A buddy of mine just started home-brewing his own beer. “It’s easy!” he said. “And tastes great!”
His love for this hobby got me thinking. And thirsty. So after a few beers myself, an article from Entrepreneur Magazine bubbled to my mind: “The 2008 Hot List“. It lists their picks for the hottest industries in 2008. One of the picks is craft beer.
Ask industry experts what’s brewing and you’ll get a stout response: craft beer. The volume of craft beer sold in the first half of 2007 rose 11 percent compared to the same period in 2006, and dollar growth increased 14 percent, according to the Brewers Association. “People like the taste of hand-crafted beers that deliver unexpected flavors,” says Keith Villa, a brewmaster at Coors.
Ah, unexpected flavors, eh? That got me thinking some more, and drinking some more. Both go hand-in-hand wonderfully. *burp* This also warmed up my appetite and led me to California cuisine, also known as pan-Asian or fusion cuisine. It’s the eclectic yet sublime art of fusing dishes, ingredients, and cooking styles from around the world. According to Wikipedia, such a restaurant may include items such as: sake cocktails, salads with crisp nori toppings & a miso-cilantro vinaigrette dressing, and rock shrimp dumplings. Yum!
To top off a meal like that, my mind then wandered to chocolates (naturally). And more specifically, to fusion gourmet chocolates. As another Entrepreneur Magazine article showed, chocolates can be just as expressive as food. Take Vosges-Haut Chocolat, for instance. Founder Katrina Markoff, a student of the Parisian culinary institute Le Cordon Bleu, studied street food in Southeast Asia and Australia for nine months and came up with decadent concoctions such as chocolate with coconut milk and curry. And just recently, a friend introduced me to the Oakland, CA-based Cosmic Chocolate, another gourmet chocolatier with an eclectic range of ingredients such as chai spices, green tea, ginger syrup, basil, and chili. While some of these may sound like you’d definitely need a beer afterwards, I’ve tried some and they were surprisingly delicious!
So why not do the same with craft beer? Why not start a microbrewery specializing in a fusion of Asian-influenced flavors? Like a spicy wasabi beer? Or one with hints of chai and lychee? There are already beers brewed with chocolate, cherries, oranges, and lemons flavors. Why not mango, kiwi, coconut, or even curry? There’s a whole palette to choose from. Miso, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, black bean, red bean… Heck, you could just raid the kitchen Chez Panisse for a long list of ideas!
Okay, maybe this idea will turn some of your stomachs. But hey, if Jones Soda can make a Turkey & Gravy Soda, why couldn’t some innovative new microbrewery create a Teriyaki Beer?
That sounds… yummy?
Haha it totally does! My stomach is growling just thinking about it! ;-)