Tea & Food Pairing

Breakfast. Plain and simple. Great Iranian tea doesn’t need much to pair with.

Soybeans and Hōjicha. 8 grams of tea, 100 ml of 70 centigrade soft water, 1 minute steep. Interesting combination!

Katwijkse knip (a typical cookie from the Dutch town of Katwijk aan Zee)and a China Ripe Pu Er Green Mandarin. The citrus aroma of the tea and spices in the cookie enhance each other. The sweetness of the tea brings it all together. 1 Green Mandarin in a Yixing pot, 95 degrees Celsius water and at least 20 infusions 🎉.

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!

Farmer’s yogurt, apricots and a pumpkin honey to balance the acidity of the yogurt. Tea with an other fluid can be challenging (like soup and tea). We thought of pairing this cold desert with a cold tea. It was the hot China Huo Shan Huang Ya that did the job in a great way! 5 grams of tea on 110 ml of 85 centigrade water. First infusion 1.5 minute, following infusions 30 seconds longer. First infusion brought out the fruity, sweet aroma’s of the apricot, the second and third infusions the fresh, slightly acidic taste of the apricots. Beautiful to see how the tea “played” with this desert!

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 😁.