The Barley-Confection Synthesis: Tips for Pairing Beer and Halloween Candy

All Hallows’ Eve is fast approaching. An exorbitant trove of candy has been procured; the front yard is decorated with fiendish skeletons, gravestones and zombies. Perhaps you will be chasing around a few moppets veiled as Minions as they traverse the neighborhood streets in diligent search of sugar-coated treats. Alternatively, your evening responsibilities may include staying at home and doling out confectionary delights to ghoulish passersby. In either case, and with all of these painstaking Halloween preparations, it may have been easy to overlook one inexorable fact: you are destined to possess a large candy cache come All Saints Day. The confection inundation dilemma: what to do with it all? Fear not; there is still time to plan appropriately.

This week our expert beer panel hits the sweet spot with ten spooky beers that will pair brilliantly with your leftover Halloween candy. So dig through that candy bowl, extract the preeminent confections, and let’s get to work.

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Reflexiones por el Cristal: An Ode to Spanish Wine and Cheese

This week on the blog, an Ode to Spanish Wine and Cheese.

Wine and cheese, the Spaniard's way

Two more formidable companions?

I could not say
 

Spanish affinage and phenolics pair with precision

Refreshingly devoid of all

Antagonizing French derision
 

With a diverse medley of type and taste

Join the vinous jubilation, with haste!


For this week’s musings, a humble tribute

To España - ¡salud!

Okay, that was painful. I absolutely loathe poetry. Enough vexing shenanigans; on with the post.

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The Vinous-Maritime Equation: Tips for Pairing Wine and Seafood

The azure blue waters of the Pacific, calming breezes and slack key music, and a sunset dinner complete with the day's fresh catch and a glass of wine to pair. But what fish? And what wine? These answers can be surprisingly elusive.

With an abundance of fresh seafood in the Pacific waters surrounding the islands, Hawaii’s culinary traditions have naturally focused on the generous assortment of the region's oceanic offerings. Quintessential Hawaiian dishes, such as grilled tako (octopus), poke, garlic or coconut shrimp, lomi Salmon, and steamed fish are common at every family potluck and beach picnic. With such a diversity of textures and flavors, wine pairings can be correspondingly diverse. Finding the right match is not always an elementary task.

This month’s Veritas Wine Club, led by Tiffany, our spirited and capable sommelier, sought to provide a few basic wine and seafood pairing tips, utilizing items easily found at any local market.  

To stay on theme, I offer a few wine and seafood pairing tips of my own before we turn to this month’s lineup and find out what the Tchin Tchin gang brought to the table. So climb aboard, we'll search for pairings on every shore.

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The Nightcap Corollary: A Guide to Pairing Wine and Dessert

DESSERT! Do I have your attention? Of course I do; a confection creation is euphoria for the sweet tooth. Resistance is futile; science proves it. (Okay, perhaps it is not quite that simple, but we all read those articles wishing it were). The relevant post-meal inquiry is not "are we having dessert," but rather, "what is the perfect beverage to complement my dessert?" After all, dessert deserves a thoughtful pairing.

This month’s Veritas Wine Club, located at the Tchin Tchin Bar in Honolulu’s Chinatown District, explores that critical question with a dessert and wine pairing theme. Sweetness will inevitably ensue.

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The Sake-Confection Hypothesis: A Guide to Pairing Sake and Dessert

My musings by the masu has come upon its final chapter. A sweet ending to a scientific beginning. In Part I, I explored the sake brewing process and certain aspects that make it unique from wine and beer. Sake science 101. In Part II, I paired sake with savory cuisines outside of Japan to demonstrate sake’s diverse pairing potential across the globe. Sake need not be reserved exclusively for sushi night. But how about continuing the sake trend post-dinner? When it comes to dessert, many transition to coffee or tea. Inebriation complete; commence sobriety re-calibration.

Not so fast!

This post posits the hypothesis that sake is indeed up to the challenge of pairing with dessert. And the best part of this hypothesis? Confirmatory data analysis. In other words, a lot of eating and drinking. Hypothesize, experiment, repeat. To complete the sake musings trilogy, I seek out a few tasty treats to sample with sake. Let the nightcap commence!

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Musings by the Masu: The Sake Pairing Expansion

This week the sake chronicles continue. Huzzah! In Part I, I explored the science of sake brewing and certain aspects that make it unique from wine and beer. A bit wonkish, I might admit, but hey, science matters. In Part II, I take to the streets (metaphorically speaking) to pair sake with cuisines outside of Japan. Unconventional insobriety.

Notwithstanding sake's great pairing potential, most are disinclined to select sake when sushi isn't on the menu. In a way, this is surprising. At last observation, Japan has chickens … and cows … and vegetables. Salad? Check. Spicy and savory dishes? Check. Fried chicken, marinated beef and seafood? Check. If sake can pair with the diversity of Japanese cuisine, surely these pairing techniques can be translated to other cuisines of the world.

Oh, they can. Wonderfully. So let’s get to it...

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