Sofia Cocktail

Hailing from Paley’s Place in Portland, Oregon, this sophisticated gin cocktail is named after the capital of Bulgaria—a nod to its key ingredient, delicious Bulgarian yogurt

A creamy white gin-based cocktail garnished with a lime leaf next to a plate of ginger snap cookies

Sofia Cocktail paired with Five-Spice Gingersnaps

Katherine Cobbs, author of Cookies & Cocktails: Drink, Dunk & Devour, pairs the Sofia Cocktail with Five-Spice Gingersnaps, featuring clove, fennel, star anise, cinnamon, and peppercorn.

“(Bar manager) Charlie Gleason suggests White Mountain Bulgarian yogurt here, but you may substitute a plain yogurt of your choice,” Cobbs writes. “Gin’s juniper base pairs beautifully with sweet, herbaceous Combier Kümmel’s notes of caraway, fennel, and cumin in this cocktail with lots of vegetal complexity.”

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

The Sofia Cocktail is a direct reference to the capital of Bulgaria. Charlie loved knowing that there was this unbelievably delicious strain of bacteria specific to Bulgaria that makes the yogurt there taste like no other.