"My body has remained in this armchair and has, I regret to observe, consumed in my absence two large pots of coffee and an incredible amount of tobacco." Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Pairing with beverages is a popular topic in the world of premium tobacco enjoyment. Still, options as far as the non-alcohol type of accompaniment at first seem quite limited to coffee and tea. Soda, although a popular choice nowadays is, if we are to be honest, far too cloyingly sweet. Energy drinks pair much better with 'e-offerings,' car stereo stores, and red basketball shorts than they do fine tobacco. The bad news is it's quite correctly seen at that first blush, as to think we have but those two options. The good news is that, upon further review, we have from those two options a legion.
However, we sell our options and ourselves short when we absently say simply "coffee" or simply "tea." Those are answers to a question, sure, but poor, incomplete, unimaginative ones. An unexamined life, after all, is something something something (or other).
For a quick instance, I can understand wanting a cold drink by your side on a hot day. Iced tea and/or iced coffee, then. Now there are four options. Four, or you know, double the previous amount. Do you want a lighter more mellow sort of affair for your Candela cigar or Cavendish pipe tobacco? BE MINDFUL. Let's talk varietal or type. How about a white tea for that Double Claro (green would be too on-the-nose) and a Green tea for that Cavendish. Or, better, how about a lightly-roasted floral-fruity Ethiopian with a bit of milk in it, with such said Cavendish--the milk will play nice with the smoke's body. Sugar would be much, alongside sweet Cavendish.
For a quick instance, I can understand wanting a cold drink by your side on a hot day. Iced tea and/or iced coffee, then. Now there are four options. Four, or you know, double the previous amount. Do you want a lighter more mellow sort of affair for your Candela cigar or Cavendish pipe tobacco? BE MINDFUL. Let's talk varietal or type. How about a white tea for that Double Claro (green would be too on-the-nose) and a Green tea for that Cavendish. Or, better, how about a lightly-roasted floral-fruity Ethiopian with a bit of milk in it, with such said Cavendish--the milk will play nice with the smoke's body. Sugar would be much, alongside sweet Cavendish.
Please do try a cup of builder's tea (Black tea, milk & sugar) with a Connecticut Shade cigar. A black cup of strong Costa Rican joe with a VaPer pipeful.
We already have several options, while minimally scratching the surface. Try some Honduran coffee, roasted dark and served black with a pipe loaded for bear and English blend, that'll stand up to the smoky Latakia because equally smoky Lapsang Souchong tea would again be too on-the-nose. But that Lapsang would be awesome with a spicy Habano, talk about Flavorville! Or a Colombian mug full (or doppio) of medium roast with a sploosh of milk or cream with a (particularly PA) Broadleaf cigar. Is your smoke erring sourly? Add a bit of sugar to your bev. Too sweet a smoke? Serve your cuppa straight-plain.
We already have several options, while minimally scratching the surface. Try some Honduran coffee, roasted dark and served black with a pipe loaded for bear and English blend, that'll stand up to the smoky Latakia because equally smoky Lapsang Souchong tea would again be too on-the-nose. But that Lapsang would be awesome with a spicy Habano, talk about Flavorville! Or a Colombian mug full (or doppio) of medium roast with a sploosh of milk or cream with a (particularly PA) Broadleaf cigar. Is your smoke erring sourly? Add a bit of sugar to your bev. Too sweet a smoke? Serve your cuppa straight-plain.
How about deciding upon cream, half & half, or milk in your coffee, and the crazy difference that makes; let alone ratio tinkering in each? Go massively nucking futs via the mind-blowing addition of honey in your Green tea. (Burley blend and Corojo wrapper, respectively. How much sugar? HOW. MUCH. SUGAR??? Insane.
So many options. Temperature (hot or cold), body (cream/milk), balance (sweet/sour or bitter) It's all there, and all with two drinks that offer dozens of options. Varietal, origins, roasts, drying & curing methods--are all ways to find different ways to your perfect premium tobacco pairing. Again, an easy way to pair is to compensate... too spicy, so find mellow; too mellow, find spicy. Too sweet, find sour or bitter, and vice-versa. Thin? Find heft in a partnered-up cup, and again vice-versa. It's not rocket science but it is still interesting when a seemingly small world opens up--only if you 'fuck around and find out' in it.
So many options. Temperature (hot or cold), body (cream/milk), balance (sweet/sour or bitter) It's all there, and all with two drinks that offer dozens of options. Varietal, origins, roasts, drying & curing methods--are all ways to find different ways to your perfect premium tobacco pairing. Again, an easy way to pair is to compensate... too spicy, so find mellow; too mellow, find spicy. Too sweet, find sour or bitter, and vice-versa. Thin? Find heft in a partnered-up cup, and again vice-versa. It's not rocket science but it is still interesting when a seemingly small world opens up--only if you 'fuck around and find out' in it.
::: very :::