1 bottle (~12oz) Samichlaus doppelbock (the dark one - not the Helles). Samichlaus should be served like a fine port, barely below room temperature, and no cooler than 60F.
1 bar dark chocolate, preferably around 70%. Dagoba Conacado is 73%, and works beautifully.Instructions:
1) Pour the Samichlaus into two small stemmed glasses - port, for instance, or small sherry. Reserve about a third of the bottle, keeping in mind that this beer is stronger than many wines.
2) Break up and arrange about half of the chocolate on a nice little plate.
3) Take a piece of chocolate and chew it a bit, allowing it to melt.
4) Have a sip of Samichlaus.
When it comes into contact with the chocolate, the Samichlaus will foam a little bit, creating an incredibly rich chocolate-malt mousse. Experiment with different proportions: this little adventure is as much about texture as it is about taste.
The fun of this pairing is that the characteristics of the ingredients go against type: the beer provides the sweetness and the chocolate cuts it. Perhaps there is a nuttiness that the chocolate draws out of the beer. Maybe, at least with the Conacado, there is a certain fruitiness, a skin-of-nectarine tang that, with its almost tannin-like mouthfeel, adds to the tawny port quality the Samichlaus already possesses.
But truly, this pairing is not about all that. A flute of Perrier-Jouët paired self-poured with a perfect strawberry is no less delicious; it is a scientific fact that Okhotnichya and zakuski will warm you even without a host to toast, but with these little indulgences no less than with the Samichlaus it is about having someone with whom to share.
1) Pour the Samichlaus into two small stemmed glasses - port, for instance, or small sherry. Reserve about a third of the bottle, keeping in mind that this beer is stronger than many wines.
2) Break up and arrange about half of the chocolate on a nice little plate.
3) Take a piece of chocolate and chew it a bit, allowing it to melt.
4) Have a sip of Samichlaus.
When it comes into contact with the chocolate, the Samichlaus will foam a little bit, creating an incredibly rich chocolate-malt mousse. Experiment with different proportions: this little adventure is as much about texture as it is about taste.
The fun of this pairing is that the characteristics of the ingredients go against type: the beer provides the sweetness and the chocolate cuts it. Perhaps there is a nuttiness that the chocolate draws out of the beer. Maybe, at least with the Conacado, there is a certain fruitiness, a skin-of-nectarine tang that, with its almost tannin-like mouthfeel, adds to the tawny port quality the Samichlaus already possesses.
But truly, this pairing is not about all that. A flute of Perrier-Jouët paired self-poured with a perfect strawberry is no less delicious; it is a scientific fact that Okhotnichya and zakuski will warm you even without a host to toast, but with these little indulgences no less than with the Samichlaus it is about having someone with whom to share.
