Leaf to Cup: Learning About Tea

1. Introduction: come and discover how fun and exciting the world of loosely T is high and Nadia from a kitchen nanny. And I've worked in the industry for a few years, specializing in the area of a constant. I'm really passionate about showing you how fun and exciting and delicious this there it is and how easy it is to injury at home. Today we'll learn where that comes from, how it's grown different processes to make the different types of P basically the whole journey of belief to your cup. We'll also learn how a tea tasting looks in the tea industry and about the different flavor senti and how to pair with. That's right, I said. Food. Not a lot of people know that he is an excellent pairing for food, thanks to the variety of flavors and taste that you can get from this amazing plant. So whether you're t novice or connoisseur, I'm trigger something here for you. 2. Project: Tea and Food pairing: I am not here for my kitchen. Any everyone knows about carrying food and wine. But did you know that you can also pair tea with food? He is an excellent pairing for food, thanks to the variety of flavors that this amazing plan test well, for us, it's like a new take on the old wine and cheese. First we'll learn about their journey from the tea leaf to your cup, so we learn about the different T types where it comes from the growing regions. We learn about the different taste and how to steep the perfect cup. We also talk about general guidelines of pairing food and tea and taking cues from all of this. I want you to pair your tea with a food, whether it's sweet or savory. Where there is something you have at home or not. Just have fun. Be creative. It's all about how willing you are and how encouraged you are to do this. Remember, we all learn from each other, so I would like you to take a picture and share with us that the pairing work. It didn't What did you like? What didn't you like? Remember, Just have fun. Who knows? Maybe you start hosting tea and cheese parties in the near future, 3. Intro to Tea: the world of tea is super fun and fascinating. Just like the world of wine, you can get a variety of tastes and flavors, all coming from the same plant. That plant is called Camelia Sentences. From this plant we get. Our black teas are green. Teas are players are who longs in our whites. There's other types of infusions that are often referred to Ste. And these air your herbals and you're my dear. You're what use are your rivals, but they don't actually contain any. Camelia Sinensis Leafs. A community sinensis is an evergreen tree, and the majority of deep consumed around the world is grown in Asia, with a few plantations in Africa. The size of these plantations really depends on the region's and where it comes from, and they range from really small, family owned states to humongous commercial plantations. The birthplace of this amazing plant roots back to China, and after it had been discovered, it was mainly consumed for its medicinal properties and stimulating properties, and later it became on Leah leisure reserved for royalty. It wasn't until I think the seventh century that it became the drink of the common people, and this drink expanded through trade. Um, in what is now known as the T rode, the first tea tree was discovered in the United Province in China, where it's still grows wild, and this variety is called Camelia sinensis sentences. The words sentences actually comes from the word genesis, which means from China. Um later in this 19th century, wild trees were also discovered in the Assam region off India. This variety is actually referred to us. Camelia sentences Islamic, which means that it comes from a sum. This variety tends to be a bit more astringent and have a stronger character, but we'll learn more about how the environment affect the taste of your tea in another class. 4. Tea Processing & Quality: Each of the types that I mentioned in our previous video comes from differences processing steps. Uh, and there's six major processing steps they're harvesting or plucking withering rolling oxidation, firing and sorting. Harvesting actually means plucking the tea leaves from the tea plant. This is normally done by specialized training men and women. It's actually a job mostly reserved for women, because it's a very delicate and critical step off the tee presenting. Normally, you want to get the first. The plucks at that are off young leaves because these are packed with flavor compounds, and you want to be very careful because you don't want to bruise the leaves or damage it in any way. Uh, so there's different types of plucking. Normally for black and green teas is two leaves and a bud, whereas for white leaves it's normally just the but, um, and for your lungs and your players, maybe more mature shoots like three leaves and a bud. The next step that we have is withering. Withering really means just letting the leaves wilt, so these are normally spread out on bamboo racks or cloths on their left to wilt for an boost. Moisture and this pre person for the next step. Um, the time that the leaves her left to wither and will really depends on the T type and the environment. So the temperature and the humidity of where you're doing this so white leaves normally are wither for like 12 to 24 hours, where US black T normally goes anywhere between 5 to 6 hours. The next set is rolling. So after the plants have we learned the plants are actually rolled, and this Bruce is the tea leaves and ruptures the cell walls, and it releases the oils that are contained within them. Um, this also releases the Yanks time that are kept inside the sales, and this triggered the next step, which is oxidation. