Cheese in your drink may sound nuts, but it's a trending ingredient in the savory cocktail world. Before you say you smell a rat, check out what cheese can bring to your next happy hour order.
Booze and cheese are like apple pie and ice cream. A delicious cheese plate with good wine or vodka is a wonderful experience that you nosh on at your leisure while enjoying time with family and friends. As is America's way, we needed to take that experience and make it more convenient, so it seems that now putting your cheese IN your cocktails is trending on the interwebs.
The trend may have started with the practice of dropping blue-cheese stuffed green olives into martinis at high-end establishments. Since this is a pretty cheap set of ingredients, local joints and neighborhood dives started serving it to add a little class for their regulars. We will attest that blue cheese and vodka are an insanely tasty flavor combo, but we've seen the trend get a little weird - here are a few fromage-filled libations that range from sublime to outrageous.
Barecelon's Two Shmucks has a unique take on the cheese and booze formula. They combine melon, mozzarella, and black pepper with good gin, dry vermouth, and a cantaloupe cordial spirit. They go citrus-free, allowing the melon to take the place of the usual fruits we come to expect. They're known for inspired mixology so it comes as no surprise that this is a trendy drink.
Last year Empirical x Doritos launched a nacho cheese spirit that's a great addition for Bloody Marys or can be used as a vodka substitute in your Caesars. We're still not sure if "nacho" is officially a cheese, but the cheese-flavored liquor can bring a whole new dimension to your mixology experiments.
Voodoo Ranger beer partnered with Tombstone pizza to bring us a truly unusual cheesy booze concoction. They combined the best notes and flavors of a pub-style pizza into an IPA. The collab was probably a promo for Tombstone's new product launch at the time, but considering the fact that people are actively seeking new savory drink experiences, this IPA may end up causing a stir within the craft brewery scene.
It's no secret that dipping grilled cheese into tomato soup is an old-school American comfort food, so it makes total sense that US tipplers would find a way to substitute that can of Cambell's for some vodka, Tabasco, and V8. The cheesy Bloody Mary has become a sensation at bar & grills across the land because it's a cinch to make. You make your drink. You make your sando. You spear the sammy with a few pickles and olives into the drink. Dunk. Drink. Repeat.
OK, hear us out - I know this sounds as odd as that time people started putting roast pork in their coffee, but the thing is, we tend to associate coffee with sweet and cheese with savory. These flavors can work together. The recipe is pretty simple. Make an espresso martini. Grate some good parmesan cheese into it. Shake it in a tumbler without ice. Pour through a cheesecloth to capture the excess cheese. You want the essence, not actual cheese bits here.