The Best Liquor To Serve With Lamb Chops

A plate of nice, juicy lamb chops is truly a decadent dinner that will make you feel like royalty. But having the right drink to go with that dinner takes it from great to fantastic. The next time you enjoy some juicy lamb with crispy crust, pick the best liquor to serve with those lamb chops to get a five-star experience right in the comfort of your own home.

According to quite a few sources, the best pairing for lamb chops is a nice red wine. Consider lamb for a moment. It depends on the cut, but it's often a rich and savory meat, with lots of fat that leads to an unctuous experience. All that richness means that the best beverage to pair with the protein is something acidic and fruity to cut through it and enhance the flavors of both the food and the drink. Red wine, especially a dry wine, checks all of those boxes. The result is a better dinner with less of the greasy feeling that comes with high-fat meats.

Of course, liquor pairings are a matter of taste at the end of the day. You can drink just about anything with your lamb chops if it's what you enjoy, even if it's just plain water. However, the best pairings are ones that complement your food. For example, another great pairing for lamb is a smoky liquor cocktail. The smokiness works in harmony with the natural richness of the lamb and brings out both flavors to enhance your overall meal.

Which liquors exactly pair best with your lamb chops depends on the cut and seasonings you use and even the region the lamb comes from, since lamb from different parts of the world can have different flavors. That said, there are a few tried and true options if you're not sure where to start. One example of a wine that can make even a cut of Costco bulk lamb meat shine is Chianti. Chianti typically carries several red fruit flavors like cherry and strawberry and has a hint of smokiness to bring out the gamey lamb.

If you're not a big fan of vino, another good lamb chop pairing is rye whiskey. This variety of whiskey has a strong flavor with hints of spice, oak, and vanilla that work well with the meat. How strong each flavor is depends on the age of the whiskey and the inclination of the distiller. While whiskey isn't as acidic as wine and doesn't cut through the richness as well, its smokiness does a great job of complementing the lamb's flavors.

Finally, if you're not a fan of Chianti, another red wine to pair with your lamb chops is an Argentine Malbec. Malbec wine often carries flavors of plum and blackberry. It's less acidic and dry than Chianti, so if you're looking for something milder, it could be the perfect wine to pair with your next lamb dinner.