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that occurs when the end times react with oxygen. So in this step that to you, leaves are basically played out and mountain on top of each other. It can be on cloths. Some of them actually use a damp cloth to cover them, and the leaves are, uh, stirred at regular interest to make sure that they all exposed to oxygen. Um, this is a really important step because it really affects the flavor, the taste and the strength off the tee that you're getting. And it also it's dependent on weather conditions and humidity and the climate, So the next step is firing. Firing is the fancy term for drying the tea leaves. This step stops oxidation, so any remaining moisture from the tea leaf is dried out. And really, this process really depends on where they're doing it in the region and what type of tea you're doing, because you can do it just by drying in the sun, using hot air, maybe using walks or fire or steam. So really, you name it. There's many different types on the next step is sorting, and this is just basically sorting the tea leaves by grade or by trying to remove any impurities or Stam's or any broken leaves or any debris. So there's a few factors that affect the quality and taste of tea and loser soil, climate, altitude and people. So climate tea trees really like subtropical and tropical plant climate, because here you will find mild weather with lots of humidity and heavy rainfall, which they love and mild winters. This actually really helps the tea tree drive. Next, it's soil. So what they want is a mineral rich soil that's likely acidic, and this type of soil is normally found in mountainous terrain. The acidity actually helps the tea leaf absorb all the nutrients that they need to grow. Then altitude team trees really love mountainous terrain and high altitude. Because here you can get really nice warm days and cool nights, and this actually helps the tea leaves grow slower, and it concentrates the oiled inside to leave. And this really improves the flavour off the of the tea that you're drinking. Um, you also get that mountain missed so the leaves can get all the humanity that they need. And finally, But most importantly, one of the most factors that affects the quality of tea is people, as we mentioned before in all the processing steps, you really need people to make sure that everything is going right from plucking to oxidation. The team masters really know when to stop and stop one of the T processes. They normally touch and smell the leaves, and they can tell like okay, this is the right time to move to a different step, so they really rely on their senses. And rolling rolling also can be done by hand. For example, for some of our lungs, this is done by hand. And it's something that's passed down from one generation to another. So really T s a labor of love and you can see this in your cup. 5. Black Tea: but he is actually my personal favorite. I think for most of us, it was the first day that we ever tasted. And that's the same for me, although for most for some of us, it could have been like in a little mysterious tea bag for breakfast. For some of us, it was in a teapot like loose leaf tea and the people. My mom comes from Chile, where they actually have t every day. They actually have tea. Time believed I'm not, um, and I grew up having the STI for breakfast with a little bit of milk and sugar, and I've loved it ever since. And really, that was my introduction to T. And that was the first time I fell in love with teeth before black tea became the staple off chai or ah, high tea. Uh, it was actually had been consumed in China for centuries. Black tea was introduced in the UK around the 17th century, and it became popular after Duchess Anna Bedford, a close friend of Queen Victoria, started hosting her friends for tea and some refreshments between the long hours off luncheon and dinner actually, around this time in noble houses they started using lamps, so the gap between lunch and dinner became very big and people would start becoming really faint and hungry. Or that's what touches Savannah used to say. So she started inviting her friends over for tea and little sandwiches and maybe some kicks . Um, and this was actually served in low tables, and it was actually referred to us low T, um, at high tea is actually a misnomer. And it started when a hotel wanted toe, uh, market this, and they thought that the word high was better than the black. Tea is mainly grown in China and in India, and obviously in Sri Lanka on the processing methods for this, tea is the same that we've studied in the previous class. So first the tea is handpicked. This is normally like two leaves and a bud. Then it is withered. It's withered from 5 to 6 hours. Then it's rolled. Um, and then it's oxidized. Oxidation really depends on the region, where the tea is, um, grown and the humidity and the temperature so