There’s no spittoon on our lunch table. “You don’t spit in beer tastings,” is Lucy Corne’s first piece of advice. This ‘all-round hophead’ should know. She’s a judge for the Beer Judge Certification Programme, the author of African Brew, and has a blog called The Brewmistress.

As we delve into the world of beer-and-food pairing, it’s quite ironic that our other guest, Anel Grobler, heads up an irreverent online drinking guide, Spit or Swallow. Though she assures us, “I never spit in wine tastings either.”

The setting for our salubrious soirée is a loft in Cape Town. Sunlight spills through the many windows, beers frost over in big metal ice buckets—suddenly we’re all feeling very thirsty.

We kick off with SMOKED MAPLE CARAMEL POPCORN: a grown-up version of a childhood favourite, and what’s even more adult is the pairing. Beer. We try the frothy red, Lumberjack Amber Ale (Jack Black) and find the roasted malt flavours complement the smoke.


more on goodtaste.co.za