Wine and beer with tacos?

For many, light, bright and mild lager beers are an obvious choice of drink for tacos, be it Mexican lagers or Pilsner. But such beers are actually quite bland with such a flavourful food as tacos. After all, tacos contain strong flavours from both the spices in which the meat is fried and the salsa. Tacos are, after all, a complex composition of vegetables, spicy meat, cheese, salsa of varying strength, sour cream and/or guacamole served in shells or lomps. Light, bright and mild beers can't compete with the richness of the tacos' flavours and thus become only thirst quenchers: They refresh the palate, but you could achieve almost the same effect with a glass of carbonated water. Below you will find some tips on how to choose a drink that actually plays well with the food.

Wine

White wine is a natural first choice for tacos for several reasons. Tacos are actually quite a light food. Mild and light cheese, vegetables, and light sauces like sour cream ensure this. The sourness of the sour cream also requires acid in the wine so that it does not seem limp in relation to the food. And acid is found more in white wine than in red wine. White wine also often comes in different degrees of dryness than red wine. This is an advantage, as it can be good to have a little sweetness in the wine to balance the burning mouthfeel that hotter versions of tacos can give; hot and sweet, in other words. No matter what you choose, the wine should be flavourful. As mentioned, tacos are characterful food, and for the wine to play a role beyond thirst quenching, it must be correspondingly characterful.

Among white wines, Riesling is a great alternative. Riesling has enough freshness to balance the acid in the sauce. Wines of this grape type also often come in different degrees of dryness, especially if they are from Germany. And Riesling is aromatic enough to actually taste something alongside the taco. If you make the taco mild, expressive versions of Sauvignon Blanc can be good alternatives. Here you will also find good acidity and good aroma intensity and also some green aromas that can mirror the aromas of salad and vegetables.

If you insist on red wine, you should go for a wine with similar characteristics and low tannin. Low tannin is important because a wine with a lot of tannin can simply be a bit too much for the palate, at least if the taco is hot. Then you get both a burnt mouthfeel from the food and a drying mouthfeel from the wine, and the drink will seem not very refreshing. A fruity and youthful Pinot Noir will be a good match. An affordable Barbera as well. And if the taco is spicy, a semi-dry Dornfelder can offer balancing sweetness. In all cases, you get good aroma intensity, good freshness and low tannin.

Wine for tacos

Beer

As with wine, light styles are best suited to tacos. That doesn't mean the beer has to be boring.

If you want to try a beer that actually tastes good with tacos, try an India/American Pale Ale or Amber Ale. These are flavourful beers with a nice freshness that cleanses the palate and matches the freshness of the sour cream. The beers can be quite bitter, but the spiciness from the food can actually dampen the bitterness. Since these styles are top-fermented and sometimes contain caramel malt, they also get a sweetness that can help balance the hot character of the food. India Pale Ale is the richest beer; American Pale Ale is slightly lighter; Amber Ale is the darkest and sweetest.

If you don't like bitterness, Weissbier and Witbier can work well. These are light and aromatic beer styles that have plenty of carbonation to cleanse the palate and match the freshness of the sour cream. The beers are also top-fermented and thus have a bit of sweetness that can balance out any spiciness in the food.

Beer for tacos

Guacamole

For 4 servings:

• 2 ripe avocados
• The juice of half a lime
• 2 small tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 red chili
• 1 handful fresh coriander
• Salt and pepper

Preparation

1. Cut the ripe avocados in half and remove the stone. Slit the knife in the stone and turn to the side and the stone will come loose from the flesh, be careful to avoid a typical avocado accident.
2. Mash the avocado with a fork and squeeze the lime juice over it.
3. Cut the tomatoes in four and cut out the seeds with a small knife. Then cut the tomato flesh into small cubes.
4. Cut the red chili in half and remove the seeds, finely chop it together with the garlic. You adjust the strength of the guacamole with the amount of chili.
5. Finely chop the fresh coriander and mix everything together with the mashed avocado, season with salt and pepper.
6. Serve this as a dip or as a side dish for Friday tacos.