A note from Ms.Paperlicious... I invited my good friend Nikki, a music marketing genius and all around fantastic party host, to tell us about her favorite drink recipe for a little summer fun!
There are two very important lessons one learns while working 12-hour days for a major record label: 1) How to trade promo CDs with employees of other record labels so you never actually have to shell out the 10 bucks you’re trying to get the public to spend and 2) How to make a bad-ass cocktail after said 12-hour day is done.
Sure, there are other interesting things that came out of my 9-year stint in the biz, things you might even enjoy reading. But narcissistic rock stars and indentured servitude don’t really go with party planning, and my therapist gets jealous when I blog about our private time. So instead, for you, dear rockin’ Paperlicious reader, I present my most favorite cocktail recipe!!
Say-My-Name Sangria
Alright so everybody and their grandmother (particularly if Grandma is Spanish) seem to have a recipe for sangria. I went through a big sangria phase back in ’01 where I pretty much made all of them. (Well, not all, but a lot). There were all kinds of recipes with crazy flavored liquors, different varieties of rums… local fruit, tropical fruit, fruit roll-ups… it was dizzying. But then finally, on one hot summer night that July, I invented the following. This is my very own Holy Grail sangria recipe that until now I wouldn’t even share with my friends. (Or I would, but I’d leave out an ingredient. But that can’t be good for my karma). So for the first time in print, ladies and gentlemen, I give you, Say-My-Name Sangria! I’ve named it that because after you drink a few glasses, you most likely won’t be able to.
• 1 Bottle (750 ml) Dry, Red Wine (Most people grab a cheap bottle of swill and call it a party. That never made any sense to me. The wine is the main ingredient- it should be decent. I’m not saying splurge on a ’94 Amarone, but rather, choose something that’s actually drinkable on its own). I like a nice California Cabernet. Bold, flavorful, intense. (You are what you eat).
• 2 Cups Light Rum (Yea, that’s right, 2 cups. I don’t mess around).
• 1 Cup Peach Flavored Liquor (Schnapps is fine. Trust me, you’ll love it).
• 1 Red Fuji or Pink Lady Apple cored and sliced (I like these apple because they’re firm, tart, and they won’t get mushy in your brew).
• 1 Pint Strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Cups Flavored Club Soda (I like Raspberry or Cherry Canada Dry)
Combine all of the above into a large pitcher. Giggle a few times while pouring in the peach flavored liquor because nobody will know that this is your secret ingredient, and by the time they think they do, they’ll forget what they were trying to figure out. Stir gently for a couple seconds. Grab a spoon. Taste it. Declare aloud: I am the bullgod. Refrigerate overnight if possible. (The sangria, not you). Something happens in the mixture overnight that even science can’t quite explain. Perhaps it’s the marinating. Maybe it’s the change in molecular structure. All I know is that the next day it’s almost twice as good, as if that’s possible.
Serve over ice in obnoxiously large goblets with a side of long decorative toothpicks so you and your guests can eat the rum and liquor-soaked fruit while you drink. I have no idea how many servings this yields. Depends on who comes over, I guess.
So, there you have it. Now go get crackin’ and always remember… Rock-stardom is neither innate nor learned. Rock-stardom is a state of mind.
Drink up, buttercup.
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Ms.Paperlicious would like to add that if we had a legal department, they would make us say something like... please drink responsibly and for goodness sakes, don't be a ninny and drink and drive. Cheers!
