Food, Wine and Bottled Water at the Holiday Party

by Michael Mascha

Holiday partygoers need a strategy that will enable them to have their pint of enjoyment while keeping the adverse consequences to an absolute minimum.

Apart from sheer overindulgence, the primary cause of a hangover is dehydration, according to Dr. Petros Levounis, director of the Addiction Institute of New York at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center. Alcohols and the sugars they contain deplete fluids from the body and the brain – a key reason for headaches, dry mouth, upset stomachs and overall malaise. "Water performs a lot of services: it gets you re-hydrated, flushes out your system and helps you metabolize alcohol faster,” says Dr. Marc Siegel, a clinical associate professor of medicine, New York University School of Medicine.

Advance Party Preparation:
Treat yourself!  The simplest solution for dehydration is water -- and plenty of it.  Begin drinking water when you get up the morning before a party, and then drink as much bottled water as you can during the day. FineWaters recommends making the drinking water to combat the effects of hangover fun by buying three bottles of fine water, using quality stemware to sample different waters. Any water would do but making an intelligent effort and enjoying the process makes it more likely to succeed. You will consume more water because it’s better water and more fun!

Here are some tips on how to match water with food and wine at the holiday party.

Bottled Water and Food

Creating a matrix matching all foods with bottled waters would be impossible, and it would surely take the fun out of experimenting with various combinations. The rules below should be taken as starting points for an exploration. Use them when water is the only beverage you are serving. The next section describes how to choose water when you’re also serving wine as the meal’s primary beverage. The percentages indicate how much weight the factor should be given in making your choice.

The 75 Percent Rule:
The mouthfeel sensation of the whole dish should be matched with the carbonation level of the water. The mouthfeel generated by the bubbles should be matched with the mouthfeel of the dish. Loud, big, bold bubbles overpower subtle dishes, while Still water might be too great a contrast with crispy food. Bigger bubbles would stand up better to the mouthfeel of such a dish. An alternative epicurean pleasure can be achieved by carefully contrasting the mouthfeel of a dish with a water’s carbonation. Sushi with an Effervescent or even Light carbonated water is a perfect example.

The 20 Percent Rule:
The dominant food items of the dish should be matched with the mineral content of the water. Low TDS waters have a light, sometimes crisp, perception, while higher TDS levels give the water some weight and substance. High levels of sodium (salt), bicarbonate, and silica (ortheir absence) can also have some impact on the perception of the water. Use sodium-free water with caviar or water with a high bicarbonate level for cheese. Softer waters (low in calcium and magnesium) with higher silica levels can display a nice sweet softness that works well with some desserts.

The 5 Percent Rule:
Fine-tune the drinking experience with the water’s acidity or alkalinity. A neutral pH works well with anything. Sometimes a sweet perception is possible in waters with a slight alkalinity, while waters with a very high pH may demonstrate a very subtle bitterness, but never an unpleasant one. Try matching acidic water with fatty food or seafood. The contribution that pH factor makes to food and water matching is easily overrated—only on the outer ranges of the spectrum (less than 5 or more than 10) does it play a more significant role.

Bottled Water, Food and Wine

If water is consumed alongside wine, different considerations apply: The water now plays a secondary role and needs to be matched with the wine, not the food. This is very important— you don’t want water and wine competing with each other for attention.

If you drink carefully matched wine with your dish, only still water is appropriate—a clear distinction between main character (wine) and supporting cast (water) is necessary. But there is a slight difference between red and white wine: With white wine, choose water with a low mineral content and a neutral pH; red wine demands water with a medium to high mineral content and a neutral pH.

The water should have a slightly higher temperature than the wine to prevent taking attention away from the wine. Think about stemware, too—most reputable producers of wineglass series offer water glasses that complement the wineglasses.

Proper hydration can drastically reduce the hangover effect but you still need to consider the effect the alcohol has on your system. Party sensibly and don’t drink and Drive!