Burgers

I had a great conversation (highly intelligent dialogue) with my friend Wayne the other day about cheeseburgers.
What we prefered and what were key elements in making a good burger good.

Me : Ground sirloin (80/20) with sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions and gorgonzola cheese.
Wayne : Ground sirloin with onions, bacon and swiss cheese (gruyere).

We spent most of the conversation around the topic of the perfect cheese.
I chose a creamy young gorgonzola while he chose a sharp swiss.

here's part of our conversation copy and pasted... please feel free to comment on your "perfect burger."
The picture is a sirloin burger with chopped onions mixed into the patty, comte cheese and some shaved Alba Truffles. (Obsurd, I know, but I needed to use them up)

wayne : I'm a bigger fan of gruyere, but gorgonzola could be nice.

george : on a burger? i'm going to have to say no with swiss and go with bleu all the way..
i've actually thought about this and let me tell you why.
since gruyere is a cured cow's milk cheese, the better the cheese the longer the cure... complimenting it with beef (especially if you like it pink in the middle) does not pair well.
if you like your beef patty well done (less juice and more smokey finish) i could see the pairing. smokey, nutty cheese with a dryer musky meat patty.
as for a gorgonzola, a lighter bleu, the sweet creaminess of the pasteurized cow's milk cheese pairs better with a juicy beef patty because it shares not only a similar mouth feel, but amazingly, the strong characteristics of the bleu doesn't overpower but play second to a good ground beef . plus, gorgonzola marries very well with mushrooms as well.
i guess we have to have a taste test or just agree to disagree.

wayne : Interesting theory, but I do love gruyere, so a taste test would only make sense. Texturally, the melted stringy cheese always completes a burger for me. The gorgonzola will just render into a cream sauce on top, which would be good as well.

george : i've been marinating on the swiss position for a few hours now and i can see how it could enhance/accompany a burger as well.
might these two cheeses battle it out for the title of "ultimate cheese burger"

interestingly enough, j has asked for cheeseburgers for dinner tonight, so i'm going to throw some comte (i happen to have some and it's the only swiss i eat on it's own) onto our burgers tonight. perhaps the fact that comte is not as strong as a gruyere could be why i don't find swiss fitting. multi taste tests in order.
it's like America's Test Kitchen but only for meats.