it can range between four to, let's, say, 12 hours. Then the tea is dried, and then it's sorted. The flavor of black tea is kind of like multi with hints of caramel, maybe honey on. And sometimes there's a hints off. Smoking is there that's normally the hint of smokiness is more prevalent in Chinese black teas and, for example, in Assam teas from India that coming that comes from a warmer climate, you get more astringent and rich and powerful flavor, and it's delicious eso normally this teas are better suited to have with milk. So the world of black tea is really vast. You can get like this delicious, both flavored and astringent ease. Or you can get really smooth pays like that once in from the Paul or going in high areas, Um, or you can get this beautiful like bright quality teas with a little bit of hints off mushroom and meadows from Darjeeling. The recommended steeping time for this beautiful type of tea isn't your boiling water. So something about 95 degrees and you should steep it about four minutes. Of course, the Stephen time can increase, but I think you should start with that, Um, and I hope you have some exploring the world of black tea 6. Green Tea: So did you know that green tea is the most consumed drink after water in the whole planet? And really, there's no mystery there from super popular and smooth much as toe pan fire Chinese teas or steam grab Japanese green teas, you really get a variety of flavor, so there starts to explore, not to mention everybody knows that it's rich in antioxidants. So as we've mentioned in previous classes, T originated in China. Were different traditions and culture around t developed. And it wasn't until poets and philosophers and artists started like drinking this tea as their choice that t really became elevated into an art form. Also, during this time, I think itwas around the eighth century in China, people used to grind green tea leaves into a powder and then whisk it into a frothy drink. Uh, and monks Buddhist monks used to really enjoy this drink, and it was then when the Buddhist monks went to Japan that they introduced this type of beverage to Japan, so monks used to have this drink to stay away during their long hours of meditation. So when Japanese was introduced to tee, it wasn't this form and right after they got introduced to green tea, they had a two century long isolation policy that means 200 years. This real this time really helped them develop a very unique way around T. And this way it's referred toe the way of T. This type of ah ceremonious also referred to US channel you in this based on the principles of harmony, respect, tranquility and simplicity. So, as you can guess, the the majority of green tea is still growing in China, with Japan being a very close second, and you can get really micro productions from the Pal and Mala Week and the processing. One of the main differences between China and Japan is the firing technique. So while in China, they normally fire leaves in a walk over fire on independent, normally steam teas. So the processing steps are as follows. First gonna talk about the Chinese one. So where's the leaves are plucked, Then there withered for anywhere between 1 to 3 hours. Then they pan fry it and then they roll it and then they drive, so there's no oxidation. That's why Liberty believes remains so green. Yes, you can see here in Japan they pluck belief. Then they wither for a few hours. Then they steam it and then they roll, and then they dry. Steaming actually helps the tea leaves retain that really deep color. Another type off processing method that's really only typical of Bethany's 20 is shading, and shaving is normally reserved for very special categories of tea. Shading actually prevents Italy from completing the photo sent. This is process, so the tea leaves retain more off the try to extract more nutrients from the soil and retain Claro field. And this gave Japanese green teas like that jade green characteristic that many of us are familiar with. For example, if you take a look really closely for this gift quarrel, that's why it's so vibrant and deep. J Beautiful Deep Jake Color Um, so this is normally shading technique Islam. Really, um, reserved for your kouros 10 chairs and Muchas Chinese mentees air normally recommended to steep at a much lower temperature than blacks, you want to steep in between 75 to 80 degrees. The recent wise because this leaves are so delicate you don't want toe burn them because it will create a very unpleasant, astringent taste. Um, Chinese green teas air normally known further vegetal and her basis qualities and some things you'll find hints off nuts, whereas Japan you'll find like full mineral grassy flavor. And this is partly imparted by Japan's landscape because it's so close because it's unlike island and there's so many, so much ocean breeze. This actually imparts that beautiful Stanic quality your seaweed quality toe their teas. So this tea is amazing because it has such amazing versatility, and you can get from really fresh green tea, so to super smooth matches, so go ahead and explore. 