We dread the verbs heat waves dredge up: stifle. Swelter. Parch. But oh, how we love the ones liquids evoke: quench. Slake. And best of all, chill. Of course, if all you want to do is cool off, you may as well guzzle ice water. If you want to do it in style - that is, with booze - you should know that colder isn't necessarily better. A pint of ale, a glass of shiraz, a proper martini: all thrive on optimum serving temperatures. We asked the ethanol experts for a few tips on making, not breaking, your poison.Beer
There isn't a beer nut in Boston who doesn't count the Publick House (1648 Beacon Street, Brookline, 617.277.2880) among the rarest of local treasures. And its crown jewel may well be not this or that cask-conditioned curio, but owner David Ciccolo - who proves passionate, not pompous, when satisfying his customers' thirst for knowledge as well as for craft brew. For one thing, though he cautions that the ins and outs of optimum serving temperature are virtually in exhaustible, he actually manages to sum it up nicely: "The bottom line is this: the colder the beer, the less flavor you're going to get. Craft beer has so many depths of flavor that cold kills."
Therefore, a good rule of thumb is that type determines temperature. Take easy-to-drink beers like lagers and pilsners: "there's a little bit less complexity there, so you can serve them at 38 degrees," or the average refrigerator setting - a bonus, Ciccolo acknowledges, "in this kind of weather." But as you add depth, add degrees. "Amber ales, pale ales, IPAs - those can be served a little warmer, say, 42 to 44 degrees. They have a lot more complexity than most - and I repeat, most - lagers." He observes that at the Publick House - where space restrictions dictate that all draft beers be served at the same temperature - "we have a lot of customers who know what they're doing: they'll order a beer and then wait to drink it." If it's a little too cold," they let it warm up first."
Then there are "the darker, richer beers - Trappist ales, imperial stouts. With those, you're just peeling back layer after layer as you drink them." To obtain their ideal of 55 degrees, says Ciccolo, "what we do here is we keep them at cellar temperature, then stick them in ice for four to five minutes." Hey, if it's something really frosty you want, go to Wendy's.
Wine
Speaking of cellar temperature: Chris Campbell - owner of justifiably ballyhooed wine bar Troquet (140 Boylston Street, Boston, 617.695.9463) - points out that the term bears consideration in any discussion of red wine. "A hundred, 150 years ago, people started saying that red wine should be served at room temperature. But room temperature back then was 60 degrees!" He laughs at the thought that living quarters were once nearly as cool as your average wine cellar (generally maintained at 50 to 55 degrees). "Then it started creeping up into the 70s, and people were still saying 'room temperature.' But at that point, the wine starts getting really flabby, very hot in mouth feel; you can taste the alcohol."
