7 Best And 7 Worst Cocktails To Pair With Steak, Backed Up By A Mixologist

Whether it's a marbled rib-eye, a tender filet, or a colossal tomahawk, char-grilled or pan-seared, cooked through or black-and-blue, there's nothing quite like a steak. When you've got a beautiful slab of perfectly cooked beef in front of you, your instinct may have you reaching for a big red wine — but what if you're in the mood for a cocktail? There are tons of tried-and-true guidelines when it comes to pairing wine, but pairing cocktails and steak is venturing onto a road less traveled. To maximize enjoyment of every sip and savory bite, you'll want to make sure the drink you decide on is going to be a complementary companion to your steak.

This can be trickier than it might seem. A cocktail consists of multiple elements, so there's more room for error when it comes to pairing with food. There's also the alcohol content to consider — you don't want to blow out your palate with too much booze, which is less of an issue when it comes to wine or beer. There's no perfect pairing when it comes to cocktails and steak, and details matter, like if there's a sauce, herbs or spice, the cut of meat, and so on. However, there are certain cocktails that are more likely to pair successfully, and many that are bound to fail. As a cocktail creator and sommelier, here's my guide to the best and worst drinks you can couple with steak, and why they do or don't work.

Whiskey is arguably the best spirit to pair with steak. It's robust enough to stand up to a hefty ingredient like beef, and whiskey's wood aging adds tannins similar to those found in red wine. Tannins are compounds that you experience as an astringent and bitter sensation in your mouth — think of a tea that's been steeped for too long, or a piece of intensely dark chocolate. These sensations and flavors can be unpleasant on their own, but tannins react with salt, fat, and protein in such a way that they work together to create a smooth and balanced mouthfeel.

A Manhattan is a relatively simple cocktail, consisting of only three ingredients: whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters. Rye whiskey is my preferred variation when it comes to pairing with steak, because its spicy flavor profile adds a nice peppery note that livens up each bite. This characteristic is echoed by the spice-infused flavors of the vermouth and bitters, and the touch of sweetness from vermouth mellows out your palate, making for a smooth experience. Rye manhattans are great with simple steaks seasoned only with salt and pepper, or those with stronger flavors like those found in dry rubs, marinades, or sauces.

A cosmopolitan's combination of sweet, fruity, and tart flavors is refreshing on its own, but when paired with a steak, you won't find any common ground. Vodka on its own can act as a palate cleanser, as can citrus with its tangy acidity. Put them together with cranberry juice and orange liqueur, though, and you've got a drink whose textural, aromatic, and flavor components clash with a hearty, savory dish like steak.

Sometimes contrasting elements can work just as well as complementary ones — a crisp, dry white wine can cut through the richness of a creamy pasta, for example, and a sweet dessert wine or cocktail can mellow out the funkiness of a blue cheese. However, opposites don't always attract. Enjoy your cosmo as an aperitif before your meal if you're having steak for dinner, on its own or paired with a light appetizer, and choose something more substantial with the main course.

A traditional Old Fashioned is a wonderful pairing with steak, for many of the same reasons that a Manhattan or any other whiskey cocktail works so well. There's a variation on this classic drink, though, that brings its own unique contribution when served alongside the dish: the Oaxaca old fashioned. This twist puts a combination of mezcal and reposado tequila in place of whiskey, making the drink a tad lighter but no less intense.

Mezcal is a very large category of spirit that encompasses many different styles, all made from the agave plant. Most have a smoke component in their flavor profile that comes from roasting the agave before fermentation and distillation. This smokiness is a fantastic complement to steak, especially one that's been char-grilled. Reposado tequila is aged in wood for a period of time, which gives it structure and a touch of tannins that work well with steak, too. The blend of these two spirits creates a harmonious balance of steak-friendly flavors and texture.

If you wouldn't order a glass of orange juice at a steakhouse, you should probably steer clear of pairing your steak with a screwdriver. Since vodka is a neutral spirit, it doesn't add anything in the way of flavor, and what you're left with is just pure orange juice. The sweetness and tartness are not particularly complementary to steak, and orange juice is fairly intense and rich as far as citrus juices go, which means it doesn't fade into the background but actively competes with your food.

There are certain exceptions to this guideline, such as a few very specific situations in which this drink may not be a bad choice. One is if you're having a steak dish for breakfast or brunch, like steak and eggs or steak chilaquiles. Another is if your steak has been prepared with citrus, such as a marinade for carne asada that includes orange juice. If you are suffering from a vitamin C deficiency and are on the brink of scurvy, I suppose that could be a third scenario in which a screwdriver is an acceptable pairing with a steak. But outside of those instances, there are many other better cocktails to consider.

