Some matches are meant to be.
But whisky and pickles? Don’t knock it until you give it a shot — literally.
It’s called a pickleback — that one-two punch of a whisky slug followed by a shot of brine — and on Dec. 10, Brooklyn Oenology in Williamsburg is featuring three whisky purveyors and three pickle pedlars, whose boozy shot combos are guaranteed to tickle your taste buds (and leave you sauced).
“It’s the cleansing nature of the chaser — you drink a shot of whisky, and then a shot of pickle juice, and it’s almost like the whisky never happened,” said TJ Provenzano, the event’s organizer, the manager of Brooklyn Oenology’s Tasting Room, and a former bartender at the Bushwick Country Club, which popularized the pickleback four years ago. “They’re dangerous like that.”
The combos — designed to highlight flavor contrast — will include the sweetly flavored Breucklen Wheat “Black Wax” Whisky paired with spicy and garlicky McClure’s pickle brine; Finger Lakes-based McKenzie Rye chased with Brooklyn Brine pickle juice; and caramel-tinged Kings County Bourbon coupled with smoky, spicy, vinegar-soaked Rick’s Picks Smoked Okra brine. All three pickle purveyors will be present, farmers-market style, to dole out samples and sell whole jars.
Not enough piquancy for your flavor-craving palate?
Local beef jerks, Field Jerky Co., are also setting up shop, with flavor varieties such as teryaki and honey spice to go along with each of the three saucy couplets.
“Our customer are going to be taking three shots of whisky, at least,” Provenzano said. “They’re going to need some jerky to snack on.”
Whiskey, Pickles ’n Jerky at the Brooklyn Oenology Tasting Room [209 Wythe Ave. between N. Third and N. Fourth streets in Williamsburg, (718) 599-1259], Dec. 10, 3 pm-midnight; Dec. 11, noon-10 pm. $5 per pairing; $13 for all three. For info, visit www.brooklynoenology.com.
Reach Arts Editor Juliet Linderman at jlinderman@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-8309.
