the mock-up.

You're hungry. You're pining for grilled, smoked meat. You generally don't get enough grilled, smoked meat in your diet, as some of your friends inexplicably don't eat cows and/or pigs and you feel guilty bringing them to a restaurant where cows and/or pigs are the main attraction. However, it's your birthday, so you say, "Screw 'em. Let them eat cornbread."

You live in the Northeast (where the bar for quality barbeque is hovering very close to the ground). The logical destination for you? Uncle Pete's. But you and your friends all live on the Red Line, and you embrace the familiar, so you go to the subpar but convenient Redbones instead.

You gather your friends and go to Redbones, where you proceed to load up on sauce- and batter-soaked goodness: some pulled pork, some hushpuppies, maybe some ribs, and some fried okra to assuage your vegetable guilt. "Something is missing," you think to yourself. "What is the perfect beverage to accompany this meal?"

Domestic beer? Sweet tea? Or a glass of... Courvoisier?

Cognac and baked beans. No pairing could make less sense -- and yet, more sense, at the same time.

(The author wishes to thank the friends who first noticed the general incongruity of the Redbones drink menu, and who subsequently purchased her a shot of Cuervo Reserve to dip her hushpuppies in.)