Breakfast and nobartea.ir Black tea

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!

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!

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

Figs, goats cheese and honey. A great pairing in itself. Nepal Golden tea brings it all together. You need to drink the tea pretty hot and then the magic happens! 8 grams of tea, 500 ml of 90 degrees water, 1.5-2.0-2.5 infusion time.

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.

Vondel speculaas (spiced biscuit) I picked up at Simon Lèvelt and their Assam Goudblad zomerpluk (very tippy Assam second flush) is one of the first tea and food pairings I discovered. The spices and sweetness of the biscuit are balanced so beautiful by the Assam tea. It’s almost as if it becomes a masala chai! 7 grams of tea on 500 ml 95 degrees Celsius water and a infusion time of three minutes. It really needs hot water and a relatively long steep in order to do it’s job 😁.

Stir fried veggies and white rice. Perfect combination with a China Yunnan Hong Cha Bi Luo. Balances the spice notes beautifully. 7 gram of tea, 500 ml of 75 grade Celsius water, steeps of 1.5-2-2.5 minutes.

@travel_sutra_ came up with a great idea. Earl Grey based on an Assam and Raffaello. I’m not a big fan of Earl Grey and I don’t have a sweet tooth. But I have to admit, this is a great combination. Sweetness disappeared partly, nutty flavour was more noticeable, Earl Grey gave it a fresh aroma.

Italian nougat and a Ceylon Nuwara Eliya Lovers Leap Estate. 7 grams on 500 ml, 95 centigrade water and a 3 minute brew. Real delight!