Beverages Articles

Article / Updated 05-04-2022

Most beer drinkers tend to drink just a couple different beer styles without straying too far off the beaten path. But to fully understand and appreciate the wider spectrum of beer styles, here are a few types of beers that every beer drinker should taste at least once: Belgian Fruit Lambic: Well-aged ale with surprising, effusive fruit aroma and taste; intoxicating fragrance Doppelbock: Strong, dark, and caramel-like Bock Beer with two times the flavor and body of Bock (doppel your pleasure, doppel your fun) Imperial Stout: Dark, rich, and creamy Stout with complex grain flavors; a brew to chew Rauchbier: Oktoberfest beer made with a portion of beechwood-smoked malt; delicious and unique but takes somewhat of an acquired taste (great with smoked cheese or sausage) Witbier: Perfumy Belgian Wheat Beer made with orange rind and coriander seed; like nothing else in the beer world Certain brands of beer have become synonymous with distinctly different flavor profiles. The following short list includes some of the more famous brands along with a couple others that are still cultivating a following. True beer lovers should taste all of them at least once. Guinness Stout (Ireland): Dark, dry, smooth, and roasty, with a creamy head; the perfect sipping pint Pilsner Urquell (Czech Republic): Crisp and hoppy with a touch of malty sweetness; the original, classic Pilsner beer Rodenbach Grand Cru (Belgium): Sharply sour but refreshing, with fresh fruity notes; beer masquerading as Burgundy wine Samichlaus (Austria): Incredibly malty-rich and spirited; a terrific tipple for the Christmas holidays Samuel Adams Utopias (United States): Throat-warming malt complexity with hints of oak, like no beer you’ve ever had; that’s why you sip it like a brandy

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-17-2022

Making wine at home lets you explore your creative side — from choosing the perfect grapes to learning the lingo of wine-speak. Making your own wine is also a great way to unleash your inner science geek. You need to calculate conversions, understand wine chemistry (including sugar and pH levels), and regulate temperatures, all while paying attention to the basic laws of home winemaking.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-14-2022

Food and wine pairing isn’t a matter of life or death. But isn’t life a little better with a good taste in your mouth? Starting with wine you like (and food you enjoy, too) is ground zero. All the other delicious considerations that lead to outstanding moments of tasting pleasure come after. To make your food and wine pairing memorable, start with a versatile wine — one that agrees with a wide range of foods — and things won’t go far wrong. Then consider a handful of taste, texture, and aromatic elements, and you may just find some magic.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-09-2022

Choosing a French wine means understanding how to read and pronounce French wine names and words you find on the label, the variety of grape specific to certain French wines, and getting the best value of a French wine.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-17-2022

Quality beer is widely available and relatively inexpensive, but choosing among all the various styles can be a little confusing without some help. A little beer knowledge can turn a daunting experience into an enjoyable one. Start with a list of handy beer descriptors, along with some great beer styles and brands to try. Then check out some pointers for buying, serving, tasting, evaluating, and dining with beer.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-11-2022

To enjoy Italian wine, all you have to do is drink it. But if you want to get just a bit under the grape skin, you can explore the major varieties of Italian red and white wines, the grapes they're made from, and how to say their names.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 01-14-2022

When you’re brewing your own beer at home, get to know the abbreviated versions of homebrewing terms to help read your recipes and directions, keep a basic measurement conversion chart handy, and check out the hierarchy of beers chart so you know what category and type of beer you want to homebrew and possibly enter into competition.

Article / Updated 09-27-2021

When doing any sort of entertaining, one of the biggest hassles is trying to figure how to set up your bar. Here are a few tips for setting up your home bar. Set up a traffic flow for your party Keep the bar as far as possible from your food and snacks. This prevents large groups of people from staying in one area. If possible, base a wine and beer bar in one area and a cocktail bar in another. Keep your bar in or near the kitchen Cleaning up spills is a lot easier in your kitchen. What's more, you'll do a lot less running around if you are close to the sink and refrigerator. If you have to set up your bar in another location, put a small rug or cloth under and behind the bar to protect the floor or carpet. And no matter where your bar is, use a strong, steady table to avoid tipping or collapsing. Serve smartly Your party will run smoothly and your guests will be happy if you take the following suggestions to heart: Use nothing larger than a shot glass for shots, and do not serve doubles to your guests. You aren't doing anyone any favors by overserving. If a recipe calls for 1-1/2 oz. of vodka, use just that amount. All mixed drinks should not exceed 2 oz. of liquor. Use lower proof products if they're available. Have fruit punch available for those "light" drinkers. Have alcohol-free drinks available, plus coffee and tea. Use only clean, fresh ice and fruit. If possible, chill glasses and do not put them out until five minutes before the party begins. When serving hot drinks, make sure that the cups or glasses have handles. Use scoops, tongs, or large spoons to serve ice. Never use your hands. If you do not have bottle pourers, rub wax paper over the tip of liquor bottles to prevent dripping. Close the bar an hour to an hour and a half before the end of the party. If possible, hire a professional bartender.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 09-01-2021

