Saturday TeaDay 9/27/08 What tea pairs with food?

[Victoria]

This is just a theory of mine as to why people are voting oolong as the tea that goes well with most foods...

I think it has to do with the fact that oolong sits between green teas and black teas (in terms of fermentation and other factors). Additionally, the flavor palette of oolong is wider. For example, the fragrant lightness of most green teas would get overwhelmed by stronger flavored dishes, while black (red) teas might overpower delicate foods.

I don't usually drink tea with my meals, unless it's an iced oolong or iced barley tea. Hot drinks during a hot meal tends to be too much for me.

That, and that oolong rules!

[Victoria]

voted oolong because it's the only tea I drink with food.
Morning matcha:



teabowl and pitcher are from an Etsy store: One Wintry Night. The teabowl was custom made especially for me! Heh.

Gorgeous Geek!
And thanks for voting correctly!
Ha!

[Beidao]

This has been quite an odd teaday for me. I've been drinking many cups of Kashmiri Pink Chai that I spent almost two hours doing. Figured there were time for it since I have a cold and had to stay home from work. The chai was... odd. Which is what you can suspect from tea that has been cooking so long and then mixed with baking soda, salt and milk. Cardamom, grinded nuts and a little sugar made it much nicer.



Otherwise I've drunk Yunnan, Sencha, Kukicha, and even some hibicus tea with berries and flower. Wanted to finish it to get an empty canister, but oh my how things changes - I used to love that tea once, now I had to force myself to finish it

Bad thing with having a cold is that every tea with an aroma is wasted

[murrius]

Morning matcha:




GG, I love the contrast between the dark tea bowl and the light green matcha foam. Nice shot. Also, very beautiful pottery in the linked site.

In regards to today's subject, I don't drink tea with food generally; actually the word "never" comes to mind. However, I always drink tea after breakfast and after the evening meal.

Also, Auggy, thanks for mentioning miso soup as the weather gets colder here in the northern hemisphere. I'm looking forward to it - it's one of my winter comfort foods!

So far, Chai in my cup.

[Trioxin]

Black tea, hot, with breakfast. Black tea, iced, with lunch and dinner.

Drinking Yunnan Gold right now, debating what to have with it.

Tioxin, what does one do with a Pu knife?

The knives, or picks, or in my case letter openers, are used to pry apart the compressed pu-erh cakes. Some have such tight compression that you practically need a jackhammer.

[Trioxin]

Wow, Trioxin, you need to post more photos. This is just fabulous!

Time is to hard to come by lately. Working 12- 14+ hours nightly is killing me.

[battra]

I quite often have iced oolong or hojicha with food. Actually, I seldom drink oolong or hojicha if I'm not eating.

Some weird chinese stuff with iced hojicha:

[Cinnamon Kitty]

Oolongs seem to go best with foods for me. The light flavor of green tea gets lost with all the flavors of the foods, but black tea sometimes goes well with heavier dishes or breakfast foods.

I started today with some Casablanca Twist and am now on the second steep of some Karigane. It reminds me of fukamushi with the color and the astringency.

[Victoria]

battra, that iced oolong looks good about now, it's about 82 degrees here today!

Your kitty chopstick rest is just adorable!

I'm having some Sweet Flower Oolong from TeaSource this afternoon,
taking a break and wishing I wasn't stuck at work.


.

[battra]

battra, that iced oolog looks good about now, it's about 82 degrees here today!

Your kitty chopstick rest is just adorable!

It's beginning to get colder here, but I persist with my iced tea - it's so convenient!

Yeah, I had to get that cute cat when I saw it today! I need to stop impulse buying chopstick rests, but at least they are inexpensive...

[Salsero]

Time is to hard to come by lately. Working 12- 14+ hours nightly is killing me.

Boy, Tri, that's a grueling schedule. Can you cut back?

on the second steep of some Karigane. It reminds me of fukamushi with the color and the astringency.

Is that the O-Cha Otsuusan one? Does Karigane has a real sencha kick? I usually avoid things like kukicha with the feeling that they are more novelty drinks rather than the real thing.

[scruffmcgruff]

I voted "other." The local ramen shop serves iced Mugicha with their ramen, and it pairs *perfectly.* It complements the salt very well.

[Cinnamon Kitty]

on the second steep of some Karigane. It reminds me of fukamushi with the color and the astringency.

Is that the O-Cha Otsuusan one? Does Karigane has a real sencha kick? I usually avoid things like kukicha with the feeling that they are more novelty drinks rather than the real thing.

It was given to me by Inspectoring in a tea swap. He didn't care for it so I ended up with it when I got the Hashiri Shincha from him. All he knew was it from Ito-En and given what it looked like, I assumed it was either Karigane or Kukicha. It has an odd flavor that is different and not quite as good as sencha, though mine might be a little stale since I forgot about it for a few months. I'd much rather have straight sencha as this pales in comparison, but then again I haven't quite figured out how to brew it well.

Currently in my cup: Foxtrot.

[Ed]

Otsuusan from o-cha is not your average cheap kukicha. It's good sencha blended with gyokuro stems. If you don't mind the tartness of the stems, you should love it.

[leiche]

Definitely oolong. I find that it pairs as well with spicy food as with sweets. I just love it, I suppose. I almost invariably have a black with breakfast, though.

Geek, once again you have inspired teaware envy.

And, naturally, now I'm hungry.