Friends invited my wife and I to visit them in the evening, sit, eat pizza. We agreed that pizza from them, and drinks for it from us. My beloved and I went to the store, I went for a beer, and my wife was indignant: “Pizza is a dish of Italian cuisine and it should be eaten exclusively with wine.”
We don’t like to swear, so we took wine, beer, and cognac for the owner of the house – he likes stronger drinks. We had a great time, the pizza was delicious. I decided to study the question, and what kind of alcohol is best suited to pizza. Today I will share my findings with you.
What alcohol goes best with pizza
Today, pizza is perceived as a “fast food”, and not as a restaurant dish. It goes well with weak alcohol – beer, wine, alcoholic cocktails. The choice of drink depends primarily on your preferences.
However, for the best perception of taste, it is important to choose the right type of alcohol for a certain filling. The wrong choice can change the taste of the pizza and ruin the whole experience.
Strong alcohol
Strong alcohol and pizza are not the best combination. This is a typical “anti-snack” for strong alcoholic drinks.
Fatty dough, tomatoes, spicy sauce put an additional burden on the liver and provoke indigestion, a severe hangover.
However, in the US and Canada, thick-crust meat pizza is often paired with tequila or whiskey.
If you want “strong”, then I advise you to take Espolon Blanco tequila (Espolon Blanco), Lokita Gold (Lokita Gold), Ballantine’s Finest whiskey (Ballantines Finest), Arkhangelskaya Khlebnaya vodka, Talka, David Iverieli Vartsikhe cognac ”, “Sarajishvili VSOP”.
Weak alcohol
One of the most popular alcoholic drinks for pizza is beer. This is due to the fact that the dish has long gone far beyond the restaurant cuisine and has become an element of fast food. The foamy drink goes very well with this dish and emphasizes its taste:
- Pizza with seafood, cheese, Margherita and vegetarian pizza goes well with light light beer. For example, EggerMarzen (Egger Marzen), Amstel Premium Pilsener.
- The taste of “Pepperoni” or meat pizza is well emphasized by dark varieties of foamy drink. For example, “CZ Czech Sign”, “Lada Barnoe Velvet”.
Wine is considered the best alcoholic drink for pizza in Italy. It was there that pizza was born and therefore Italians know best what varieties to serve with various toppings:
- Pepperoni and meat pizza are ideal for light red wines – Beaujolais (Beaujolais), Merlot (Merlot), Pinot Noir (Pinot Noir).
- Margarita filling is best combined with white sparkling wines. For example, Pignoletto (Pignoletto), “MartiniAsti Piemonte” (Martini Asti Piedmont).
- It is customary to serve semi-dry white or rosé wines with chicken pizza – Soave (Soave), Pinot Grigio (Pinot Grigio), Chablis (Chablis) and others.
- Dry white or light rosé wine is best suited for seafood pizza – Pinot Blanc (Pinot Blanc), Chardonnay (Chardonnay), Rieslin (Riesling). The light sourness of this drink perfectly emphasizes the taste of seafood.
- For an exotic pizza with ham, cheese and pineapple, you can serve dry Riesling (Riesling). The acidity of this wine will give richness and brightness to the taste of pizza.
- Vegetarian pizza is served with dry white wine – Sauvignon Blanc (Sauvignon Blanc) and Saint Clair (Saint Clair) or rose wines.
Cocktails
Alcoholic cocktails can also go great with pizza, you just need to combine them correctly with toppings:
- Classic Manhattan is served with cheese pizza – the bitter taste of vermouth and whiskey perfectly sets off the cheese taste of the dish.
- Pizza with chicken filling can be served with Bloody Mary — a drink made from vodka and tomato juice complements the taste of pizza with delicate chicken filling.
- Pepperoni pizza is perfectly complemented by the Cuba Libre cocktail – a drink with rum, Coca-Cola and lime juice will balance the spicy taste of the dish.
- “Margarita” with fresh tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheese is well set off by the Italian Negroni cocktail with gin, red vermouth and campari.
Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to your health. Take care of yourself!
Now you know which alcoholic drinks go with different types of pizza. And what do you like to drink mouth-watering pieces of?