Rather than complementing the rich and savory depth of flavor that a steak provides, a martini works as a study in contrasts. This pairing is successful because the crisp, cold, clean profile of the cocktail refreshes your palate and primes it for another bite, allowing you to fully appreciate the intensity of the steak without dealing with too many competing flavors. Because this pairing is all about contrast, texture, and temperature, it doesn't really matter how you like your martini — any variation will work.

That encompasses both gin and vodka-based martinis: Gin will have more flavor than neutral vodka, but its herbaceous character is typically complementary to steak, especially if the dish involves herbs. A dry martini, meaning one that has little or no vermouth, will let the spirit stand at the forefront, while a wet martini is somewhat lighter on the palate thanks to a higher percentage of vermouth. A lemon twist garnish brings out the citrus notes and acidity in the other ingredients, and brings a brightness to the palate cleansing effect, while olives add a savory and vegetal note to the drink. All of these martini versions can be successful with steak, so however you take your martini, you'll have a good pairing on your hands.

While some light, crisp drinks can work successfully as contrasts to a rich steak dish, there are some that are a little bit too far on that end of the spectrum. One of these is the Hugo spritz, a delicious drink that is absolutely enjoyable in the right circumstances, but should be nowhere near your steak. Its delicate, lightly sweet combination of elderflower liqueur, Prosecco, and soda water is refreshing and bright, but it simply doesn't have the intensity to go with hearty foods.

When subtle flavors are paired with strong ingredients like beef, they become overwhelmed and disappear. The rather dainty floral notes of elderflower liqueur may as well not exist once your palate's taken on a bite of rich, meaty, savory steak. The effervescence provided by the Prosecco and soda water are great for palate cleansing and refreshing your taste buds, but you may as well save yourself some trouble and simply drink a plain glass of bubbly water instead. 

A New York Sour has two major elements you want in a steak pairing: whiskey and red wine. It's a unique variation on a classic whiskey sour, which is a fine steak pairing on its own, but the float of red wine to top off the cocktail makes it a particularly suitable companion to red meat. While there is no absolute perfect pairing with steak, this drink makes a strong case for itself as a top contender, especially when you break down its basic parts.

There's whiskey, which matches a steak's richness and flavor. Lemon juice works to cut through the heaviness and fat. A little bit of simple syrup and egg white give the cocktail a smooth silkiness, lending it an elegance to match any steak dinner occasion. The float of red wine on top is the kicker, bringing tannins to your palate that interact with the steak's protein and fat to create a balanced mouthfeel.

The aviation is a stunningly beautiful cocktail. Its jewel-like lavender tone comes from the addition of creme de violette, a liqueur that's made from violet petals and exhibits a delicate floral character along with a mild sweetness. It's mixed with gin, maraschino liqueur, and lemon juice to create a bright, aromatic drink that charms the senses with its summery bouquet and fresh flavors. Drinking it alongside a steak, though, doesn't do either the cocktail or the dish any favors.

Steak's savory richness and intensity don't match up well with light, floral flavors and aromas, which have an ethereal quality that can be easily overwhelmed. While most of the ingredients in this cocktail aren't necessarily bad pairings with steak — plenty of gin and lemon cocktails on this list work well, and maraschino liqueur has a nuttiness that can be complementary to savory foods — it's the floral creme de violette that is the star of this drink, and that ingredient is just not made to stand up to steak.

Akin to a manhattan, the Bobby Burns cocktail must be made with Scotch whisky in honor of its namesake, the famed Scottish poet Robert Burns. It also includes sweet vermouth, like a manhattan, but rather than bitters the third ingredient is a liqueur called Benedictine. This specialty ingredient is an herbal liqueur made by French monks that involves a secret combination of botanicals and has a complex herb and spice profile. There are a few other variations on this recipe, using Drambuie or absinthe instead, but Benedictine appears in the cocktail's original version.

There are nearly countless different styles of Scotch whisky, so you can craft your cocktail based on which one suits your taste. All of them complement steak quite well, so you really can't go wrong. Blended Scotch is often used in cocktails rather than single malt, mainly because it tends to be much cheaper, but you can use either. If you like a strong peaty, smoky character, go for an Islay. Highland Scotch tends to be sweeter and milder. However you prefer your Bobby Burns, it makes a strong yet elegant companion to steak.