7. Pu'erh Tea: Where is a variety of fermented dark tea? This tea. It's actually very famous for its touted medicinal properties for its distinctive appearance and its history. The tea leaves are harvested than their process, and then they're aged. Actually, Chinese have been drinking this tea as a digestive aid for over 2000 years. Um, and this tea is traditionally aged, and as with fine wine, it improves with age. So there's basically two types of parties there, Xiang or Rappe, where it's actually a shampoo, and these are fermented for long periods of time, and they can be age anywhere between 10 to 50 years. And then you have your shoop. Where or cook player? Uh, this actually undergoes rapid fermentation on high temperature and humidity for 45 to 60 days, and the story of this he is quite interesting. Neighboring of growth, tea growers from regions surrounding China would transport 30 leaves all the way from high mountains all the way into the city, off Pwehr in the United Province of China. This trips were very long and artists and they were normally done in horse or donkey back. So in order to make this trip easier, tea growers would compress the T in tow type of tea cakes. Um, it was then in the city of Pwehr. It was a huge trading center where tea growers and buyers were then buy and trade their tea , and then it was then transported toe even farther, regions. So that's where the name comes from from the city of poor, So having the tea compress into these tea cakes actually made it really easy for trouble. Um, in the early days, this take AIDS grew ground and boiled and add to broths and soups, so it was actually kind of a savory dish. But now, and it's consumed us, an infusion and actually Chinese really enjoy to have it during meal time. I don't know if you've noticed, but in Chinese restaurants they actually serve Chinese people poor, and they serve normally white people the jasmine green tea that almost everyone knows from Chinese restaurants. So if you take a look next time, you'll see that most of the Chinese clients will get put. As I mentioned, PWEHR is growing mainly in the United Province of China, but Vietnam produces very lovely bride, he says. Well, the tea processing for this tea is plucking than withering for a few hours. Then there's a really quick heat for like 2 to 3 minutes, and this is normally done over what fires in a big pan. Then the tea leaf. It's rolled. Then there's a second quick heating again over pans for 2 to 3 minutes. Then it's rolled again, and then it's dried and then it's sorted. Upton. Now, uh, the processing methods for a shoe and Shang are the same. Then, for sure, it undergoes rapid fermentation. So with high heat and high humidity for 45 to 60 days, and for Shang it is compressed, and traditionally the tea is compressed using this huge stones, Um, and then it's drying, and then it's packaged in tow tickets. Although this one is not package, this is a xiang, but it doesn't always have to become the packaged in tow a ticket form, especially if it's being sold as a little sleep. So as I mentioned, this T variety can be aged and the ideal aging conditions are dark places with good air circulation and away from any spices or strong smells, and the temperature should be kept between 20 to 30 degrees, Um, who wears a very distinct. They have a very distinct flavor. They're very bold and some would say kind of pungent and have a beautiful full body so you can serve it with really hard in dishes. And they normally have these Earth very earthy flavor with hints of mushroom and leather. Um, and the recommended steeping time for this type of tea. It's like black tea, so around 95 degrees and you can steep it about four minutes. It can go high euro as well, so they're stuns off pores to discover, and I hope you have fun. 8. Oolong Tea: So now we're gonna talk about another one of my favorites. This is a long, uh, not only doesn't have a very unique shape and taste. It has a really touching, growing culture. But this day is one of the newer tease it on Lee originated three centuries ago on it originated in the fusion province of China and around the 16 hundreds. Uh, a lot of people from the fusion problems immigrated into Taiwan after it was annexed to China. They want had already been conquered by tons of other countries like Spain, UK, the Dutch, you name it. So this influx off immigration brought with them their tea traditions and their tea culture , and this was a great plus for this beautiful island. The island is full of this beautiful, lush mountain slopes, so this is ideal for tea trees to thrive. This type of ah terrain really allows for delicious leaves, but it's not too good for humongous productions, so the Taiwanese tend to focus more on quality rather than quantity. The gardens air normally really small family grown gardens, and it said that the rolling techniques are passed down from one generation to another, so it's kind of like a family heirloom. Taiwanese are really encouraged to consume the leaves that they produce. And the government also encourages a lot of tea education through festivals, t contest museums, you name it. So the Taiwanese really no other T so long is typically enjoyed and go full chance ceremony . The word going full actually comes from It's the same word us kung fu. So it means to master the movement and the time. But here it relates city, so master the movement and the time off the art of teeth. On this type of steeping run ceremony, the teaser repeatedly infused so, and