Top 10 March Madness Food And Drink Picks

J. Garbee

Your Barely Buzzed Breakfast

Despite the buzz over Obama's NCAA picks (Duke, Kansas, Ohio State, Pitt), which are either perfectly practical or ridiculously boring depending on how you call your political shots, we focus our March Madness betting headaches elsewhere. For us, game days are all about having the right tools on hand to maximize game day enjoyment (food/alcohol) and alleviate unexpected disappointments (food/alcohol). The key is avoiding silly theme eats like basketball hoop cupcakes. We'd rather have that coffee-rubbed "Barely Buzzed" cheese with our morning recap, thank you very much.

And so we bring you our Top Ten March Madness Food And Drink Picks in time for today's second round games...

Flickr user FoothillsBakery

Cute, But Sorry, Still Not A Duke Fan

10. Smoked Olives From Orgasmo de la Boca:
For halftime fun, Venice Beach-based Alessandra Innamorato has added two new flavors to her smoked olive line, a pickled garlic and a tandoori-spiced version. Sure, the name is a party eye opener, but it's much more tasteful than flipping through the latest Bleacher Reports picks of the tournament's hottest cheerleaders.

9. Milagro Silver Tequila:
March Madness is no time to pull out the slow-sipping, aged añejos. You want a blanco (or a plata/silver) tequila that can be sipped at a speedy pace as the game picks up. Shots work, too. For around $25 (at K&L Wines), this Milagro is a great deal for a 100% blue agave, smooth sipping tequila.

8. Fresh and Easy's Sweet and Spicy Mixed Nuts:
Part pleasure, part pain, these nuts ride the wave of killer three pointers and missed free throw shots exceptionally well. So what if we aren't particularly fans of the name Fresh and Easy? We could say the same of many team mascots. Besides, these candy-coated chipotle-spiced almonds, habanero peanuts and jalapeno-doused pepitas are a hefty bargain in a very sharable 16-ounce pack for all of $3.29.

7. Blood, Bones and Butter, by Gabrielle Hamilton:
This book's dust jacket descriptors could just as well apply to those Final Four moments: unflinching, fierce, epic. Or so we hope. (Review coming soon.) In the meantime, what better way to wait out those time-outs than with a few page turns?

6. Franciscan 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon:
For those clock-countdown moments that require divine intervention, this Cabernet is intense, bold, and fruit forward. If you drink a lot of Cab, you already know what that means -- love it or hate it, depending on where your wine tasting wheel loyalty is tuned. Sort of like that basketball game. It has a $27 list price, though we found it for $22 locally (at The Wine House).

5. Amano Chocolate Bars:
Because presumably, at least one person "watching" your most anticipated game is going to be bored out of their mind. These handmade, small batch chocolate bars from Amano (more on the chocolate maker soon) are so farmer-specific, their descriptions begin with phrases like "accessible only on horseback" and "if you follow birds on their annual migrations in Venezuela." Instant back-of-the-box entertainment for the sports averse.