A Food Blogger’s Guide to Creating the Ultimate, Instagrammable Charcuterie Board (And the Drink to Match)

Charcuterie boards are the not-so-secret trick to take any gathering from “we’re just hanging out” to “this feels like a party.” Game night with the fam? It’s a crowd-pleasing app for grazing. Date night? Share some meats and cheeses while you watch your favorite show. Dinner for one? It’s way more fun than pizza.

But if your cheese knowledge stops at cheddar and parmesan, food blogger and cookbook author Sarah Copeland has some advice. For a charcuterie board that’s sure to impress (both your friends and your Instagram followers), she recommends picking a cheese from four different categories: creamy, distinctive, funky, and crowd-pleaser.

When it comes to charcuterie boards, Copeland says, more is more. She fills in her board with plenty of salty, buttery, cured meats, along with crackers, marinated olives, pickled eggs, dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), sliced watermelon radish, and more. (Is your mouth watering yet?) “It’s okay if small plates lap off the edge of the board, you just want to squeeze on as much as you possibly can,” Copeland says.

Copeland always whips up a bev to pair with her board. Her choice here? A lemon drift spritz (yes, basically the most refreshing-sounding cocktail ever). Start with Plume & Petal™ Lemon Drift—vodka infused with natural flavors including lemon, elderflower, and white tea flavors plus a hint of honey—and top it off with a splash of club soda, and fresh lemon slices for garnish (get the full recipe below). “This is great if you want to do something a little bit lighter than wine and just want to keep everything really fresh,” she says. The result is a sip meant for savoring while you snack.

Once you’ve prepped your cocktails, you’ll want to gather plenty of dishes, knives, toothpicks, and utensils both for presentation and for practicality. And don’t forget that a drizzle of olive oil or pinch of flaky salt can go a long way—but for the rest of Copeland’s tips, you’ll have to watch the video.

Lemon Drift Spritz recipe

Ingredients1 ½ oz. Plume & Petal Lemon Drift3 oz. preferred club sodaLemon slices for garnish

1. Fill a white wine glass with a few ice cubes.

2. Add your vodka, and top with club soda.

3. Garnish with a lemon slice, and serve.

For more recipes, visit www.plumeandpetal.com.

Recipe: Courtesy of Plume & Petal™