Blueberry muffin and China Fujian Golden Monkey

Couldn’t resist picking up some beautiful chocolates at my local Simon Lèvelt store. The shop owner suggested their Yunnan Gold to drink with these beauties. She was right! Brewed it real strong in order to taste both tea and chocolates. 9 grams of tea on 500 ml of 90 degrees Celsius water and a steeping time of 3 minutes. Normally I would use 80 degrees Celsius water and a 1-2 minute steep but the tea really needs more extraction in order not to taste like hot water. The slight astringency balances the sweetness of the chocolates and brings out the chocolaty flavour much more.

Stronger tea or just more of it to complement this pastry? This time I chose a huge mug. A Zealong New Zealand black tea, 7 grams and 500 ml 80 centigrade for two minutes did the best job! More savoury notes in the pastry and more fruity notes in the tea!

More tea and more chocolates

Chocolate cheesecake and a China Yunnan Hong Cha Bi Luo. 7 grams on 500 ml 80 centigrade water. 1-1.5-2 minute brews. Brings out the chocolate notes in the cheesecake in a wonderful way!

Tofu and a very rich and spicy sauce paired with a Malawi @satemwa_tea_coffee Smallholders OP1 black tea. Low water temperature and a high dose to balance the spicy notes. 9 grams of tea on 500 ml, 75 degrees Celsius for 1.5 minutes.

Noodles, peas and a Tinjure Golden! 8 grams of tea, 500ml, 80 degrees water, 1.5-2.0-2.0-2.5 minutes. Sweet tea reduces the spicy notes of the food and brings out all the delicious aroma’s.

Most common Dutch tea&food pairing: English blend and a stroopwafel (biscuit with a thick syrup). Biscuit on top of your hot cup of tea so the syrup gets warm and runny. Mmmm

Sel roti and Chiya. Perfect Nepalli combination!

Egg cake & Strawberry’s are a great combination. Paired with a China Keemun Hong Cha Hao Ya. Brings out the sweet strawberry aroma and the stone fruit aroma’s in the tea. What a wonderful combination