by Barrie Lynn – The Cheese Impresario (learn about Barrie Lynn, below)It's no surprise to me that my dear friend Natalie Bovis - The Liquid Muse - is on the very forefront of a delicious and easy home entertaining concept: organic OM Liqueurs . Just opening the package, I was already set up for a delicious experience. The stunning artisan bottles are recyclable, and beautiful enough to repurpose once empty. (Natalie suggested re-using the bottles for EVOO or vinegars.) The labels are made at a wind-powered paper plant and printed with non-toxic, soy-based ink. But these are not all the sustainable qualities of OM Liqueurs. The coloring is from a company that derives hues from fruits and vegetables, rather than those dangerous chemicals. And, OM Liqueurs partners with Trees For the Future to plant a tree for each bottle sold. Currently these seedlings are helping to rebuild Haiti, which is still recovering from its devastating 2010 earthquake. Plus, the organic vodka is made from sustainable sugar cane, and now you can thrill even your health-conscious friends and family with a bottle of OM Liqueurs from the fridge and easily serve creative drinks.OM CEO and visionary, Jason Monkarsh, was smart enough to hire Natalie Bovis to help create these organic, gluten-free mixology-inspired liqueurs. Natalie is a true leader in the "garden to glass" cocktail movement, and teaches The Liquid Muse's Sustainable Sips® Cocktail Program since 2007, all over the country. Her dream for OM Liqueurs was to bring together her knowledge of mixology, her passion for the Organic lifestyle right to the consumer so they could experience this at home.The Vision for OM Organic Cocktails from OM CEO & Visionary Jason Monkarsh"I teamed up with Natalie, and the rest is history as they say. She designed a great line of liqueurs that make mixology more accessible to the every-day consumer, but that are also unique enough that they've been adopted by some in the bar tending community as cordials. OM has become everything we've imagined and more!"Now, for my favorite part…pairing artisanal cheese with an OM Liqueur. My research was really interesting and I came up with a pairing I hope all of you have the pleasure of enjoying with friends and family. My Artisanal Cheese & Libation Pairing Laboratory was buzzing with OM Liqueurs and loads of artisanal cheeses. My favorite pairing was the OM Meyer Lemon & Ginger flavor with a very special blue veined cheese, Salemville Cooperative's Amish Blue Cheese. Salemville Blue is a cow's milk cheese from the pristine terroir in the rolling pasturelands of Wisconsin. Salemville cheeses are handcrafted by an Amish community committed to sustainable agriculture. The milk comes from Amish family farmers, with herds ranging from four to 25 cows.I actually visited the Salemville Creamery in Cambria, Wisconsin when I first visited this cheese-centric state. It was like a National Geographic excursion into another world. Horse-drawn carts with hatted and bonneted Amish children waving at us with huge smiles. Watching all the handcrafting at the creamery and, of course, tasting the amazing cheeses of Salemville.The pairing of the OM Meyer Lemon & Ginger flavor with the Salemville Blue delivered a delectable sweet/savory sensation. The rich lemony gingery flavors along with the sweetness in the OM Cocktail brought out the sweet cream flavor from the cow's milk and then the blue essence comes flying through. Don't forget to properly execute The Cheese Highway, my methodology for pairing artisanal cheese with libations. Smell both your cheese and your cocktail as 80% of taste is smell. Then take a bite of your cheese and coat your tongue making The Cheese Highway. Then take a nice sip of OM down The Cheese Highway and the pairing comes together in your mouth for increased pleasure. A great pairing should be like a great relationship…one plus one should equal more than two. This pairing of the OM Meyer Lemon & Ginger with the Salemville Blue cheese is certainly a great relationship. Enjoy!
- Order OM Cocktails online or ask your favorite retailer to bring OM in for you.
- Find more on the cheese at Salemville Amish Cooperative.
- OM Cocktails bottle photo by Claire Barrett Photography.