You don’t have to choose when it comes to enjoying the tangy pop of beer or the smooth bitterness of coffee. As the saying goes? The more, the merrier!
Drinks are just as much an experience as they are a way to wet our throat. Coffee is commonly associated with the morning rush in the West, with many working Americans having entire morning rituals around a cup of joe. Tea is commonly seen as a relaxing drink — particularly a hot mug of herbal goodness — and beer shares a similar reputation…alongside being the key ingredient to a rowdy party!
It can seem like overkill to mix all these contrasting flavors and stimulants together, but a few places are choosing to embrace this happy balance.
According to the Tea & Coffee trade journal, Handsome Brewery over in Cumbria, UK is creating a craft beer with just the kind of twist tea aficionados can get behind. It’s not an easy thing to do, what with tea often having a more subtle flavor compared to the punch of a mug of beer, but it can be done. Last year Craft Beer released a list of beer and tea mixtures to herald the growing interest in this invigorating blend. While I prefer to keep my beer and tea separate, this might just be a mixture I’ll have to try!
That’s not all there is to look forward to. Dunkin’ Donuts brought back their popular Irish creme blend to commemorate St. Patrick’s day, showing that this is far from a niche experience. Even those that don’t drink alcohol are likely familiar with Irish creme as a flavor, extremely popular as a coffee creamer and as a dessert topping.
Last, but not least, there was an interesting study released just a few months back over on Vinepair on the health benefits of alcohol and coffee. Moderate consumption of both was carefully tracked over 1,500 participants in the oldest possible age bracket. It concluded a diet with moderate-yet-regular alcohol and coffee increased a person’s longevity significantly compared to those that abstained completely. While correlation is most certainly not causation, there’s reason to be less skeptical — healthy antioxidants in your average mug of coffee is brimming with antioxidants, essential for protecting your cells at the deepest level. Combine that with the stress reduction traits in beer and wine and it’s easy to see a connection!
What about you? Are you the kind of person that loves to mix up their drinks or do you prefer to stick to what you know?
dragonsandflowers 