The Best Booze To Pair With Beet Juice For A Uniquely Earthy Sip, According To An Expert
Beets aren't the most universally loved fruit. The root vegetable shines in fresh Moroccan salads, where it's simmered until soft and tossed with fresh herbs, garlic, and citrus, as well as in some of the best veggie burgers, where the beet's deep red color and texture are used to mimic that of red meat. Still, they remain a controversy across dinner tables and juice bars alike.
Packed with nutrients and antioxidants, beets are a given health-food menu item. Juice bars blend them with everything from apples and carrots to ginger and lemon. But, there's another pairing that could turn even the root veggie's greatest doubters into beet believers — and it's booze.
Beets and booze — it has a nice ring to it, don't you think? Deep, dark, and earthy beets can offer a unique depth of color and flavor to your cocktails, but their divisive reputation can also make them intimidating to work with. Rather than working against its down-to-earth flavor, Santino Carey recommends playing into it with your booze pairing. As the Beverage Manager at modern Japanese restaurant Mishik in NYC told Tasting Table, "I'd suggest using Pisco, a South American brandy made by distilling fermented grape juice." Carey explained, "It would offer a nice brightness and three-dimensional funkiness to round out the drink.
Beets and booze cocktail creations
Going along with Carey's suggestion, there are a few different directions you can take when you're pairing your beets with booze — but they should all start with pisco. The most obvious route to take is one that follows that of a classic pisco sour, AKA the national cocktail of Peru and Chile. The drink is earthy, sweet, herbaceous, and slightly tart. Some might say it's perfect as it is and that adding juice — let alone beet juice — is unnecessary. But, from the subtle taste of the pisco to the subduing egg-white foam, the drink provides the perfect combination of flavor elements for your beet juice. It might be even better than the original.
Following suit with Carey's recommendation, and taking into account Tasting Table's round-up of ways to add more flavor to beets, you'll want to reach for flavors that play into the beet's earthiness in your cocktails. So, anything from dark chocolate to coffee or herbs like rosemary and cilantro could provide the additional earthiness to inspire you. The same goes for anything fermented and tangy like kombucha. However, if the funkiness of beets isn't necessarily your thing, you may also want to look to ingredients that, like the pisco sour, give your drink some brightness. The classic combination of ginger beer, lime juice, and sugar is just one example.