesa backyard summer cocktail party + recipes, and a bon voyage cocktail party + recipes.

Friday Happy Hour: Winter Cobbler

Last March, we first introduced the Cobbler: a concoction of booze, sugar, and lots and lots of fruit that was once one of the most popular drinks in America. Just because that was a century and a half ago doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try one today. And just because the Cobbler is traditionally one of the most perfect summer drinks doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy one in winter. You just need to balance some winter fruit with some heartier, winter appropriate spirits to produce a rich and tart but sweet Winter Cobbler. – Andrew

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Illustration by Shauna Lynn for Oh So Beautiful Paper

The Winter Cobbler

2 oz Bourbon
1 oz Dry Sherry
2 oz Cooked Cranberries
1 oz Cranberry Simple Syrup
Orange and Lemon Slices

Combine a cup of cranberries and a cup of simple syrup (1:1 sugar melted in water) in a saucepan and gently simmer until the cranberries start to pop or burst apart. Strain out the cranberries and reserve the rest of the cranberry syrup.

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Combine the Bourbon, Sherry, cooked cranberries, cranberry syrup, and a handful of orange and lemon slices in a cobbler shaker with lots of ice. Shake vigorously. Pour everything, fruit and ice and all, into a glass. Garnish, if you need one at all, with some fresh cranberries. Enjoy!

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The Bourbon provides a solid base of oak and vanilla, while the Sherry adds just enough nutty richness. The cranberries and lemon introduce plenty of tartness, balanced by the sweetness of the Sherry, simple syrup, and orange slices. There’s a lot going on in this glass. Comparisons to traditional holiday cranberry sauce, with all that tart but sweet and citrusy fruit, are not entirely out of place – but this shouldn’t be a boozy cranberry sauce in a glass. The fruit and sugar should complement the spirits and wine, not overwhelm them.

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I love this drink in part because it reveals the enormous potential of classic drinks like the Cobbler. Once you’ve understood the basics of a drink like this, a mess of fruit and liquor in a glass, you’re free to play around with combinations that can suit any season or mood. There’s a reason the Cobbler used to be enormously popular. I just don’t understand why it ever stopped.

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper