Pairing Cigars With Beer
One of the great aspects of cigars is the depth you can find with food and beverage pairings. Forget the lowly cigarette after a cheeseburger; cigars are works of art that can work with a nice whiskey to unravel flavors in both the drink and the smoke. Denver is rapidly becoming a mecca for beer lovers, so we wanted to offer some tips on pairing your cigar with beer.
Opposites attract! If you’re new at pairing cigars, an easy trick is to look for opposite qualities that will ultimately complement one another. For instance, if you’re drinking a nice bitter IPA, look for a mellow, sweeter smoke. You don’t want to double down on bitter, let the sweetness ease the bitter away, and then the beer will refresh that bite on the next sip. On the flip side, if you’re drinking a sweeter beer, like a wheat, go for a lighter, bright cigar to offset those thick sweet notes.
Complexity is your friend. The more complex the beer, the more fun you can have with pairings. If you’re enjoying a cigar with a domestic light beer, there isn’t going to be a lot of interplay there. Just like cigars, great beer has a real depth to flavors, and a lot of those flavors are shared between them, such as chocolate, leather, citrus, and so on.
You’re the boss. Cigar pairings are largely trial and error, but the key ingredient is your own taste buds. Maybe you love drinking a 60-minute IPA with a green cigar, who cares? Everyone has unique preferences when it comes to taste, so reward yours and don’t hesitate to try something just because it’s ‘outside the norm’.
If you want to find some new cigars to pair up with some of Denver’s amazing craft beer, stop in and browse our humidor today! We would be happy to answer any questions you may have.