it said that each steeping can bring out a different characteristic or a different ah, flavor off the tee. And it's normally a ceremony that's reserved for alongs and pours. As you can guess. A lot of lungs come from Taiwan, but also China produces tons of this excellent tea, and Vietnam producers also this lovely variety, the processing methods for this tier plucking withering for 30 minutes to about two hours. Then there it's oxidize for 10 to 18 hours. This is weather dependent as well. Then it's fired than it's rolled. Then It's dried that fired rolled in dried and this step is repeated until you get, um, until the tea growers so that the process is get the shape they want. And they normally obtained this beautiful ball shaped or some beautiful twisted shape, please. Um, so for this, uh, type of T, the recommended steeping time is something lower than boiling. So around 85 degrees, Um, and this is also you don't want to burn the tea leaves because you can get so much flavor from them. You don't want to burn them, um, and you can sleep in about five minutes. Or, if you're doing the gun for chest ceremony, you can sleep it several times and incremental. It needs interval so you can start with three than five and then six or else you wish. The beauty in this tea is not only in its shape but also in how it steeps as its teeth. Each leaves unfold and kind of reveals a different taste or flavor, so it's kind of like a little wrapped gift, and you can get from sweet and floral or nutty with hints of shared border. Or you can get like also hints of Africa. So it's really this. He has a lot to offer. And what gives us this variety is the range of oxidation levels that this t undergoes. So this tea is really a labor of love because so much time and hard work was put into rolling each leaf, Yes. 9. White Tea: white tea is the most delicate and pristine type of tea this t oss actually as close to the tree tree as you can get. Um, it was once reserved only for noble T emperors and high ranking officials. This tea is mainly divided into two categories, so you have by how you and Sen. And it's also known a silver Needles, and this is only made up of the buds of the tea leaves, and they're normally covered in this beautiful white and silvery down, as we can see here. And the other type is by Moudan, and it's also known as white Pani. This type normally has buds and a little bit off leaves as we've learned our previous classes. All of these different T types originated from China and the processing very slightly from region to region. Um, by hell Yinsen is typically handpicked because it's so delicate. A lot of care has to be taking on how it's picked and on the processing in the town. Picked during late March and early April, this priced harvest was once reserved us a tribute and paper as a tribute to the emperor. This delicate tea is best enjoyed in shong type of ceremony, which is really a small little bowl with a saucer and a cup, and this steeping method. You normally use small amounts of water, so the flavours able to concentrate and you can see the leaves a few times, some generally sleeping, maybe 2 to 3 times. Most of the whiteys is grown in China, and it comes in from the fusion province. But you also get some whitey from Darjeeling region in India and plum from She Lenka. The one entry Lenka is actually referred to us white Peco. Um, so the processing steps. As I mentioned Ah, lot of care has to be taking that none of the steps kind of damage to leave, so it's very simple. First, the leaves are plucked and it's normally just the tiny shoot or the bud. Then it's withered anywhere between 12 to 24 hours, and then it's dried and that's it. So you have to be very careful that you don't do any steps that might trigger oxidation. So for this delicate, delicate T, the recommended steeping time is around 80 25 degrees, and you can sleep in about five minutes. This tea has beautiful light and refreshing taste and the flavor and aroma. Kind of like a Yeah. Uh, cut. Hey, Andi. Sometimes you get, like, a hint of fresh flowers or, uh, little hints of sweet like Africa. It's really delicious, so I hope you enjoy it. 10. The Perfect Cup & Tasting Tea: So here we're going to steep the perfect cup. Remember, these are general guidelines, and this is meant to be fun. So if you want to steep it a bit longer, orbit shorter. Go ahead. Do whatever makes a team or enjoyable for you. Obviously, there's some things you're gonna need, so you'll need a kettle. Ah, a little teapot, Um, or a cup and a little steeper and a spoon. So what do you want to do first is you obviously want to warm your water. Uh, ideally for t. You should use spring water that's very low in minerals sold that it doesn't interact with the tea flavor since Nala, not a lot of Vlazny live near a spring or are gonna start opening a bottle of spring water to drink Pretty. You can just use the your normal drinking water. So remember, for our black teas and our players, we want let near boiling water. So if you're Kidder is doing this nice, it's done for green. And who longs? You want much less temperature water. So for long as you want around 80 25 the the same as for white and for greens, you really want to go all the way down to 75 so away. This is a bit tricky. So a way to do this would be