15 Absolute Worst Foods To Eat With Bourbon

One of the greatest ways to enjoy whiskey is to drink it with food, and there are plenty of superb food and bourbon pairings out there. However, there are also some match-ups that simply don't work.

To create the tastiest match-ups, you need to have a good idea of how to identify bourbon's key flavors, and how they interact with other aspects of taste. This will also give you a good idea of what foods to avoid. There are a few different factors that can result in a terrible pairing. For example, the food's flavors may overwhelm those of the bourbon or they might be too delicate to stand out next to the strong whiskey. Even if the flavors have matching intensities, that doesn't mean they'll complement each other — sometimes, you'll get a gross-tasting combination and other times, you'll end up with something boring and uninspired. You can also get foods that mute the complexity of the bourbon, making a premium whiskey taste like something from the bottom shelf. 

Over many years working in restaurants and bars, I've spent a lot of time learning about whiskey, attending masterclasses, and worming my way into tasting sessions. Below, I'm going to share with you my list of foods that you should always skip pairing with bourbon and offer some tips to help you figure out which pairings work and which are best left alone.

Pairing liquor with spicy foods is always something of a gamble. Spirits like bourbon have a higher alcohol content that translates into heat on the palate. When you combine the two, the spice level is amplified and not always for the better.

Some folks like the extra spice, but there are whiskey experts who suggest avoiding the combination altogether, as the pairing can overwhelm the palate with unpleasant results. Buffalo sauce can also be pretty vinegary, and the tang will likely clash with bourbon's sweet base notes, like vanilla and caramel. You're better off avoiding whiskey and wings altogether and opting for a refreshing beer – a crisp lager if you want to reduce the intensity of the Buffalo sauce or a citrusy IPA if you want to boost the flavors. An off-dry riesling wine is another great option. The style's sweetness is gentle enough to cut through the spice, and its fragrant notes complement the sauce's flavor without becoming jarring.

Indian cuisine can also be tricky to match with bourbon. Many Indian dishes are known for their high spice levels, which, as I mentioned above, don't play well with stronger spirits. However, even extremely mild dishes like butter chicken can make for a poor match-up.

Fat is good for coating the palate and reducing the alcohol heat of bourbon; however, it's not hard to overdo it. Indian curries with rich, creamy sauces tend to dull the flavors of the whiskey too much. Even when a butter chicken recipe goes easy on the cream, the tomato base becomes more prominent, producing an acidity that can clash with bourbon's sweetness. Additionally, Indian food incorporates a range of spices. While some of these pair well with bourbon's typical tasting notes, the combination is often too complex to produce uniquely delicious flavors. I suggest sticking to a cold, fuss-free Indian lager, like Kingfisher or Cobra, instead. If you want to enhance the spice flavors without boosting the heat, a full-bodied gewürztraminer wine will also work.

Like Indian food, Thai cuisine is well known for being one of the spiciest on the planet; however, not every dish will make you sweat. Although some people like their green curry extra hot, it's usually milder and sweeter than other Thai curries.

The problem with pairing bourbon and green curry is that the dish is loaded with extremely fragrant ingredients, like lemongrass, kaffir lime, and ginger. Isolated or in moderation, these ingredients can work well with bourbon. Here, the combination is too intense to tastefully complement or contrast the whiskey's natural flavor profile. Instead, you'll probably find it makes the bourbon taste too flat or woody. If you're dead set on a whiskey pairing, you'll need to find a rye whiskey or a robust, rye-forward bourbon with enough of its own spice to stand up to the intensity of the dish. Personally, I'd choose from one of the many wines that pair superbly with Thai food. Or try an effervescent, creamy wheat beer that will subtly enhance the curry's fragrant flavors while providing a nice counterpoint to its heat.

Italian food and bourbon isn't one of the most popular pairings, but it can work with the right dishes. The trick to matching pasta with whiskey is to choose dishes that include enough complementary ingredients, like cheese or meat. Creamy dishes, like carbonara, can also work as long as you don't go too heavy on the dairy component.

However, as a rule, you should skip Italian dishes where tomatoes are the key component, like penne all'arrabbiata. They tend to be too sweet and acidic and can end up making your bourbon taste unappealing metallic. Plus, all'arrabbiata sauce is usually fairly spicy — even if you don't mind the enhanced heat, it can make the whiskey's sweeter flavors taste cloying and hard to distinguish. Your best bet is to stick with the tried-and-tested option and pick out a quality red wine. If you want to tone down the boldness of the dish, I suggest a lightly chilled, fruity Beaujolais that will reduce the sauce's spice. Conversely, if you want to amplify the flavor profile, opt for a richer Italian wine, like nero d'avola.

From a food pairing perspective, bourbon and Mexican food suffer from the same issues as Indian and Thai cuisine. First, you've got to contend with the combined heat of the food and the whiskey. Then, you're left facing too many competing flavors. Contrasting elements in a food pairing can be great, but not when there are too many ingredients squaring off against each other.

