All photography by Jeff Licciardello
Yes, we all know s’mores Oreos have arrived. Though the Oreo brand is about as fickle as a craft brewery when it comes to the lasting power of their flavors, we hope s’moreos will be here to stay. We assumed they’d need a better incentive to stick around than milk, so we decided to pair s’moreos (along with three other Oreo flavors) with something truly delicious – booze!
Classic Oreo & Soave
The classic Oreo is pretty sweet, but not overwhelmingly so like its double-stuffed cousin. However, we’d still suggest cutting through that small layer of creamy filling with an acidic dry wine, like Soave from the Veneto region of Italy. We used a Soave from Alpha Zeta Wines, but feel free to use any crisp Soave your local store may have. Sauvignon Blanc, Dry Riesling or Vinho Verde work as well.
Birthday Cake Oreos & Sauternes
Sometimes, a food & wine pairing works best when both the food in question and the vino have similar flavor profiles. Take, for example, birthday cake Oreos and dessert wine like Sauternes. Both have impactful, sugary palates. However, the thickness of late-harvest and/or Noble rot wines like Sauternes brings out the intense creaminess of the birthday cake Oreo. We chose De Bortoli Vat 5 Bortrytis Semillon 2005, but feel free to choose a similar dessert wine, like a late harvest Moscato or Riesling.
Golden Oreos & Wheat Beer
Golden Oreos have plenty of biscuity, wafer sweetness. There’s tasty vanilla flavor there, as well. These Oreos are a little more bread-y than the rest of the gamut, so we chose a beer that perfectly balances sweet and savory: wheat beer. As you know from our beer flavor chart, wheat beer has fruit notes like banana, but it also boasts its sweetness in the most mild way possible. Use any wheat beer you like, but we really dig Hell Or High Watermelon from 21st Amendment Brewery, which is a fairly dry beer with a hint of fruit tang.
S’mores Oreos & Stout
Last, but certainly not least, we have the triumph of the Oreo brand: the s’mores Oreo. Naturally, we wanted to find a pairing that provided the perfect accompaniment for the rich chocolate, so we settled on a stout beer. Stouts have notes of coffee, chocolate, and a little bit of roasted warmth – perfect for the campfire (just like s’mores!). We chose Kalamazoo Stout from Bell’s Beer, but you can always go with a classic Guinness.
