Cocktails Garnished With Cheese? It's A Yes

Peer at the menu at Athens' The Dolli Hotel — if you can take your eyes away from the towering view of the Acropolis from the rooftop bar – and you may notice the Evening Walker, a Greek-inspired take on the Negroni. If the list of local ingredients like Votanikon premium gin and house-made dry vermouth made with white wine slowly cooked with florina peppers aren't enough to capture your attention, the Campari-based drink arrives garnished with a disc of smoky cheese hailing from a mountain town in northern Greece. The creator of the drink, Fotis Kouletos, explained to Tasting Table that this specific cocktail was made to highlight the best of the country — the culture, the atmosphere, and the quality of ingredients found throughout the region. One sip goes down a little too easily. 

Though cheese-topped cocktails may sound like something only Greeks would do — they've been drinking wine with grated goat cheese since Homer's time — plenty of bartenders have found ways to elevate boozy recipes with cheese. From swapping egg whites for mascarpone or topping glasses with shavings of parmesan, professional and amateur bartenders alike can turn up the volume of salty, savory, and creamy expressions in boozy beverages. And there's nothing stopping you from getting experimental with your own drinks, too. 

Cheese can not only add rich flavors to drink recipes but also build textural depth in cocktails by introducing added fat and salt. Granted, getting cheesy with drinks can be an expensive experiment, so you'll want to create concoctions carefully. If you're daring to make cheese-enhanced drinks for yourself at home, try garnishing a classic martini with parmesan crisps or shaking up martini ingredients with drops of Parmesan oil. Olives stuffed with bleu cheese can be confidently used to top an easy dirty martini recipe (or served on the side to nosh on in between sips).

Alcohol can also be fat-washed with cheese to build unique flavors that can elevate more traditional drinks. Experiment with letting cheese rinds or softer chunks of Camembert sit with gin or brandy and use the resulting boozy infusion to upgrade classics like Negronis and Sidecars. Once you've opened the door to cheesy cocktails, there might be no turning back.