If you prefer your nachos relatively sparse with just a handful of cheese and some lightly seasoned meat, there's a good chance your whiskey will pair pretty well. However, if you're like me and love your nachos loaded up with all the trimmings, you'll want to skip the bourbon. A slightly sweet Mexican lager is a better option if you want to appreciate the flavors in the food. A margarita is also a much better pick, as the earthy tequila pairs much more effectively with the ingredients used in Mexican cuisine. You've also got some acidic citrus to cut through the fattier components of the dish and a touch of sweetness to temper the spice.

Although bourbon and seafood can be a match made in heaven, some fish-based dishes are just too light for the combination to work. The whiskey is simply too strong and overpowers the delicate flavor of the fish.

Ceviche – a stunningly fresh and vibrant dish that's a prominent feature of many Hispanic cuisines – is a perfect example of a seafood-based appetizer that struggles to stand up to bourbon. Plus, the fish used in classic ceviche recipes is essentially "cooked" in acid – typically lemon or lime juice. This abundance of acidic citrus tends to make whiskey taste too harsh. It over-amplifies the alcohol taste and ceviche lacks the fattier ingredients necessary for tempering the burn. More mature bourbons are often smoother and less harsh than younger bourbons; however, they contain more tannins due to the additional time spent in the oak barrel. Strong citrus can also boost the tannic aspects of the bourbon to the point where it becomes unenjoyable. If it were me, I'd go for a fruity Chilean sauvignon blanc instead, or a glass of Champagne if I'm feeling fancy.

Although raw oysters can be deliciously plump and creamy, they still tend to lack the ability to stand up to a spirit as bold as bourbon. If the oysters are grilled, baked, or lightly fried, the pairing can work, but it depends on how they're flavored and seasoned.

Aside from being a bit too delicate to match with bourbon, raw oysters are known for being exceptionally briny. A little saltiness can be excellent for enhancing the sweet caramel flavors of bourbon, but the salinity of raw oysters is overkill. It can make the whiskey taste metallic and clash hard with extra oaky bourbons. A peaty Islay Scotch is a more suitable choice, as it shares that oily minerality and lacks the sweetness of bourbon. However, the ideal pairing for raw oysters is a glass of Champagne, as the effervescence and acidity contrast beautifully with the texture of the oysters, and the two can go toe-to-toe when it comes to minerality. A dry gin martini will also do the trick, especially if you make it dirty with a healthy splash of olive brine.

In recent years, canned fish has become somewhat trendy. Personally, I've been a big fan of the stuff before it started making an appearance on gourmet restaurant menus, but I've had little luck in pairing it with bourbon.

First, canned fish such as tuna, mackerel, sardines, and anchovies are usually too oily to pair with bourbon. A little oil is fine for reducing the alcohol heat, but in this case, I find it mutes the whiskey's flavors. Second, one of the most appealing aspects of canned fish is its rich and savory umami flavor. Unfortunately, this can result in some strange flavors when combined with bourbon, such as making it taste too sweet or too bitter. Ideally, you want a crisp white wine with high acidity that can cut through the oiliness of the fish – a high-altitude albariño or dry chenin blanc should do the trick. Alternatively, try a lightly peated Scotch whisky with coastal characteristics that better complement the fish's flavors. If you're tucking into smoked fish, you can also up the smokiness of the whisky to match its intensity.

When a recipe tells me to add garlic, I'm the sort of person who treats it as a minimum requirement. The sharp, spicy pungency of garlic helps form the backbone of countless delicious dishes from all over the world. Unfortunately, garlic and whiskey don't make a great pair.

Foods that feature garlic heavily – like garlic bread – tend to take over the palate, making it much harder to differentiate between other flavors. Garlic probably won't make your bourbon taste objectively bad, particularly once it's been cooked and the flavor has softened, but it won't make it taste any better. You've also got to factor in the butter, which will also mute the whiskey's flavors. The other issue is that, as most people know, garlic likes to linger. To get the most out of bourbon, you'll want to cleanse your palate as you drink it, and there aren't many ways to swiftly eliminate garlic breath. That said, if you're not too fussed with picking out the nuances of the spirit, you could try switching from bourbon to a bold Irish whiskey. Irish whiskeys are often gentler than other styles, with a subtle sweet fruit character. Plus, they have a more pronounced grain profile, which can pair nicely with garlic bread's toasted base.

Cheese is an excellent companion to whiskey but each of them boast an incredibly diverse range of styles. There are cheeses that work pretty well with any type of whiskey but in some cases you'll need to be a bit more selective.

For example, the best type of cheese for pairing with bourbon should be something fairly fatty and mature, like aged cheddar or Gouda. A fatty cheese will coat your tongue and take out some of the alcohol burns while aging concentrates the cheese's flavors so they don't get drowned out by the whiskey. You'll end up with salty and nutty notes that are perfect for balancing bourbon's flavors. When it comes to blue cheeses, like Stilton or Roquefort, you're going to want to pick a different whiskey. The intense funk and punchy umami of the cheese are too powerful for most bourbons and the taste profiles just don't harmonize as well. Instead, pour yourself a glass of a fruit-forward Scotch, preferably one that's spent some time maturing in sherry casks. The rich fruit flavors meld together far better with the funkiness of the cheese.

