Non-Alcoholic pairings?

Becket

Hey, blame my doctor, ok ? What do you recommend for some general non-alcoholic pairings for mild, medium, and full bodied cigars? Very general question I know; just wondering if sparkling or regular non-alcoholic wines, champagnes, etc are worth trying. Water and soda are getting boring. How about flavored juices? Just dunno....

xmacro

Ordinarily, I'd say water or Dr. Pepper, but since you're looking for something else, maybe try milk or chocolate milk (chocolate milk/hot chocolate goes great with a MOW Ruination IMO). If you can identify the flavors in the cigar (or just read what others are getting), and try pairing like with like, you can probably find something nice.

docbp87

COFFEE. Absolutely COFFEE.

The Sniper

Becket:

Hey, blame my doctor, ok ? What do you recommend for some general non-alcoholic pairings for mild, medium, and full bodied cigars? Very general question I know; just wondering if sparkling or regular non-alcoholic wines, champagnes, etc are worth trying. Water and soda are getting boring. How about flavored juices? Just dunno....

Arizona Tea makes a product called Arnold Palmer that I really enjoy, and it seems to be a good pairing with most cigars Ive tried it with. All it really boils down to is half iced tea & half lemonade, but its a delicious treat.

I dont know if they have Casey's convenience stores where you live, but thats the place I usually find them. Walgreen's pharmacy usually has them as well. Give it a try sometime & let me know what you think.

christian1971

I recommend Snapple Peach or Raspberry Iced Tea. Not the diet stuff. I prefer non carbonated beverages. Also a sweet vanilla cappo. Something about carbonation doesn't mix well with smoke.

j0z3r

The Sniper:

Becket:

Hey, blame my doctor, ok ? What do you recommend for some general non-alcoholic pairings for mild, medium, and full bodied cigars? Very general question I know; just wondering if sparkling or regular non-alcoholic wines, champagnes, etc are worth trying. Water and soda are getting boring. How about flavored juices? Just dunno....

Arizona Tea makes a product called Arnold Palmer that I really enjoy, and it seems to be a good pairing with most cigars Ive tried it with. All it really boils down to is half iced tea & half lemonade, but its a delicious treat.

I dont know if they have Casey's convenience stores where you live, but thats the place I usually find them. Walgreen's pharmacy usually has them as well. Give it a try sometime & let me know what you think.

That's just great anytime. Really dig the Arnold Palmer.

Personally, I prefer water to anything sweet like soda or juice. Coffee and iced tea are good pairings I think.

JCizzle

docbp87:

COFFEE. Absolutely COFFEE.

This is something I have to work up to. I tried it once and it was delicious, but I almost shat myself and was jittery all day.

medic_x

i really enjoy just regular home brewed iced tea....it clean and clear and cools the palate....the flavors in the tea really seem to go well with the cigar...as long as its not too sweet. it is after ball just another complex leaf and there are a multitude of different teas to try for endless flavor comboes!

medic_x

please excuse my bad grammer...lol

JCizzle

medic_x:

please excuse my bad grammer...lol

Bad "grammar" excused. ;-)

drpepperdude

Dr Pepper (very sweet)
chocolate, cinnamon, or vanilla-flavored coffee; medium to dark-roast gourmet coffees
A&W Root Beer (sweet, but has some depth that compliments cigars; clears the palate)
Martinelli's Sparkling Cider or Apple-Grape (non-alcoholic sparkling alternative to white/red sparkling wines)

Note: the diet version of Dr Pepper is really close to the real thing, and I dare anyone to tell the difference between A&W Root Beer and it's diet counterpart in a blind taste-test.

Becket

All great, thanks! I will try several, and I am one of 3 people in the south that likes unsweetened iced tea, so that's a winner as well. Btw, diet A&W IS as good (to me) as regular!

ShotgunJohn

docbp87:

COFFEE. Absolutely COFFEE.

