The Basic Art of Pairing Alcohol-Free Drinks with Food
The art of pairing the right drink with a meal can seem elusive. Maybe you are hosting your first alcohol-free cocktails and dinner party or want to impress your guests with your foodie know-how? Then don’t be afraid! Pairing alcohol-free drinks and food dishes is not the impossible skill it's made out to be. In fact, with some basic tips, you can already start making delicious pairings and elevate your dining experience.
Some people say there is one perfect drink for each meal, but, especially when playing with alcohol-free drinks, this is not true. There are a million different pairings for each dish that would taste delicious. So, have fun playing around with different flavour combinations using these basic food and drink pairing tips. Your imagination is really the only limit here!
Match Cuisines
With such a large number of alcohol-free drinks available, it can be overwhelming to pick one drink to pair with a dish. So, it is helpful to narrow it down and match the origins of the alcohol-free beverage with the cuisine. For example, an alcohol-free wine or champagne would fit well with a French dish. However, if you are cooking something Mexican, an alcohol-free agave spirit like Faragaia, would be an excellent starting point for your pairing.
Mirror and Contrast
The most essential theories underpinning food and drink pairings are mirroring and contrasting.
Contrasting is not a new idea for foodies. Think about the way you use contrasting flavours in cooking to bring out new layers of taste. For instance, you might add lemon juice to brighten up your pad thai, or you might add sugar to something acidic.
This works in exactly the same way when pairing a dish with a drink. Look for contrasting flavours that can help bring out layers within the meal.
Alternatively, by mirroring, pick a theme or flavour within the dish and pick a drink that mirrors those flavours. By complementing similar characteristics in the drink, you really bring those characteristics out in the dish.
Tastes To Look Out For
So now you know some of the basics behind pairing your food and alcohol-free drinks, here are some of the more specific tastes and qualities to look out for.
Level of Kick
When pairing alcoholic beverages, the alcohol content can really affect the experience of eating a dish. While alcohol-free drinks obviously don’t have this, they still have a kick. This kick is often provided by chilli, ginger or cinnamon, and activates the same pain receptor as alcohol.
Therefore, when pairing food and drink, you should take note of the level of kick that an alcohol-free spirit brings. A drink with a strong kick, for instance, an alcohol-free cocktail containing GIMBER, will enhance the heat of spicy food. So, when serving spicy food like chilli or hot curries, it is often better to choose gentler alcohol-free drinks with less of a kick.
Acidity
Acid is one of the most powerful tools you have when it comes to balancing food and drink pairings. Adding a touch of acidity refreshes the palate and brightens up any dish.
Acidity provides an excellent contrast for rich or fatty foods, such as pasta with a cream sauce. Think about it in this way, fat coats your tongue and acidity removes it. So, just like when cooking, you can use acid-brightening properties to your advantage when pairing food and alcohol-free drinks.
So, what are acidic alcohol-free drinks? You can try lemonade, an alcohol-free mojito or daiquiri, or a tarter alcohol-free white wine. Pair these with heavier foods, creamier foods, seafood and salad.
Bitterness and Tannins
Tannins don’t just come in tea and red wine, they are also part of many other foods, such as pomegranate and chocolate. Tannins taste astringent and bitter on the tongue. It can feel like they dry your tongue out. This makes them an excellent tool when it comes to food and drink pairings.
Bitter drinks, or drinks that include a lot of tannins, can pair very well with rich and fatty foods such as red meats, steak, and roast duck. Lots of fat and protein in a dish can be offset by the presence of tannins and bitterness in a drink. At the same time, the fat and protein in the dish can lessen the intensity of the bitterness and tannin flavours. This is why fatty dishes pair very well with drinks that include tannins and bitterness, such as some alcohol-free beers, tea-based alcohol-free wine, alcohol-free red wine, and more bitter alcohol-free gins.
Sweetness
Sweet drinks provide the perfect compliment to salty, hot and spicy dishes. But sweet drinks are an absolute must when it comes to eating dessert. Think about it, milkshake and fries are a top-tier combination, and so are fajitas and alcohol-free rum and coke.
Slight sweetness in a drink can help enhance aromatic spices in a dish and sometimes even help counter the heat of a dish. At the same time, dishes that are sweeter than we initially realise, for instance, anything with caramelised onions, different glazes, or BBQ sauce, can really affect the taste of a drink. If a dish is too sweet, it can make a dry alcohol-free beverage taste thin and bitter. So it’s better to try and stick with sweeter drinks with these foods.
When it comes to desserts, the rule of thumb is that whatever is in your glass must be sweeter than whatever is on your fork. We’ve all had the experience where eating chocolate or cake has suddenly ruined the alcohol-free cocktail we were thoroughly enjoying beforehand. This is because it was not sweet enough to match the dessert. That's why drinks like sweet alcohol-free spritzers, or sweet alcohol-free cocktails make the perfect dessert pairings.
Have Fun Playing with Pairings
The reality is there are so many things you can consider when pairing an alcohol-free drink with a dish for a dinner party. We have covered some of the basic things to consider, but there are many more aspects, such as texture, that can be considered.
But the most important thing is that you have fun playing around with pairings. The perfect food and drink pairing is a completely subjective thing, and if you think it tastes nice, and you enjoy it, then chances are so will other people. So live your best alcohol-free foodie life and start experimenting with different combinations!
Sign up for a JOMO Alcohol-Free Subscription
Want to explore the world of alcohol-free drinks? Then sign up for a JOMO alcohol-free subscription box. With an alcohol-free subscription, you will regularly receive a box, filled to the brim with non-alcoholic goodies, directly to your front door.
Each box is mindfully curated using only the best and most ethical alcohol-free products available. Your alcohol-free hamper will contain:
One full-sized alcohol-free spirit
Mixers and garnishes paired with this
A range of ready-to-drink alcohol-free drinks
A selection of tasty snacks
A magazine with everything you need to know about your new alcohol-free goodies.
So sign up now to start discovering the best drinks that the alcohol-free world has to offer!