Sip This Bourbon Cocktail With Your Next Ribeye For A Match Made In Heaven
Enjoying a ribeye for dinner is a treat meant to be savored. If you know your different cuts of steak, you know ribeye is particularly flavorful and tender because of its fat and muscle content. So, it's a must to complement this meat (and elevate the entire meal) with the best drink pairing possible. To help you find your favorite duo, we asked experts from the food and beverage world about the drinks that pair perfectly with ribeye steak. Whiskey and cocktail enthusiasts will particularly want to take note when it comes to the recommendation from Bo Donnelly, general manager of the steakhouse 18 Oaks at JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa, who cites the honey badger cocktail.
The honey badger is one of the most refreshing whiskey cocktails. It teams bourbon with honey syrup, ginger syrup, Yellow Chartreuse, lemon juice, and lemon bitters. These ingredients create a beautiful balance: bourbon's sweet vanilla and caramel (not to mention oakiness) mix with the sweet honey syrup, heat from the ginger, bright acidity from the lemon, and herbaceousness from the Chartreuse. Together, the drink's profile almost works as a seasoning for the steak. The bourbon stands up to the meat's savoriness and umami qualities, while the acidity cuts the fatty richness so keep going back for more bites — and sips.
What to expect from the honey badger, and what other drink works similarly
If you've never had a honey badger, there are a few similar household-name cocktails out there. It's not too far off from a penicillin cocktail, which contains honey, ginger, lemon, and scotch, but skews a touch sweeter with bourbon and more complex with the botanical quality of the Chartreuse. It's also reminiscent of the gin-based bee's knees cocktail with lemon and honey, though the honey badger is better built for standing up to a rich ribeye considering its woody, caramelly bourbon.
The bourbon cocktail walks a perfect line, appealing to whiskey drinkers but also offering a light and refreshing quality for gin or vodka fans as well. Having managed a steakhouse where he built the biggest wine collection in San Antonio, Donnelly knows a thing or two about pairing top-notch steak with exceptional drinks. If you're dining somewhere that doesn't offer a honey badger, think about what makes Donnelly's suggestion work and how you can get some of them from a different beverage.
For example, Donnelly also enjoys white wine with a ribeye — but thinking about the varying types of white wine is key. You want something full-bodied so that, like the whiskey-forward honey badger, it isn't overwhelmed by the meat. An oak-aged Spanish verdejo wine is on the fuller side with those bourbon-like woody notes, imparting the spice, sweetness, and lemon brightness you'd find in the honey badger.