Either you stop your kettle way before it boils or you can let it reach the whistle and then stop. Let it sit for about five minutes, or you can just use a little bit of cold water when you're sleeping. That's the easiest way. And it will ensure that you don't burn your tea leaves. So now we're going to stay are perfect up. My recommendation first is once you have hot water, just pour a little bit of water on what you're gonna use, where you're going to drink your tea on your teacup in your teapot. What this does is that it warms up the instruments that you're going to use, so it will ensure that your T stays warmer for a longer time, so more enjoyable. And once you're done, you can discard this water. The next step is measuring your teach just really easy. Um, normally for if you're making a really small cup like a little dainty teacup, you would go with 1.5 teaspoons of tea. Um And if you're making a bigger cup or a bigger mug like what we're normally used to, you should use double. Um, since this is a bigger want you seeing just double that amount, I'm putting in my little steeper and a bit of water. You carefully. You just want to pour the water. You want to let it seep. Just remember, for black teas, you normally want to do it for four minutes for the same mass for pope wears for who longs and wipes, you can go a bit longer, so five minutes and for green to you want around three minutes. Remember, if you want it lighter or stronger, feel free to adjust the range. This is just like general guidelines. If you want the T to stay strong, taste stronger. You can use more T. So remember it's meant you're meant to enjoy the take up, not the other way. Like no, you don't need to be said by rules. It's meant to be fun and enjoyable for you. So after your ts deep for about four minutes, I chose a black T. Obviously, because now you know it's my favorite. Uh um, Then it's ready and you couldn't enjoy your tea, so have fun with it. You want it darker. You want it lighter. Go ahead, feel free. It's all about enjoying tea. Now it's time for the fun part tasting tea. This is by far my favorite part of the job, because it actually gets a taste. The tea. So much of how we taste really has to do with the environment where we're in and the people that were with. So keep that in mind. If you think back to your favorite dinner, it's probably the food was amazing, but also the company We're with the people, your friends and the atmosphere. So keep that in mind when you're tasting your tea and try to replicate some of those things when you're tasting when you're tasting. Tasting is so much more than just drinking tea because you really want to appreciate the flavor that comes out of each leaf. Um, so be present and mindful on, and there's some things that I want you to keep in mind. So first, the 1st 1 is visual. Like we're visual beings. We get our taste buds, get excited just by looking at a picture on Instagram. So first of all, when you're gonna taste for stick a look of the leaves that you're gonna taste So look at the color. Are the thick Are they thin? Is the color doll or is it vibrant? It's had rolled like a little ball first. Twisty. Is it area or not? Next it smells. Smell is a very big one when you're tasting because a lot of taste actually comes from smell Um so when you're smelling first ah, smell the dry leaf and try to see what a romance you feel. Um, I created like a little a romantically were chart that you can use to try and pinpoint and identify the flavors or smells that you're getting. Um and I think that makes it easier. So what you want to do is smell the leaf itself and smell the liquid and see if those are almost replicate. So if I smell my white T right now, it's kind of like hints of hay. And I don't know. I know that a smell. It's not sweet, but it reminds me of something sweet. Um and next I want to smell the liquor. The liquor also reminds me of something seats. So a fruit, or like a stone fruit. And also, you can smell the steep tea leaves. So this is this is actually what a tasting looks like in the team in the tea industry. Um, so we have this beautiful set up where we can compare the leaves, the steep tea and the steep tea leaves. Next, you want to take a sip of your teeth. So in the tea industry, we use this bone. Okay, I know that was very sexy. It's a slapping sound. We do lose because it actually helps the aromas get to your nose and for your brain to detective. If you don't want to do that, what you can do is just take a sick. And while you that you have the liquid in your mouth, you can expel some air through your north, so I'll do it again. So once you take a sip of your tea, really appreciate. What do you feel like? Kind of assess it? What do you feel? What do you smell? What flavors does your mouth feel? Um, does it feel heavy or light? Is it a stringent or not? This it a little bit acidic doesn't leave your palate wanting for more. These are all these. Like answering these questions will help you assess or actually taste the tea. So I'm gonna move from white to green kiss. Normally, if you're tasting a variety of teas, you kind of want to start from the lightest to the darkest, so you can tell a very big difference. From the white to the green. The green has this very her basis green flavor. It's much more