+1, plain dark black coffee or espresso for me, it wakes up a maduro.

ENFIDL

Water!

PuroFreak

I typically stick with alcohol, but occasionally with a morning smoke or on a cold night I do enjoy a good cup of coffee or hot tea.

JCizzle

PuroFreak:

I typically stick with alcohol, but occasionally with a morning smoke or on a cold night I do enjoy a good cup of coffee or hot tea.

Occasionally with a morning smoke you don't have alcohol? :-D

PuroFreak

JCizzle:

PuroFreak:

I typically stick with alcohol, but occasionally with a morning smoke or on a cold night I do enjoy a good cup of coffee or hot tea.

Occasionally with a morning smoke you don't have alcohol? :-D

Very rarely! lol But you gotta remember I usually get off work at 5am... So that's really the end of my day.

JCizzle

Ah yes, the ol' night shift.

ThinBluLine06

hot coco and cream soda are my 2 go to non-alcoholic pairings

boydmcgowan

ShotgunJohn:

docbp87:

COFFEE. Absolutely COFFEE.

+1, plain dark black coffee or espresso for me, it wakes up a maduro.

Absolutely. This is my #1 choice for non alcoholic drinks with cigars, which happens more often than not, since I usually smoke in the afternoon on weekends. Cup of Black coffee, maybe add some sugar, goes awesome with a Diesel Unlimited. Also Iced coffee, works as well. Doesn't have to be hot for me.

boydmcgowan

xmacro:

Ordinarily, I'd say water or Dr. Pepper, but since you're looking for something else, maybe try milk or chocolate milk (chocolate milk/hot chocolate goes great with a MOW Ruination IMO). If you can identify the flavors in the cigar (or just read what others are getting), and try pairing like with like, you can probably find something nice.

Never thought to try this. . . . Gonna have to give it a shot. Would you think this would go better with mild-medium smokes or medium - full smokes? Or is it just like anything else, up to personal preference? Just curious. this has me fired up.

cooch36

Ice cold glass of milk! Water.

stephen_hannibal

TEA...

sirfoster83

i go with diet dr.pepper

brizzzine

Water.

I prefer fuller bodied smokes and I find coffee makes the experience just too "heavy" for my tastes. The caffeine and the "high" from the tobacco are just too much together. I'll have to try the hot chocolate idea. Milk with a cigar sounds awful though!

Becket

Being southern, maybe a YooHoo chocolate milk too. And I can guess the perfect cigar:
'Definate notes of sweetness, with hints of dark chocolate, and a creamy, somewhat "marshmallowy" finish.'
You guesses it,
The " Opus Aniversario Maduro Moonpie"

Adcurium

docbp87:

COFFEE. Absolutely COFFEE.

Hell yes.

Becket

going to try some "Chocolate Swirl" coffee after dinner, got a nice box from the cigar gods today; still picking which one. What wrapper/strength would you reccomend?

SigCig

Always water to cleanse the pallet. But I love coffee as a pairing to a good cigar.

kuzi16

as said in many other threads like this one: mostly water.

if not water then Coke. not pepsi. Coke.

robbyras

drpepperdude:

Dr Pepper (very sweet)
chocolate, cinnamon, or vanilla-flavored coffee; medium to dark-roast gourmet coffees
A&W Root Beer (sweet, but has some depth that compliments cigars; clears the palate)
Martinelli's Sparkling Cider or Apple-Grape (non-alcoholic sparkling alternative to white/red sparkling wines)

Note: the diet version of Dr Pepper is really close to the real thing, and I dare anyone to tell the difference between A&W Root Beer and it's diet counterpart in a blind taste-test.

I almost ALWAYS drink diet A&W when I smoke... depending on the smoke of course... but most of the stuff I have been smoking lately are big flavor bombs and they go REALLY well with root beer... A&W with a CAO Brazilia or Ccom Brazilian is pretty amazing