tea pairing

Tea Information:

Leaf Type: Pouchong

Tea Description:

This South Pacific delicacy is composed of long, green leaves of rare elegance that produce a serene, light Cocount Pouchong tea. The subtle nectar of young coconut instills a tropical sweetness in this exquisite bouquet. Because of its simple sweetness, you will enjoy this delicious loose leaf Coconut Pouchong tea hot or iced.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

As I have already tasted and reviewed this tea previously, you might think that I was less than enthused to have received it as part of this month’s Steepster Select box. But, truth be told, I was actually quite happy to have more of this tea! It’s one of my favorites from Golden Moon Tea and I’m very pleased to be able to revisit it.

The theme for this month’s Steepster Select is “Perfect Pairs.” On the theme card, Steepster wrote this about the theme:

Some things just go better together. Like wine, the complexity and range of flavors in tea make it a perfect complement to many meals. Pairing these not only accentuate the taste of both but helps train your palate to identify and relate flavors.

I was very happy with this theme, mostly because tea pairings is something that interests me as well. With most of the food reviews on my foodie blog, I try to include a tea suggestion on each post, and while I do not consider myself an expert on what flavor profiles go best with what types of foods, I know what tastes good to me. I thought it would be interesting to explore the idea of “Perfect Pairs” with Steepster’s recommendations. Here is what they recommended with this tea:

Pair with: Chocolate. The sweet nuttiness of coconut is a classic dessert pairing that blends smoothly with a hearty chocolate flavor. The light flowery oolong notes soften the richness of chocolate for an ideal balance. We have Marcus from Golden Moon Tea to thank for our Coconut Pouchong. A childhood visit to Hong Kong and a quick stop at a parisian tea house after culinary school cemented his love for unique flavors which carries through to his many offerings today.

So, I rummaged through my stash to find an appropriate piece of chocolate… unfortunately (well, not unfortunately for me, but unfortunate for the purposes of this review) most of the chocolate that I have on hand at the moment are confection type of chocolates … however, I did come across a bit of raw dark chocolate from Stirs the SOUL that I happened to have on hand.

Raw chocolate lacks the richness that the roasting process imparts on the chocolate … and I really noticed that with this pairing. However, I also noticed how the flavors of the Coconut Pouchong really came into focus with this simple pairing. The Coconut Pouchong really brought out some of the fruitier aspects of the chocolate, which really appealed to me. While the chocolate is not quite as rich with the roasted flavor, the pairing brought out the deeper flavors of the raw chocolate that I did not notice before, and I love how the fresh coconut really POPS when chocolate becomes part of the tasting.

I can’t wait to try this coconut Pouchong with the Hot Chocolate On A Stick that I have coming later this month!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Pouchong