We did it! We survived! College football is back! The NFL preseason is over! It was a long, hot summer, but football is here, and like you, I can’t wait to get fat and wasted sitting in front of my TV for hours on end this fall. As such, besides having a quality screen and seating arrangement, the most important addition to my leisure experience is without a doubt the food and drink.
We’re all in agreement on several things being standard fare for food-drink pairings:
- Beer with pizza, with wings, with ‘tater chips, with burgers.
- A glass of red wine with a nice thick steak.
- Bourbon with barbeque.
- Margaritas with tacos.
- Malort with your compost bin.
And so on, and so forth. But of all the possible pairings between alcohol and food, which ones are best? Which are underrated? Which ones are heretofore unknown and should be tried out?
Personally, I’m partial to rum & coke with poutine… the salt and sweet perfectly complement each other, and you won’t feel doubly bloated like you might if you added a heavy beer to all those fries, gravy and cheese curds. Though like many of you, I won’t turn down a free drink no matter what it’s made of… so long as I can confirm that my waiter isn’t Bill Cosby.
What is the best food-alcohol pairing, and why?
Let’s… Get… Kommenting!
I have a few favorites.
Negra Modelo with Mexican food.
A crisp lager or bitter with spicy Thai, Vietnamese, or Korean food.
A primitivo or Zinfandel with pizza.
A tempranillo with steak is a nice alternative to the classic cab.
Apple or pear cider with roasted pork.
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The Vainglorious B1G
Marshall looking for the upset.
A bratwurst and a Spaten Oktoberfest.
A good IPA and fish tacos.
Perhaps not the best, (but how many times can we all say “beer and burgers” before it gets ridiculous?), but goddamn it’s a nice change of pace.
A shot of whiskey to finish off a mixed grill breakfast. Always makes me feel like Ron Swanson, even before he existed.
The last time Temple beat Penn State Pearl Harbor was just an obscure naval base in the Pacific colonies.
Cider and a charcuterie board is also a good way to go.
Hey guys, sorry for the commenting issues today – the new look doesn’t like the old comment system.
Shit. I can’t edit my comments! I meant to say “create”. Although, cream is probably appropriate.
A good flavored stout goes very well with vanilla ice cream to cream an alcoholic float. One of my favorites is Young’s Double Chocolate Stout with some high-end vanilla ice cream. Fucking delicious!
Reasonably good scotch and anything. Except hot dogs.
Sake and anything Japanese.
Having to give up sake is by far the worst thing about quitting drinking.
Just this past week, I discovered pear cider and strawberry rhubarb pie as a combo. Yummy.
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I see this before the comments. Maybe this is supposed to be the reply button.
But anyway, you know what goes really good with anything melted in cheese? Whiskey.
Pork rinds and beer make each better, one slothier.
Whisky and chocolate. Seriously, especially the peaty ones. There’s a reason Lagavulin offers a whisky and chocolate tour option at their distillery.
Chocolate chip cookies and Sam Adams Holiday Porter caught me off guard. Pretty good combo.
I love the new format since it loads far faster. Zymm’s right though, how to reply?
Also, Tex-Mex is fucking awesome, though in SoCal, we just called it “barbecue”. My favorite Mexibrew is Tecate. Has a flavor its cousins do not. Plus, dirt cheap.
Also, is there now no way to reply to other people’s comments, or am I just dumb and don’t see it?
Just about the only way I enjoy chocolate is with red wine and an espresso. I’m actually a fan of red wine with pizza as well, especially if it’s Neapolitan style pizza. More Italianish that way.
Martinis and buttered popcorn is probably my least conventional favorite pairing. The salt components of each enhance each other, yet both are light enough flavors to that they don’t overwhelm the botanicals in the gin and the corn flavor in the popcorn. And now that I’m thinking about it, I have all the ingredients I need to consume this right now, including my fancy new-to-me brand of dry vermouth and and option of caper berries or lemon peel stuffed olives for garnish. I also have tasty small-kerneled heirloom popcorn that doesn’t get stuck in your teeth cause I am fancy-schmancy like that.
Welp, I know what I’m doing for the next couple hours.
I found out by happy accident that dark and stormies go well with spicy stir-fry. I guess it’s ’cause of the ginger. (Your results may vary.)
I am very confused and even more afraid of the new formatting around here. Someone hold me. Boners mandatory.
Having lived in South Texas most of my life, I’ve grown quite adept at preparing (and eating) authentic Tex-Mex. This is nothing like the stuff available in other parts of the US; it’s heavy on well-marinated grilled chicken and beef with fresh salsas and pico offering varying levels of heat. Homemade flour or soft corn tortillas are non-optional…the “crispy taco” doesn’t exist here. Side that with Spanish rice and Charro beans and you can’t go wrong.
The potent seasonings and serious portions pair well with the lighter beers common in Mexico. Sol, Dos Equis and yes, even Corona, do the job, but shop around a bit and you’ll find better options like the Bohemia and Modelo series. Keep the beer light and fruit-free to cut through the strong spices and you can forget about dessert.
Mai tai’s and any kind of roast pork.
I would like to suggest the humble Caipirinha cocktail. It is a Brazilian concoction that is made with cachaca, which is kind of a Brazilian rum and also pronounced ka-shasa, some limes, sugar and a shit load of ice cubes. Muddle a couple of lime wedges with a teaspoon of sugar, pour in liberal amounts of cachaca and add ice. Lots of ice. The trick to this drink, since it’s potent as fuck, is to keep your glass constantly choked with ice. This is a cool, sweet, tangy, boozy drink that goes amazingly well with grilled foods. It pairs really well with carne asada, grilled chops and sausages.
This is the kind of drink that will make you officially unproductive for the rest of the day.