1. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Stout
Peanut butter and chocolate already know how to behave together, and a stout brings roasted coffee notes that make the pair taste even richer.
The stout's creamy, milkshake-like body melts right into the peanut butter and chocolate, and leaves you with a foamy mustache you're not in a hurry to wipe off.
2. Snickers and an Old Fashioned
Caramel, peanuts and nougat need a drink with some backbone, and bourbon can handle all three. The orange peel and bitters in an Old Fashioned pick up the toasty sweetness and keep it from turning syrupy. Sip slowly and hold the glass like it's heavy crystal, even though it's the same one you used for orange juice this morning.
3. Dark Chocolate Minis and Cabernet Sauvignon
Dark chocolate has a little bitterness and a lot of depth, and a bold red with firm tannins can stand up to it. Look for a bar or mini with a higher cacao percentage so the chocolate doesn't get bulldozed by the wine. Take a bite, take a sip and nod thoughtfully like you can taste the hillside where the cacao grew.
4. Kit Kat and Champagne
Those crisp wafers and thin chocolate layers love bubbles, so look for a bottle of bubbly labeled extra dry, which is a little sweeter than brut despite the name. Any sparkling wine from Prosecco to Champagne will do. Snapping a Kit Kat bar in half while holding a champagne flute is peak low-effort elegance.
5. Sour Patch Kids and a Margarita
The first Sour Patch Kid makes you wince like you just bit into a lemon and the second has you reaching into the bag with a straight face and watering eyes. A lime-forward margarita matches that sour-then-sweet whiplash, and the salted rim adds a savory edge that makes the sugar coating pop.
6. Candy Corn and a Bourbon Apple Cider
Pair your tricolored candy corn with a bourbon-spiked apple cider. The candy brings honey and vanilla sweetness, the bourbon answers with caramel notes and the tart apple keeps the whole thing from turning sticky. Share this pairing with others and you can finally defend candy corn at the office Halloween party with a straight face.
7. Twizzlers and Lambrusco
Strawberry licorice twists meet their match in a chilled, lightly sparkling red like Lambrusco. Every sip of bubbles cuts through the chew so you can tear off another bite and feel like a very sophisticated toddler with a juice box.
8. Milk Duds and Tawny Port
Chewy caramel covered in chocolate meets its match in the nutty, toffee-like character of a tawny port. Both are rich and slow-moving, so this one is made for a night on the couch under a blanket.
Pour a small glass and you'll still be working on the same box of Milk Duds when the credits roll.
9. Almond Joy and a Piña Colada
An Almond Joy is coconut and almond under a thin coat of milk chocolate, which makes it the one candy in the bowl that tastes like a beach vacation. A piña colada doubles down on the coconut while the pineapple adds a tangy kick that keeps the chocolate from getting heavy. Stick a paper umbrella in the glass and ignore the fact that there’s a line of trick-or-treaters at your door.