Shrimps and Ceylon Nuwara Eliya Lovers Leap Estate

Iranian snacks and a great @amard_tea black tea. The sweet and fruity tea really goes with so many dishes!|

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

No Vino Santo to dip in the Cantuccini alle mandorle but a very sweet China Fujian Golden Monkey. 10 grams on 400 ml of 75 centigrade water for just one minute. Multiple infusions needed.

Iranian fruits, nuts, sweets, etc and a really great strong brewed Iranian @nobartea.ir black tea to balance all the sweetness. The tea becomes even more fruity and complex!

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

More tea and more chocolates

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 😁.

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.

Chocolates and tea; great to play with all the possible combinations!