stringent than the white that in the delicate white t uh and you feel it right away in your mouth. You feel like this acid notes menace it along. The only has this beautiful like round mouth, a bit rounder mouth field in the green. And it has this beautiful, like, slightly floral qualities, but not so much it does. It reminds me more of a little bit of nuts and maybe Sweet Africa nexus. Are pwehr okay? Players have ah, bold flavor like it punches you in the face. It's really strong, is very earthy. It really taste. It's a weird thing to say, but like leather or very aged, kind of like a very mature wine and finally in my favorite, but I'm pretty biased about this one. Finally, we have our black teas that has this delicious rich flavor. It's kind of multi, with hints of caramel and honey. It's just beautiful, especially this one would go so perfect with a little bit of milk and share. So what I want you to do when you're tasting your tea is kind of just assess and see what you smell. If it matches, does the smell of the T leave much the smell of the liquor and does this? Do you get other aromas from the steep tea leaves? Just have fun. It's all about having fun. 11. Food Pairing & Leaving notes: what praying is something I really enjoy. I actually started food pairing with wine and studied for it. But the same principles can be applied to teak, and here we'll review those principle. First. When you're carrying food and tea, you kind of want to match some flavors, but you also one of balance others. So here we'll talk about that. So first you want much. You want to match flavor intensity with flavor intensity of the tea that is. For example, if you have a very bold tasting store, fish or cheese, you want to pair it with a very bold tasting teeth. So if you think like that quick, essential breakfast food, a bagel and smoked salmon that's really flavor packed and intense, so you want to match it with something s intense like a black T. Uh, no wonder. It's like a staple for breakfast. They both have really high intensity flavour, so they worked really well together. Or, if you have, like a very pungent Chinese dish, you wanna period with a pungent polarity. Um, and thes work well together, and they don't kind of like battle each other. Next you want to match or pair uh, the mouth feel of your tea with the mouth. Field your dish, so if you're having a very light and airy salad, you also want to have a light like a mile field, like a delicate white people would pair deliciously. Another thing that you want to match is flavor, so you want to match flavors in your tea with flavors in your food. So if you have, like a delicious long supreme that has kind of like roasting, not equalities with hints of Africa. You compare this with a dish that has similar qualities, for example, and Arabic dish that has tons of knots like pine outs, cashews and pistachios, and the lips a little bit dried Africa and racing's that would much perfectly if you also want to go like the sweet route. You can compare these with an almond tart that has stolen food. Or let's say you have a green tea that has a really bright green flavor, getting kind of her basis like a gecko. Yamashita. This beautiful T has kind of fresh tents off cilantro in the taste, so you want toe match that so you could paired with a savvy check. It has so much electoral. They both have, like flavors that mimic each other, so will work really well together. Well, the next thing you want to keep in mind when you're matching repairing your food and your T is balancing flavors. So if you have something really salty, you want to balance it with something slightly sweet. So if you want to pair the beautiful salty cheese like a young growth, it has like those nice salt crystals, this'll would really balance with floral and slightly sweet tea like adjustment, so the salt crystals will actually enhance the floral quality of this beautiful T. Next. If you have something really oily, you want to balance the oiliness of your dish with tea that's kind of brisk and slightly acidic and will refresh your palate. So if you're having like a seven sashimi that's really oily, you can balance this with a green tea that slightly acidic like you Korea, Machito or San Trashy Kubel, both of the cities will really help cleanse the palate and help you get more and more sushi . So, um, he said things that you want to keep in mind when you're pairing food and tea um, remember that, sir. Just principles and just guidelines to help you in your journey. It's nothing. Sandstone. You really need to have fun and be creative. Remember, these are principles to keep in mind when you're trying to pair food and these principles are just meant to guide you in your journey. Just have fun. And if you like it and it tastes great, then it's right. So don't worry too much about am I doing the right thing? And why not? If if it works for you, if it is the right thing. So what I said, just do you do with you? Take your team. Really enjoy it. Tasted What does it smell like? What flavors doesn't have dissidents fire you? Are you thinking up something that you can period with? Go ahead and try it and remember, share with us. We all learn from each other, and by sharing we can even learn more. So I can't wait to see what you guys pair your people