Food and tea pairing - A win-win? (Part 2 of 2)

In my earlier entry about food and tea pairing, I discussed red teas and dates but it does not just end there. As a fully fermented tea, the pairing possibilities with red tea are plentiful: Chocolate, cheesecakes, danish butter cookies, donuts, apple pies, sweet bean pastries, etc. No wonder the English have been enjoying their afternoon tea time for centuries. One will notice that those buttery and pastry notes stand out particularly well when consumed with red tea. 

Moving down the oxidation spectrum, we come to the post-fermented teas. For instance, cooked pu'er tea is what Chinese restaurants often serve in  big pots because it is extremely effective at cutting back the taste of grease and enhancing food flavours. Next time you dine at a Chinese restaurant, order a pot of pu'er tea along with dim sum (Chinese tapas), roast pork pastry and drunken chicken. 

If you have an insatiable sweet tooth and want to find alternatives to red tea, consider high roasted, half-oxidised teas for your next slice of tiramisu. Such teas include hong shui oolong, tie guan yin, phoenix dancong. Walnut pastries and waffles also pair nicely with these teas. 

A votre san Thé!