Stir fried veggies and China Yunnan Hong Cha Bi Luo

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.

Nepal meets The Netherlands. @ctcfnepal Golden Tips meets Venco Apothekers drop (sweet liquorice) @theehoffje brought with her. Beautiful soft mouthfeel with typical liquorice aroma’s and fruity aroma’s of the tea!

Dates and @amard_tea tea from Iran. Great afternoon treat! 7 grams of tea, 500 ml 85 centigrade water and a 2 minute steep

Nothing wrong with a peanut butter and chocolate sprinkles sandwich with a beautiful India Assam Ananda Second Flush

Beautiful cooked Nepali corn and a very sweet, fruity and flowery Nepali rolled black tea. Marriage made in heaven!

Blueberry muffin and a China Fujian Golden Monkey black tea. You’ll need a lot of tea to join this huge muffin.

Chana matar (chickpeas and green peas) and a spectacular black tea of Tinjure. Member of CTCF. No idea how they made the dish or the tea but the sweetness of te tea brings it all together.

Dumplings, an unidentifiable great and very spicy soup. Chya of a complex tea does the job. Milk in a great tea? When it comes to pairing it with a spice dish: absolutely! Milk balances the spicy notes of the dish, the complex character of the tea becomes more dominant. A real surprise to me.

Beautiful Darjeeling Jungpana Second flush Muscatel and a home made veg lasagne. Tea compliments Béchamel and tomatoes. 8 grams of tea on 110 ml 75 centigrade water. 40-50-60 seconds.