The pisco sour is classic and popular for a reason — it's a fabulous cocktail that perfectly celebrates its base spirit, pisco, by enhancing its natural flavors without overwhelming them. Pisco, which is Peru's national spirit, is a brandy made from grapes. Unlike brandies you may be more familiar with, pisco isn't aged in wood, so it maintains the natural flavors and aromas of its base ingredient. Pisco often exhibits fresh fruity and floral notes and goes beautifully with other bright ingredients like citrus — and as you might imagine, it doesn't go quite as well with heavy or savory ingredients, which is why it's not recommended with steak.

Like other sour drinks, the pisco sour is typically made with egg white, which gives it a silky texture and elegant mouthfeel. That along with its citrus component make it a fine drink to pair with food, but pisco's bright and delicate flavors unfortunately get lost when combined with the intensity of steak. It's a much more successful drink with lighter dishes that focus on vegetables or seafood.

The Vieux Carré cocktail is one of many excellent New Orleans contributions to the world of drinks, and while it goes well with the classic cuisine of that city, it's also a wonderful pairing with steak. It's known as a split-base cocktail, which means its main ingredient is actually multiple different spirits rather than one — in this case, rye whiskey and aged brandy (typically Cognac, but any aged brandy can be used). Sweet vermouth, Benedictine liqueur, and two types of bitters round out the ingredients. Similar to a manhattan and an old fashioned, it echoes both of those drinks but shows more complexity.

The flavors in a Vieux Carré are deep and rich, bright and herbaceous at the same time, with a backdrop of spice. All kinds of steak preparations can complement this drink, but because of its complexity, it can be best to keep things simple — think a seared filet with herbed butter, a strip steak with a basic pan sauce, or a Florentine-style steak seasoned only with coarse sea salt and a spritz of lemon. That way you can enjoy the depth and layers of the drink and the simple richness of the steak equally.

Some mixologists turn their noses up at frozen, blended cocktails, but I'm a firm believer that they have their time and place. Ideally, that place is a tropical beach, and that time is vacation. An ice cold, frozen and fruity concoction goes perfectly with sun and sand, but sadly, not so well with steak. It doesn't matter if it's a margarita, a daiquiri, or even a slushy frosé — when pairing cocktails with food, the vast majority of the time, you'll want to steer clear of anything frozen.

Filling your mouth with a frozen, icy drink can cause a numbing effect that makes it harder for you to truly taste your food. Ice cold taste buds make for a compromised palate, and if you're shelling out big bucks on a quality steak, the last thing you want to do is ruin your ability to fully enjoy it. Avoid the brain freeze, and the palate freeze, by not pairing your steak with these kinds of cocktails.

The boulevardier is basically a negroni made with whiskey instead of gin. Bourbon is typical, but you can use whichever whiskey (or whisky) you like — just as with a manhattan, rye makes a great base spirit for steak-pairing cocktails, but it's totally up to personal preference. A boulevardier can be made using equal parts spirit, vermouth, and Campari, just like a Negroni, but many bartenders tweak the ratios slightly to make it a bit heavier on the whiskey. Again, this is based on personal preference, and the adjustment can often depend on the strength and type of whiskey used.

The bitterness of Campari makes it a great palate cleanser to keep your steak from seeming too rich or heavy, and the whiskey and sweet vermouth are classically complementary to beef, as exhibited by the success of pairing steak with a manhattan. This is a brighter, fruitier drink than a manhattan, but richer and deeper than a gin Negroni, so if you are looking for something right in the middle of those flavor profiles, the boulevardier is going to be a great partner for your steak.

This may seem controversial, as you might think that a savory drink would match up well with a savory food like steak. On paper, that's true. In practice, however, a bloody mary is so intense — with not just savory notes but spice, heat, sweetness, and citrus as well — that it will overwhelm your palate. Especially if you like your bloody mary hot and spicy, your taste buds will be hit with so much from the drink that they won't be able to appreciate the food.

If you wouldn't cover your steak in spicy ketchup, you should stay away from pairing it with a bloody mary. If you do like your steak covered in spicy ketchup, well, by all means, go for it — this might be the pairing for you (no judgment). As with all food and drink advice, these are just guidelines, not hard and fast rules, and everyone's taste is subjective. A bloody mary is almost a meal unto itself, though, and beware that this cocktail can make a delicious steak seem like an afterthought.