Kingdomtide

For All Saints’ Day: Our Son’s Baptism (And Yours)

/ Paul Burkhart / Leave a comment

Today is All Saints’ Day–when Christians remember the saints that came before us. It’s a perfect day to celebrate our son’s entry into visible membership into God’s family through the sacrament of baptism! You can watch it in the video above.

I wasn’t raised witnessing or agreeing with infant baptism. I grew up as a Bible Belt Southern Baptist (and pretty much all my relatives continue in that tradition). As a child, infant baptism was seen as a strange Catholic thing that went against the doctrine of salvation through grace.

But over time, my perspective changed as I found myself drawn into another tradition within Christianity–one that views baptism in a different way that I’ve found incredibly meaningful and beautiful.

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Plenary Indulgence | a cocktail for the All Saints Octave

/ Paul Burkhart / 1 Comment

Recipe

  • 1.5 oz Brandy
  • .5 oz Fig Syrup
  • .5 oz Dry Curacao
  • 1 Whole Egg
  • 3 oz Oktoberfest Beer
  • Garnish: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

Add all ingredients except beer to a shaker without ice. Vigorously shake longer than normal to emulsify the egg and get everything frothy. Add some ice and briefly shake again just until it’s cold. Double strain into a goblet and top with the beer. Drink alongside a peanut butter cup.

* * * *

Okay, this cocktail is just for fun. Just this year, I found out that Catholics extend the official observance of the All Souls’ and All Saints’ holidays to a full eight days to form the “All Saints Octave“. This is a time for Catholics to earn extra indulgences to help those in Purgatory.

Now, being a good, Reformation-steeped Protestant myself, and knowing that Luther specifically kicked off the Reformation this week partly to protest these very indulgences, I thought it’d be a good opportunity to celebrate my spiritual heritage in this by crafting a cocktail.

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Dearly Departed | a cocktail for All Souls’ Day

/ Paul Burkhart / Leave a comment

Recipe

  • 1 oz Mezcal
  • .75 oz St. Germain Elder Flower Liqueur
  • 1 oz Dry Vermouth
  • .5 oz Dry White Wine
  • 1 dash Celery Bitters (optional)
  • Garnish: Olive

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice. Stir until chilled and diluted. Strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with an olive.

* * * *

I can easily forgive you for not knowing that All Souls’ Day is different from yesterday’s All Saints’ Day. If yesterday was about honoring all the saints in the world today, today is about honoring all those that have died and gone on before us. (Together, these two days constitute Mexico’s “Day of the Dead”.) This day helps us honor our ancestors–both in blood and spirit–to feel their legacy, support, and presence in some way.

It also lends itself to rich symbolism for a great cocktail! This drink is made entirely of spirits (get it?). The Mezcal and celery bitters recall the darkness of death, while the olive brings to mind the salt of tears for those that have passed before us.

But the vermouth and wine bring complexity that reminds us there’s more to it than that. Death is not the end of the story. That’s when the saintly liqueur St Germain brings a bouquet of sweetness and brightness through the darkness. It’s a lovely, delicate, complex drink, like our spiritual legacy.

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All Saints’ | a holy day cocktail

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Recipe

  • 2 oz Dark Rum
  • .75 oz St. Germain Elder Flower Liqueur
  • .5 oz Lemon Juice
  • .5 oz Falernum (or Ginger Syrup)
  • .25 oz All Spice Dram
  • Garnish: Lemon twist

Add all ingredients to a shaker. Add ice and shake. Double strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with a lemon twist.

* * * *

Today is All Saints’ Day (and the beginning of Kingdomtide). It is a beautiful Christian feast day that honors all of God’s people, known and unknown.

Every description I’ve seen of this holy day includes that little tag at the end–known or unknown–and I love it. There are those who belong to God in unknown ways we could not define nor specify. This day is a celebration of all the ways God draws people to himself.

And so to all of you saints–known and unknown–I raise a glass in toast of you. And in that glass is one of the best cocktails I’ve ever made.

It is complex and spicy, with a little funk. It is perfectly balanced with some brightness and sweet floral notes. As for symbolism, I just had two requirements when conceiving of this drink: it need All Spice Dram and Saint Germain (All… Saint… Get it?). I honestly didn’t think it’d work, but boy does it.

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Make Kingdomtide Great Again

/ Paul Burkhart / 3 Comments

I need structure in my life. I need routines. They help me focus on important things I can easily overlook. That’s one of the reasons why I have connected so deeply with the Christian Church Calendar. I wasn’t raised with it, but these seasonal themes and focuses give more shape to my spiritual life where it would otherwise be amorphous.

Today, I want to introduce you all to a lesser-known–but amazing–season of the Church Calendar that I’ve really enjoyed celebrating the past couple of years: Kingdomtide.

It starts November 1st (though in some traditions it starts earlier), and yes, I made a playlist for it.

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