A guide to pairing cocktails and cheese — how to match drinks to cheeses, with creative cocktail-and-cheese combinations for a modern tasting.
Cocktails and cheese is a fun, modern pairing frontier — with the right approach, the complex flavors of a well-made cocktail can complement cheese as creatively as wine or beer. Here's a guide to pairing cocktails and cheese.
A Modern Pairing Frontier
While wine and beer are the traditional cheese partners, cocktails offer exciting, creative possibilities. The key is that a cocktail has multiple flavor components — spirit, sweetness, acidity, bitterness, aromatics — that you can match to a cheese. Because cocktails are customizable, you can practically design a drink to pair with a specific cheese. It's a playful, contemporary alternative for a cheese tasting or party.
The Principles
Pairing cocktails with cheese uses the same ideas as other pairings: match intensity, balance richness with acidity, and complement or contrast flavors. A cocktail's acidity (from citrus) cuts rich cheese; its sweetness balances salty cheese; its herbal, bitter, or smoky elements contrast with or echo the cheese. Avoid overly strong or boozy cocktails with delicate cheeses, as the alcohol can overwhelm. Think about the dominant flavor of the cocktail and find a cheese that harmonizes.
Spirit-Forward Cocktails
Spirit-forward cocktails (like a Manhattan, Negroni, or Old Fashioned) are rich, complex, and often have caramel, oak, herbal, or bitter notes. These pair well with bold, aged, and nutty cheeses that can stand up to them — an Old Fashioned (bourbon-based) with aged Gouda or cheddar echoes the whiskey-and-cheese harmony, while a Negroni's bitterness contrasts with a rich, salty cheese. Match their intensity with flavorful cheeses.
Bright, Citrusy Cocktails
Bright, citrusy, refreshing cocktails (like a gin and tonic, a margarita, or a sour) bring acidity that cuts through rich cheese, much as a crisp white wine does. These pair well with fresh, creamy, and tangy cheeses — a gin and tonic with goat cheese, or a margarita with a fresh queso or a tangy cheese, refreshes the palate. The citrus and the cheese's tang complement each other nicely.
Sweet and Aromatic Cocktails
Sweeter and more aromatic cocktails can balance salty and pungent cheeses, on the sweet-savory principle. A cocktail with honey, fruit, or liqueur sweetness can offset a blue cheese's salt, while herbal or floral aromatics (from vermouth, gin botanicals, or bitters) can complement soft and creamy cheeses. Think of the cocktail's sweetness or aromatics as you would a sweet wine or an aromatic white.
Building a Cocktail-and-Cheese Tasting
For a creative tasting, choose two or three cocktails of different styles (a spirit-forward one, a citrusy one, a sweet or aromatic one) and pair each with a fitting cheese — an aged cheese with the spirit-forward drink, a fresh cheese with the citrusy one, a blue with the sweet one. Keep portions small, given the alcohol. It's a fun, conversation-starting alternative to the usual wine-and-cheese night, and there's lots of room to experiment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you pair cocktails with cheese?
Yes — it's a creative modern pairing. A cocktail's spirit, sweetness, acidity, and aromatics can be matched to a cheese much like wine or beer.
What cocktail goes with aged cheese?
A spirit-forward, whiskey-based cocktail like an Old Fashioned pairs well with nutty aged cheeses like Gouda and cheddar.
What cocktail pairs with fresh or goat cheese?
A bright, citrusy cocktail like a gin and tonic or a sour, whose acidity cuts richness and complements the cheese's tang.