Cocktail/Cheese pairings

[jmfangio]

Hi folks,

A friend of mine organizes tasting events for an excellent local cheese shop, and asked to pick my brain on ideas for a Cocktails & Cheese tasting, as a break from the usual Wine & Cheese tastings that they have.

I'm thinking about this in two parts: light, Aperitif cocktails such as the Bamboo, Chrysanthemum, perhaps an Aperol spritzer, and a Champagne/Prosecco cocktail or two, and some heartier drinks to accompany entrees, or an after dinner cheese course.

Alright, maybe that's three parts, but I'm just starting to think this through, and any pairing suggestions would be most welcome.

[Chris Amirault]

Tough stuff, cocktail and food pairings....

I've always thought that gin was a good pairing for blue cheeses of various sorts. I had some tangy Maytag with an Atty a few weeks ago that worked quite well. (Not stuffed into an olive though. Ugh.)

[jmfangio]

I've always thought that gin was a good pairing for blue cheeses of various sorts.

Gin and blue cheese is a fantastic pairing. Some Roquefort to go with my Martini? Yes, please.

I haven't tried this out yet, but I was thinking of pairing the Princeton Cocktail along with a Stilton.

[Chris Amirault]

What did you decide?

[alacarte]

A couple of weeks ago I co-presented a seminar on "Monastic Cocktails & Cheeses" at the Manhattan Cocktail Classic. I can tell you firsthand that cocktails are a tough pair with cheese. We found that wine and ciders worked best, but we also had some success with drinks with more of an herbal profile - and provided you're not using too ripe/pungent or too delicate/mild a cheese. One cocktail that worked especially well was the Monte Cassino (Damon Dyer): Benedictine, yellow chartreuse, Rittenhouse Rye, fresh lemon juice, shaken & strained into a coupe glass. Good luck with your pairing experiment!