Pairing food with a drink can be an intimidating task. The right drink can enhance a dining experience, and the wrong drink can ruin it. Pairing mixed aperitivos with food is only complicated because the flavors are a little more complex. But once you find your favorite pairings, you’ll be ready to throw any type of party—formal or relaxed! Here are a few tips to help you get the best atōst cocktail pairings with food.
1. Choose cocktails that complement your meals. A cocktail can complement a dish by either matching or contrasting its flavors. Consider the body of the drink—if it’s a heavier drink, you’ll want to pair it with a lighter dish, and if it’s a light drink you can pair it with a heavier meal. If there’s a shared ingredient in your dish and your drink, chances are they’ll pair well together. For example, if you have orange beet salad it’s sure to pair well with any of our Citrus cocktails.
2. Use the cocktail to enhance the flavors of your dish. Don’t let the flavors of your cocktail overpower or compete with your dish. For instance, you wouldn’t pair our whiskey-like aperitivo, Woods, with raw oysters, but you would serve it with steak. You also shouldn’t pair an overly sweet cocktail with a sweet dish. The food should always drive the flavors of the cocktail.
For a unique, but balanced flavor pairing try our Roots on the rocks with your dark chocolate cake! The earthy, herbaceous flavors of Roots will be just the right contrast to the sweetness of the cake!
3. Play with aromatics. Herbs are a great way to pair cocktails with foods. You can use them to match similar flavors in a dish to the drink. You don’t always have to muddle the herbs to incorporate them into the dish. Sometimes just a sprig as a garnish is all you need. For example, we garnish our Shirley Rose cocktail with a sprig of rosemary. So, pairing this cocktail with a dish that incorporates rosemary like a roasted herbed chicken is a great pairing that will give you a refreshing sip midmeal without shocking the taste buds!
4. Know the roots (no pun intended ;)). Food and alcohol that evolved in the same regional area tend to pair well together. A great example of this is aperitivos and a light pasta dish or Caprese salad since they both originated in Europe.
5. Keep your sugar levels in check. You don’t want to ruin the meal by overserving and burning your guests’ taste buds with harsh, surgery cocktails. That’s why atōst is perfect for dinner parties, happy hours, etc. Our crafted apéritifs only use the freshest ingredients and a fraction of the sugar.
Follow these 5 pairing tips for your next gathering and you’re sure to be a fan favorite! Cheers!