The basics
Flavour experience is made up of the main sensations of taste, touch and smell.
While tasting food and drink we detect the 5 basic tastes in our mouth and on our tongue: sweet, salt, bitter, sour and umami
When pairing food and drink, balance is the key word when it comes to perfect matches: neither drink nor food should overpower each other. You should look to pair food and drink that have similar characteristics.
As an example, Acidic drinks are well-paired with salty, oily and fatty foods as the acidity cuts through the fat & balances out the taste.