OnTap Magazine

AGAINST THE GRAIN TEA TASTING Tea cupping, as it is known, is how master tea tasters evaluate tea quality. Just as with beer, in tea tasting we look for four key features: appearance, aroma, flavour and mouthfeel. In practice, however, it’s nothing like tasting beer. 1. First, the dry tea is inspected: the shape of the bits (you should see tea buds), the colour, and the texture (it should crunch between your fingers). 2. Make a brew. There’s a standard approach to the weight of tea, temperature of the water, volume of water, type and colour of the tea cup and the brew time. 3. Remove the tea leaves. Inspect the infused tea liquor; assess the colour, appearance and clarity. 4. Assess the aroma. There are two ways to sniff the brew: deep inhalation and shallow, rapid inhalations. Do both. 5. Slurp to taste. Using a spoon, scoop up the tea, pucker your lips like you’re about to give someone a kiss, then boldly and loudly slurp the tea into your mouth (this helps draw oxygen into the liquid to enhance the flavour), close your mouth and breathe through your nose (this is known as retro-olfaction perception), then after a few seconds spit the tea out into a spittoon. Some of the best places to taste tea in South Africa are O’Ways Tea Café in Cape Town’s southern suburbs, Hazendal wine estate in Stellenbosch for their Russian tea ceremony, the good old Mount Nelson in Cape Town and if you’re interested in learning more about SA’s homegrown “tea”, rooibos, head to Carmién in Clanwilliam. If you thought food pairing was just for beers and wines, think again. The right tea can balance and enhance the flavours in food. WHITE TEA This is delicate in aroma and silky in flavour, suiting foods that are light and subtle such as salads, seafood, fish, and honeyed fruit dishes. GREEN TEA The herbaceous, earthy and fruity notes of matcha, sencha or genmaicha (green tea combined with roasted brown rice) are perfect with Japanese foods. Think steamed or tempura vegetables or the big umami flavours of miso noodles. In its pure ceremonial form, matcha is whisked up with hot water; and due to the high chlorophyll and amino acid content it has a unique vegetal taste with a bitter aftertaste making it the perfect accompaniment to salads and mild green curries. OOLONG TEA These tend to have a more complex aroma, ranging between green and black teas. In general, oolongs are divided into two main categories – light and dark. Light oolongs are fragrant, aromatic and usually floral; they are perfect in cutting through the fatty or spicy notes of popular Chinese snacks. Dark oolongs have a more prominent flavour so they work better with dishes such as Peking duck or bao buns filled with sticky pork. Also try oolongs with cheese. BLACK TEA With its robust flavour and pronounced tannins, black tea is perfect with full-flavoured foods. Think big, bold, malty Assam with roast meats or fruity black teas from Sri Lanka with sweet desserts. Smoky black teas usually from China or earthy black teas from Yunnan and Africa stand up to strong flavoured, hearty dishes and go well with dark chocolate, intensifying flavours with every bite and sip. FRUIT OR SCENTED TEAS These teas, which include Earl Grey and spicy chai, work blissfully well with cake and chocolate. Tea pairing is yet to make a splash in South Africa, but a few of the Cape wineries offer tea pairing as a non-alc alternative to the usual wine offerings. Check out options at the KWV Emporium in Paarl, Creation Wines in the Hemel-en-Aarde valley or at Piekenierskloof Wine Company near Citrusdal. rooms or caves, transforming over the years and decades from green into earthy browns with layers of avour. Pu-erh teas can be consumed after three years, but the longer the ageing (up to about 50 years) the ner the taste. TEA AND HEALTH Tea is widely considered to be a wellness beverage. Along with commonly known ‘adaptogens’ such as chamomile, ginger and turmeric, tea is perceived to produce a state of wellbeing in the mind and body. Black and green teas contain a group of polyphenols with antioxidant properties which are associated with a wide range of health bene ts. In fact tea taken hot or cold, without milk or sugar, makes a great low calorie, low ca eine drink. Tea can be organic, vegan, and gluten- free, and when fermented, as in kombucha, it’s also a probiotic. Kombucha is the latest star in the fermented food and drink arena, despite originating in China circa 200 BC. It is made with a mix of tea, water and sugar which is naturally fermented with a living symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (known as SCOBY) to produce a fruity- tart-sweet-sour and slightly e ervescent non-alcoholic (<0.5 ABV) drink. Kombucha is craft, it is premium and it is rapidly transforming into a mainstream alternative to traditional soft drinks. As the RTD tea category expands, beverage producers are keen to tap into tea as a ‘positive’ ingredient, with brands launching alcoholic takes on tea. e fermented nature of kombucha has led to the creation of ‘hard’ kombuchas with ABVs ranging from 1-3% to over 7%. Tea is increasingly used as an ingredient by brewers in a variety of beer styles to create unique refreshing brews. And via innovations in spirit-based sparkling RTDs such as avoured malt beverages and hard seltzers, craft-brewed hard teas are also adding to tea’s upward trajectory. From a pot of Darjeeling to oolong saisons, trend-forward avoured kombuchas and hard teas, there is de nitely a tea to suit any occasion: wake-me-up teas, healing teas, celebratory teas, relaxing teas, partying teas... What’s your cup of tea? TEA AND FOOD PAIRING 38 | Spring 2020 | ontapmag.co.za