A matter of taste | The ultimate drink companions to enjoy the match

I think the only people who enjoy sports without nursing a drink in their hand are the ones playing it professionally. Unless, of course, you count beer pong as a sport in which case, everyone is soaked in alcohol, especially the ping pong ball.

But there is an unspoken bond between drinks and sports – like ham and cheese, or bacon and maple syrup – in that you can indulge one without the other but combined, their effect (and enjoyment) is manifold. Here then are a few drinks that pair very well with sports.

Beer: The number one drink for all sports, from cricket to football, rugby to baseball, beer is the number one drink for any team sport. It’s something to be pondered how, since the beginning of their origins, wine and beer took different routes. While one was reserved for the upper echelons of society, the other united the masses in their quotidian miseries and strife. Today, the divide seems to continue and is highlighted on the pitch of some of the most popular sports team in the world. I am sure there is some statistics out there which highlights just how much beer is drunk at major sporting championship events. Oh wait, there is, it’s 1.2 billion liters! And it’s only the US who watches it. Now think about cricket, a truly global sport. Even with no sales at stadiums in India I am sure the fans put away enough to fill a dam or drown a city!

Beer is also the proud cheerleader for WWE wrestling, boxing, MMA cage fights and other similar contact sports. It seems like the idea of ​​a competition between two sides where a mix of brain and brawn will eventually dominate is a sure shot way to bring people together and nothing anoints those joints better than beer.

Sparkling Wine: There is something elite (okay, maybe elitist too) about wine, especially sparkling wine, and consequently, the sports it most connects with are also somewhat uppity. This one sport is played on surfaces as diverse as grass, clay and synthetic turf. Yes, we are talking about lawn tennis and nothing seems to linger better than the perfect prickle of a fancy fizzy wine while watching a tennis match. Champagne is the first one to come to mind but others can work equally smoothly – Franciacorta form Italy, Cava from Spain, Cap Classique from South Africa. The choices are almost as many as the surface types and playing styles. Strawberries and cream at Wimbledon are considered de rigueur but, to be honest, both are only made edible because of copious amounts of bubbly to wash it all down!

That said, there are many other sports that are a natural pairing for sparkling wines: F1 racing, Yacht racing, golf, even good ol’ polo. As a very broad rule of thumb, if the equipment for the sport can cost over a few thousand quid or the area required to play it is not easy to maintain, then chances are, you will want sparkling wine at the event.

Bourbon: I say Bourbon but a good single malt works just as well when aiming with your cue stick. There is a certain charm to caressing a generous dram between shots, a crystal cut-glass that rests cosily on the snooker table’s cushioned edge, quietly privy to every shot of the match. There is much in common here, between the drink and the balls on the table – all slide smoothly, almost in an unwritten symphonic pattern punctuated only by the sound of the balls colliding against each other, almost a harken to the ice clinking in your glass as you take a gentle sip. Other sports where whiskey work, any sport where the players are allowed to have punches and still considered worthy: chess and Bridge, Rummy or other card games.

Gin: Gin and Tonic is not as much a drink as a breakfast option. Which means you can have it almost anytime and anywhere. Sure it has its roots in the polo matches played in the north-western provinces of undivided India where the officers thought it was the perfect pick-me-up between chukkers (and the ladies didn’t mind the taste either), but that won ‘t stop a tennis or billiard enthusiast from getting one for themselves as they observe the action. Nobody looks down at someone who drinks anytime anywhere, such misplaced condescension is reserved for imbibers of vodka and Tequila.

The IPL in India is during the summer months so beer will definitely see a surge. But the Olympics are just around the corner and being in France, there will certainly be a lot more wine than one usually associated with any of the sports. So, I guess regional bias alongside seasonal preferences also need to be kept in mind. In the end, if you simply choose to stick with your preferred tipple through it all, nobody would judge you for it.