Have you ever been into an Asian grocery store and been intrigued by packages of things you have little to no idea of what they are? We make periodic trips to our favorite, Hong Phat out on SE 82nd, to stock up on pantry staples and are drawn to the salty snacks aisle where some bags' contents are understandable through pictures and/or English labels while others remain a mystery. After our recent pairing with coffee creamers, grabbing some random salty snacks from Hong Phat didn't seem too odd.
Pool of Snacks
- Lay's 2-in-1 Prawn & Salsa
- Boy Bawang Cornick Salt & Vinegar
- Oishi Prawn Crackers
- Powers for Easy Life Rice Crackers with Tomato
- Want Want Natori Snack
As we were inspecting the bags more closely before opening we noticed that we had ended up with an unintentional geographical assortment - two from China, two from the Philippines and one from Thailand.
We haven't seen Lay's 2-in-1 in this country but upon opening discovered that the two seasoning flavors, prawn and salsa, weren't combined onto each chip. Instead the larger, redish chips were prawn flavored and the smaller, greenish chips were salsa (verde) flavored. The prawn flavor being very pronounced was off putting for a couple of those in our group but made for an interesting combination with the flavors and carbonation in Saison Dupont and helped to balance the overt maltiness of Old Speckled Hen. The salsa flavored chips were easier to pair, going well with Heretic Lager for a mild Mexican-ish pairing. When eaten with Culmination Sour Flower the green onion of the chip came out a la onion ramen.
Boy Bawang Cornick Salt & Vinegar appeared from the picture on the label to be similar to corn nuts and indeed they were. Their flavor profile was strong enough to stand up to the hops in Breakside Wanderlust and made for solid bar snacking material. They were similarly good with AleSmith Nut Brown and like the Lay's 2-in-1, were able to balance the maltiness in this beer.
Oishi Prawn Crackers were not nearly as prawn-powerful as the red chips in the Lay's bag and found partners in lighter drinking options including coffee, Heretic Lager and Cascadia Granny Smith cider. The cider made the prawn flavor more pronounced but even the prawn-averse in our group enjoyed the light, easy pairing.
Powers for Easy Life Rice Crackers with Tomato easily had the best name of the group although the contents of the bag were probably the least enjoyable. We settled on a description of a salty version of breakfast cereal, either Corn Pops or a mild version of Capt'n Crunch. Although we have paired beer with cereal, this salty hybrid had a hard time finding a partner. Saison Dupont seemed to be the "best" by making the snack less cereal tasting. All of the other beers as well as the cider accentuated the sweetness, resulting in flavors ranging from chocolate Sugar Pops to Apple Jacks.
Want Want Natori Snack ---> had the second best name but definitely the best illustration on the back of the bag, giving us hopes that these were going to be The Snack. What we found upon opening the bag were sticks that looked like battered french fries but had a very mild flavor reminiscent of those crunchy chow mein noodles we've all had atop a Chinese-ish dish. Not surprising, both the mild Saison Dupont and the Cascadia Granny Smith made for appropriate pairings.
Thanks again to Chris, Mag, Paul, beertender David and others who were willing to go along with our wacky pairings once again!
If you've been following our beer adventures for a while you might have figured out we have a thing for pairing beer with some unlikely subjects (like Halloween or Easter candy). Well, hold on to your hats because things are about to get REAL weird.
Resulting out of some beer consumed with a last bit of ice cream, you know, the melt-y stuff at the bottom of your bowl/pint/quart, we rounded up seven varieties of coffee creamer (you heard that right). There were some "regular" flavors - French Vanilla, Hazelnut and Vanilla Caramel - and others that started going further afield - Almond Roca, Bailey's Irish Cream, Peppermint Mocha and Bailey's Mudslide. As is pretty easy to surmise, stouts were the most suitable for pairing.
- Fremont Dark Star imperial oatmeal stout had its 8% ABV mellowed by the Darigold Almond Roca and its roastiness kept the creamer from being too sweet.
- Ten FIDY, the big 10.5% double stout from Oskar Blues, made for a nice sipper with the CoffeeMate Peppermint Mocha.
- StormBreaker Opacus oatmeal stout, clocking in at a sessionable 5%, was the most mixable of the beers, combining nicely with Darigold Vanilla Caramel, Darigold Hazelnut and CoffeeMate Peppermint Mocha. In fact, if you'll be having guests around Christmastime, grab some of that Peppermint Mocha either for use in your glass with some Opacus or in your great aunt's coffee. You won't regret it.
- Pelican Tsunami Stout, of the foreign/export variety, was the most coffee-like and combined with Bailey's Irish Cream for something we'd be delighted to find in our mug on a lazy weekend morning.
- Ale Smith Nut Brown's nutty profile found pairings with both of the nut-flavored creamers - Darigold Almond Roca and Darigold Hazelnut.
Even more successful than the dark beers, especially if you're looking for something lighter, were three fruit beer/ciders with Darigold French Vanilla. Stiegl Radler was the crowd favorite that when blended with the creamer came out tasting like an orange creamsicle. Why a grapefruit beer should combine with a vanilla milky substance to produce orange is beyond us. This however was a delicious, super low ABV creation.
A close second was Cider Riot! Berry cider, for a "berrysicle" and then interestingly, Lindeman's Peche. Instead of the sourness of the beer clashing, it pleasantly offset the creaminess. Another "you wouldn't think so" combination was the Cider Riot Berry with Darigold Hazelnut. Not assertive enough to be labeled as a pb&j flavor profile, it's the closest thing we can liken it to.
If you've been keeping track you may have noticed that we haven't mentioned what beer went with the Bailey's Mudslide. That's because there weren't any. We found there to be a strange, chemical taste and while we can't confirm the same would be true if it were put in a cup of coffee it seems prudent to simply avoid it. We chalked it up to "you can't know until you try" and the spirit of exploration that we went into this little experiment with.
Thanks to those brave souls that tried these combos out with us - Chris, Sean, Nicole, Caren, Zach and Mike, to name a few!