Good bartenders pride themselves on being knowledgeable about cocktail recipes and proficient in the art of properly serving their guests and patrons. With a healthy repertoire of popular mixed drink recipes and the right ingredients at your fingertips, you can be the life of any gathering.

Article / Updated 09-01-2021

Every dish is dynamic: it’s made up of several ingredients and flavors that interact to create a (more or less) delicious whole. Every wine is dynamic in exactly the same way. When food and wine combine in your mouth, the dynamics of each change; the result is completely individual to each dish-and-wine combination. When wine meets food, several things can happen: The food can exaggerate a characteristic of the wine. For example, if you eat walnuts (which are tannic) with a tannic red wine, such as a Bordeaux, the wine tastes so dry and astringent that most people would consider it undrinkable. The food can diminish a characteristic of the wine. Salt diminishes the impression of tannin, for example, and an overly tannic red wine — unpleasant on its own — could be delightful with a well-salted rare steak or roast beef. The flavor intensity of the food can obliterate the wine’s flavor or vice versa. If you’ve ever drunk a big, rich flavorful white wine with a delicate filet of sole, you’ve had this experience firsthand. The wine can contribute new flavors to the dish. For example, a red Zinfandel that’s gushing with berry fruit can bring its berry flavors to the dish, as if another ingredient had been added. The combination of wine and food can create an unwelcome third-party flavor that wasn’t in the wine or the food originally. Fortunately, certain elements of food react in predictable ways with certain elements of wine, giving you a fighting chance at making successful pairings. The major components of wine (alcohol, sweetness, acid, and tannin) relate to the basic tastes of food (sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and saltiness) the same way that the principle of balance in wine operates: Some of the elements exaggerate each other, and some of them compensate for each other. The following notes about pairings illustrate some of the ways that food and wine interact, based on the components of the wine. Keep in mind that each wine and each dish has more than one component, and the simple relationships described can be complicated by other elements in the wine or the food. Whether a wine is considered tannic, sweet, acidic, or high in alcohol depends on its dominant component. Tannic wines Tannic wines include most wines based on the cabernet sauvignon grape (including red Bordeaux), northern Rhône reds, Barolo and Barbaresco, and any wine — white or red — that has become tannic from aging in new oak barrels. These wines can Taste less bitter when paired with salty foods Taste astringent, or mouth-drying, when paired with spicy-hot foods Taste bitter with bitter foods Sweet wines Many so-called dry wines today actually have some sweetness, particularly inexpensive (about $12 or less) wines from California. Wines with unmistakable sweetness include most moscato wines, white zinfandel, many rieslings (unless they’re labeled dry or trocken), and medium-dry vouvray. Sweet wines also include dessert wines such as port, sweetened sherries, and late-harvest wines. Depending on their level of sweetness, these wines can Taste fruitier when matched with salty foods Make salty foods more appealing Go well with foods as sweet as they are, but not sweeter Acidic wines Acidic wines include most Italian white wines; Sancerre, Pouilly-fumé, and Chablis; traditionally made red wines from Rioja; most dry rieslings; and fully dry wines based on sauvignon blanc. These wines can Counterbalance oily or fatty heaviness in food Taste smoother and less acidic when served with salty foods Stand up to foods that have some acidity High-alcohol wines High-alcohol wines include many California wines, both white and red; southern Rhône whites and reds; southern Italian reds; fortified wines such as port and sherry; and most wines produced from grapes grown in warm climates. These wines can Overwhelm lightly flavored or delicate dishes Seem less rich and full with slightly sweet foods Seem less rich and full with umami-rich foods