Cigars and Beverages
KingoftheCove
Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 908
This has been covered often....but thought I'd share my experiences.....
As noted in my one and only previous post, 7 months ago I came off a 15 year hiatus from smoking cigars.
I finally got my inventory to a decent level so that I'm not chompin at the bit to smoke the stuff that the nice lady in the UPS truck drops off at my work from time to time (and I'm only smokin 20 sticks a month or so! - not like some of you animals out there who smoke that many in a week!) Just ordered 10 Gurhka Titans and the Padilla Top Shelf sampler (9 sticks) this morning - can't wait for those to get here and rest in my humi during summer. Good price for those here at Ccom.
Beverages and Cigars.
So back in my smoking days in the late 70s to mid 90s, I typically only smoked cigars after dark - don't know why - but was never a morning, or even a daytime cigar smoker. In those days the ONLY beverage I would have with my stogie was Scotch - typically a Balvenie, or Macallan, or even Red Label or Famous Grouse if I was low on Single malts. (Never tried Famous Grouse? - you should - best budget blended Scotch available..... by far)
Nowadays, I will have a smoke on Saturday mid-afternoon, and then maybe a second later in the evening. I'm "old school", and Scotch is not to be inbibed until after dark - so what do I drink with my afternoon stogie?
Over the last few months tried different beverages and spirits for the daytime smoke.
1) Coffee - didn't work for me - coffee gets cold in 15 minutes - stogies last 1+ hour.
2) Cognac - it was OK - but too much flavor "competiton" with the stogie.
3) Whiskey - same issue for me as scotch - evening only beverage, alcohol kick too high (it was 104 proof whisky - too strong)
4) Various red wines - all drastic failures - severely compromised the stogie experience, AND the wine experience!
5) Drambuie - too sweet.
And then just a few days ago, after reading someone's post here (don't remember who/what - been reading hundreds of post lately to "catch up") I decided to try a beer!
DUH!!!!!
Perfect freaking marriage!
I had a Henninger, a nice moderate alcohol (4.8%) lager with my Gurhka Titan, and it was simply a perfect match. It was so good, that beer may become my beverage of choice when having a stogie, even at night. For me, it cleanses the pallete better than the other beverages I had been trying, thereby making the cigar flavors more pronounced.
(I'll still be sipping a scotch fairly regularly though......)
Cheers.
CoveKing
As noted in my one and only previous post, 7 months ago I came off a 15 year hiatus from smoking cigars.
I finally got my inventory to a decent level so that I'm not chompin at the bit to smoke the stuff that the nice lady in the UPS truck drops off at my work from time to time (and I'm only smokin 20 sticks a month or so! - not like some of you animals out there who smoke that many in a week!) Just ordered 10 Gurhka Titans and the Padilla Top Shelf sampler (9 sticks) this morning - can't wait for those to get here and rest in my humi during summer. Good price for those here at Ccom.
Beverages and Cigars.
So back in my smoking days in the late 70s to mid 90s, I typically only smoked cigars after dark - don't know why - but was never a morning, or even a daytime cigar smoker. In those days the ONLY beverage I would have with my stogie was Scotch - typically a Balvenie, or Macallan, or even Red Label or Famous Grouse if I was low on Single malts. (Never tried Famous Grouse? - you should - best budget blended Scotch available..... by far)
Nowadays, I will have a smoke on Saturday mid-afternoon, and then maybe a second later in the evening. I'm "old school", and Scotch is not to be inbibed until after dark - so what do I drink with my afternoon stogie?
Over the last few months tried different beverages and spirits for the daytime smoke.
1) Coffee - didn't work for me - coffee gets cold in 15 minutes - stogies last 1+ hour.
2) Cognac - it was OK - but too much flavor "competiton" with the stogie.
3) Whiskey - same issue for me as scotch - evening only beverage, alcohol kick too high (it was 104 proof whisky - too strong)
4) Various red wines - all drastic failures - severely compromised the stogie experience, AND the wine experience!
5) Drambuie - too sweet.
And then just a few days ago, after reading someone's post here (don't remember who/what - been reading hundreds of post lately to "catch up") I decided to try a beer!
DUH!!!!!
Perfect freaking marriage!
I had a Henninger, a nice moderate alcohol (4.8%) lager with my Gurhka Titan, and it was simply a perfect match. It was so good, that beer may become my beverage of choice when having a stogie, even at night. For me, it cleanses the pallete better than the other beverages I had been trying, thereby making the cigar flavors more pronounced.
(I'll still be sipping a scotch fairly regularly though......)
Cheers.
CoveKing
Comments
MonteWhite - I tried several wines (all reds) - I'm not a wine "expert", my wife knows much more than I, but I can tell the difference between a $30 bottle and a $8 bottle, and I know a bit about wines, and do enjoy them. For me, it just wasn't working.
I found that the wine experience was diminished, as was the cigar experience. I have to keep those two separate.........wine with my food....stogie later with something else, might try a Heineken next time (if I can get them on sale!)
as far as non-alcoholic goes, I like Dr. Pepper, Diet Pepsi, Coffee (morning only), and water.
If you're ever looking for a great non-alcoholic drink to pair with a cigar, believe it or not try Dr. Pepper. Don't know why, it just works well with a cigar and I know I'm not the only one that thinks this. Ginger Beer is also good too (it's non-alcoholic, just tough to find - don't get the Jamaican style - it sucks!).
I recently had an Goose Island Night Stalker, an imperial stout, that I paired with an AF Don Carlos Presidente. Great pairing.
You say you don't like the coffee/cigar pairing because the coffee gets cold too quickly and won't last the length of the cigar.
BUT, don't you have the same problem with a beer going warm?
For me if I'm going to pair my cigar with anything temperature-related I just accept the fact I'm going to have to step away to refresh that beverage at some point. Maybe its worth it to you for a beer but not a coffee?
Now with beer, if you start out with a GOOD beer that is cold, and it's not sitting in the sun at 100 degrees, that beer will be fine to drink an hour later at room temperature.
But, you did give me an idea - for me - coffee has to be HOT.....or.....cold!
So now I'm gonna try an ice coffee - that might work real well the more I think about it, especially in summer.
DennisKing - I like the traditional 12 year old Balvenie, and also really like the Doublewood, and I LOVE the Portwood (but it's too expensive for me now).
I'm not a big fan of the really heavy "peaty" scotches (Laphroaig, etc.) - I won't turn one down of course!!
I did buy some Bourbon/Whiskey but I don't know what to pair that with when drinking/sipping it on a rock. Any suggestions? I'm specifically drinking Knob Creek.
For the late afternoon into the evening cigar I'll have an IPA.
My IPA's of choice, in no particular order are;
Two Brothers Heavy Handed 6.7%ABV
New Holland Mad Hatter 5.25%ABV
Bell's Two-Hearted Ale 7.0%ABV
Modus Hoperandi 6.8%ABV
Stone Ruination 7.7%ABV
For those early to late evening Cigars I'll drink these on the rocks;
Knob Creek 100 proof
Woodford Reserve 90.4 proof
both are Kentucky Straight Bourbon.
i drink Coke (never pepsi), water, or tea.
cigars are a bit alkaline and you tend to taste things better when they are different than what is already in your mouth.
neutral pH will cleanse the palate a bit.
if you dont like coffee because it gets cold, then try iced coffee. it isnt getting hot and its supposed to be cold. the slightly acidic coffee will go well with the slightly alkaline cigar smoke.