As I mentioned earlier, palate-cleansing foods are a great way to enjoy a good bourbon properly. Ideally, you'll want something slightly salty with a relatively neutral taste, like saltines or potato chips. However, for the best results, you should always stick with plain chips.

Foods like barbequed meat or sour cream are great matches for bourbon, but only when they're the real deal. Potato chips are coated in artificial seasonings that can imitate flavors but not other things like texture or fat. This means they won't pair as well as real food would. More often than not, the processed ingredients and excess salt found on flavored chips are going to detract from your bourbon rather than improve it. I'd suggest a run-of-the-mill lager instead – one with a slightly bready malt profile that's hard to clash with. Wine and potato chips can also be a winning combo, but remember that premium potato chip brands tend to have a more subtle and authentic flavor. It's worth spending a little extra on higher-quality chips, and you should probably save fancier wines for a more suitable pairing.

It's no secret that chocolate and whiskey are pretty much always a delicious pairing. However, like with cheese, some styles go together better than others. The darker the chocolate, the more bitter it tastes, so it stands to reason that a sweeter whiskey style like bourbon is a solid option.

However, there are a few things to consider. First, dark chocolate has an intense flavor, so the bourbon also needs to be pretty punchy. A rye-forward or barrel-proof bourbon is your best bet. Second, there comes a point where that intensity and bitterness become too much even for bourbon and outstrips the style's sweeter characteristics. In my experience, that's somewhere around the 75-80% cocoa mark, but it's somewhat subjective. If you're exceeding that range, you'll be better off with a massively smoky Scotch whisky that can take everything the chocolate can throw at it. I suggest something along the lines of Laphroaig 10-Year or Ardbeg 10-Year. If peaty Scotches aren't your thing, you can always try a rich fortified wine like Tawny Port or Madeira. A red wine with jammy dark fruit notes, like a shiraz, zinfandel, or malbec will also do the trick.

The pungent flavor of licorice is extremely divisive, with most people either passionately adoring or vehemently hating the sweet treat. The strong anise character of the inky black candy is powerfully herbaceous and slightly medicinal. It makes sense, given the plant from which licorice is derived was originally used for medicinal purposes.

If you're someone who loves licorice and bourbon, you might want to think twice before you match the two. There just aren't really any aspects of the whiskey that are improved by the combination, and you end up with a mess of flavors that don't complement each other or contrast in an appealing way. Some rye whiskeys can have more pronounced herbal notes but not enough to make the pairing any more effective. I suggest doubling down on the herbaceous qualities of the licorice instead. Amari – a type of bitter Italian liqueur – can work, as can pastis – an anise-flavored spirit from France. Alternatively, you can try a gin-based cocktail. The wonderfully named Corpse Reviver No. 2 is a good choice, as it contains a dash of absinthe, which also has a strong anise profile.

There are tons of chocolate-based candies that are great for nibbling on with a glass of bourbon, especially those with ingredients that match up with the whiskey's tasting notes. Caramel and nut-filled chocolates are always a winner, and fruit-filled varieties can also pair very well with the right bourbon. However, non-chocolate candies – things like gummies and hard candies – are typically too sweet and synthetic tasting to make them a worthwhile choice.

Sour candies are a particularly poor pick because they're excessively tart and acidic, so they clash terribly with bourbon's sweet and spicy elements. You'll often find the candy either mutes the taste of the whiskey or makes it unpleasantly sharp. Plus, the artificial fruit flavorings usually come across as inauthentic and plasticky and destroy the bourbon's more subtle notes. Instead, lean into the candy's flavors with a tart and fruity cocktail, like a paloma or bramble, or a fruited sour beer.

If you've ever tried a deliciously refreshing mint julep cocktail, then you'll know that mint and bourbon can work very well together. There are even rye whiskeys that have a hint of mint in their tasting notes. That said, it's very easy to overdo it.

The menthol aspect of mint candies, mint desserts, and chewing gum is typically too strong to make for an effective bourbon pairing. The icy compound dulls the palate, making it extremely difficult to identify key flavors in the whiskey and you can forget about detecting any of the more subtle notes. Chocolate does a much better job of contrasting with mint flavors, so a mug of hot cocoa, a creamy White Russian, or a decadent mudslide cocktail will serve you much better. Mint is also great at cutting through sweet, fruity drinks. Not every fruit is suitable, but you can't go wrong with a strawberry daiquiri or a bubbly peach bellini. However, you should try to avoid extra cold drinks like margarita slushies if you want to avoid brain freeze, as the combination of the ice and the menthol tends to be an unpleasantly intense combo.