Anyone who knows me well knows that I love tea and I love cheese (among other things). I hadn't thought to pair the two, though, until I read an article on Culture magazine's website about how to pair tea and cheese
. Why hadn't I thought of this before? I am always going on about how tea is just as nuanced and flavorful as wine, yet the next step didn't seem to occur to me.
I discovered other references to tea and cheese tastings on Upton Tea's Facebook page, as well as on one my favorite tea blogs, Saturday Morning Tea. (See the Resources list on the right hand side of my blog page for a list of these websites.)
Well, I don't need much encouragement to try to host my own tea and cheese tasting - my plan is to find cheeses that might pair well with teas I already have. I don't have any green teas at the moment (other than the Bang Laa, which I want to take some decent pictures of before I use, and since my camera took some unsatisfactory blurry pictures the other day, and since it appears I won't be getting a tax refund this year, in fact, the opposite, it may be a while before I drink it). Anyway, I have some nice oolongs, a Pu-Erh, a Meleng Estate Assam, and a collection of Darjeeling tea that I can pair with various cheeses. Now, what to pair them with?
According to the websites I read, Pu-erh seems to pair well with Gruyere, and I am thinking its earthiness might also be a good match with a Gorgonzola. The floral notes of my oolongs might also harmonize well with the grassy notes in a good chevre. Darjeeling has also been suggested as a good match with Brie and other creamy cheeses - I will try this, and perhaps try the oolongs with them as well. The Assam would probably pair well with a hard cheese like a Fontina, as recommended on T Ching, or perhaps a cheddar.
My plan: get me to Wegman's, buy three or four cheeses (cheddar and/or Fontina, chevre, Brie, Gruyere, and Gorgonzola (okay, that's at least five cheeses, but I like cheese), prepare the tea, and get tasting! Bread. Bread would be good too.
