The Cocktail Couple: Breaking bread with Boardwalk Food Company

Anyone who knows us knows we like our cocktails. Our preference is really any type of alcohol: bourbon, whiskey, gin, vodka —you name it, as long as it’s not Absolut. What can we say? We're happy drinkers. What we don’t drink a whole lot of, however, is beer.

But for this article, we made an exception. You see, our good friend, Andy Yochum, has started a company called Boardwalk Food Company, and his first product introduction includes four flavors of beer bread.

These beer breads made their Sarasota debut last week at Big Top Brewing Company for a beer-bread-and-beer-tasting party. Both companies are led by local guys with big dreams.

Yochum’s dream has become a reality — to create a business that offers simple, great-tasting comfort foods that are perfect for socializing with family and friends. He named his company Boardwalk, because it reminds him of the carefree days of his youth. Days spent with his family, strolling along the boardwalk are some of his favorite memories. And that's the goal of his company: to have simple, great food that's easy to prepare, so you can spend more time with loved ones..

Big Top Brewing Company CEO, Mike Bisaha and COO, Josh Wilson, will get their own write-ups in the near future, but this time we’re focused on Yochum. We will say this, however: their beers are delicious, and getting a flight was quite an adventure.

But back to Yochum and his beer bread. His beautiful wife, Kim, who has a degree in food science, helped create the recipes. The four flavors for the launch are original, cornbread, lemon poppy seed and our favorite, rosemary sea salt. They're super easy to make. Just put the mix in a bowl, add a can of any beer or soda, mix it, put it in a loaf pan and bake it for an hour.

Different beers will completely change the flavor of the bread, so the options are endless. Bisaha, however, will tell you his Circus City IPA (now available in six packs at Total Wine and Norman’s) is your best choice.

The local launch was a success,with folks coming out to enjoy the beer, sample the bread and hear some live music. Boardwalk Beer Bread is available for sale at Big Top Brewery and online for $7.99. Shop local and enjoy! Visit www.theCocktailCouple.com for a chance to win a box of Boardwalk’s rosemary sea salt beer bread mix.