BREAKING: WE'RE TEA PEOPLE NOW
A Teasy-Cheesy Pairing that's Shockingly Good!
Greetings! Mother’s Day is this weekend, and you should make her something nice. Take a spin through our recipe archive for some great Mother’s Day Meals!
BREAKING: WE’RE TEA PEOPLE NOW
AU: Hi yes hello you read that correctly. I have never been a tea person. Growing up in Texas—where Sweet and Ice Tea flow like water—I was never interested. I didn’t like the taste of it. After 20 cold-brew-fueled years (it’s gay genetics), I have suddenly morphed into a tea person???
Well, really, like so many other things, it’s my husband’s fault.
One day we ran out of coffee (god forbid I don’t keep three bottles of cold brew stocked at all times!), and he opted for the Chai tea bags I kept in the cabinet for a rainy day. He started drinking it religiously, instead of the coffee that I so lovingly restocked. I was intrigued… WHO is this TEA PERSON that I’ve been married to?!? Where did he come from??? And what do I do now that I am the sole coffee drinker in the house?!?
I did what any homosexual of sound mind and body would do: I went shopping.
EK: oooh! I love a good tea excursion. As I told you, I took a deep dive into Chai during the shut down and then started buying all kinds of tea until my cabinets overflowed. I am still a morning coffee gal, but I love tea all day long.
AU: The thing you don’t learn about tea (when you grow up in the land of sweet tea) is that it all tastes WILDLY DIFFERENT. It’s not like coffee where there can be different nuances and tasting notes, but it all still overwhelmingly tastes like… coffee.
EK: That’s exactly what got me into buying and trying so many teas!
AU: Teas can be herbal, fruity, minty, grassy, smoky, savory, sweet, spicy… the entire spectrum of flavors! We took a trip to the Chado Tea Room in Pasadena, CA to procure some new loose leaf teas for my newly-tea-indoctrinated husband.
Chado has been around for more than 30 years, and still operates as both a delightful tea room and market, with several locations in the Los Angeles area. But you can shop their entire inventory online here.
We went to specifically seek out a high-quality chai blend. One that had fresh cardamom, cinnamon, clove, good black tea, and all the other suspects. We were not disappointed. Chado had four different chai tea blends—we opted for the “Reena’s Chai Blend,” which is like a classic chai masala. I’m obsessed with it—I brew a pitcher of concentrate and keep it in the fridge to add to my cold brew (still a morning coffee gal, too!). It’s like an iced dirty latte, but stronger!
AU: We also bought a bag of what they call their “Birthday Blend,” which is so gorgeous. It’s filled with tropical flowers and fruits—it’s the absolute perfect tea to drink iced on a hot Summer day. We have started making Arnold Palmers with it, and we are ruined for life—never going back to bottled stuff!
Now that we’ve leaned into being “tea people,” we needed to have the right equipment. I get a little obsessed with stocking my kitchen with the very BEST items, so this was a whole down-the-tea-equipment-rabbit-hole situation…
At the very least, you should have a tea kettle (duh). I’ve had a stovetop Le Creuset one for years and years. It’s great and the charming old-school whistle when the water is boiling, is all you really need. But the drawback is that it was always taking up space on my stovetop.
AU: Enter the Fellow Stagg EKG Electric Kettle. It’s a gooseneck kettle (so it’s great for pour-over coffee, too), and it comes in a variety of colors and finishes. We opted for the matte black with a handsome walnut handle. Every morning we start the kettle, and it heats up in mere minutes. You can set it to the exact temperature that you want the water to be, and it will automatically hold it at that temp for as long as you want. Even more handy, is the built in timer! So you can pour your cuppa, time it to the exact second of your tea’s brew, and never have a cup of overbrewed tea again! It’s not cheap, but it’s very nice looking to leave on your counter, and there are SO MANY affordable options you can purchase. Browse for the one that fits your needs!
EK: I am a fan of the SMEG 50s Retro Style Electric Mini Kettle. I own the Red one, and it comes in six fun colors. It’s not sleek, but it’s small and works like a charm!
AU: Since we purchased loose leaf tea, we needed some tea strainers, and that was easy: the Oxo Brew Twisting Tea Ball was perfect for a single cup! At just $12, you can buy a few (we have two).
I was so excited to tell Elizabeth about our recent tea evolution, and when I did, I could hear the lightbulb go off in her head…
EK: All this talk of tea…I had to stop and make myself a cup! I am smitten with VAHDAM Vanilla Chai which has lots of fresh cardamon, cinnamon, clove, black pepper and sweet vanilla. And, I just cut off a chunk of cheese to nibble with my tea. I know that might sound weird. It sounded weird to me when I first heard it, but I am now a believer.
A few weeks ago, Beehive Cheese and Tea Zaanti invited me to a food writer’s tasting of cheese and tea. It sounded so strange that I had to do it! And, I was so impressed after I finished, I suggested that Anthony, Josh, and I do it together.
AU: I was intrigued… teas paired with… CHEESES?!? Sounds kinda weird to me. I’M IN!
EK: Think of it this way: cream and/or milk is a traditional addition to hot tea, and it works because it rounds out the tannins and softens the tea. Cheese does the exact same thing and you can taste more of the cheese when your mouth is warm and not cold.
AU: The lovely folks at Beehive Cheese and Tea Zaanti sent me this collaboration tasting box, so I could experiment and taste the pairings on my own. Both businesses are out of Utah, and ship nationwide! So Elizabeth, Josh, and I got together (via FaceTime) and tasted the three different combos.
AU: Beehive Cheese is known for their artisanal and imaginative take on humble cheddar cheese. They first started changing the cheese game by rubbing their rinds with interesting, flavor-packed rubs. For example, the “Teahive” cheese is rubbed with Earl Grey tea from Tea Zaanti Cafe—Salt Lake City’s only tea and wine cafe. (ASIDE: Did you know that Utah is the “Beehive State”?! I did not.)
The Utah-based cheese company has won more cheese awards than Oprah has won Emmys, so I was pumped to try them. Here’s what we tasted:
Seahive Cheese paired with Fukamushi Sencha - Rubbed with ancient sea salt and honey, this creamy cheddar was an ideal match for the sweet, grassy, umami rich Japanese green tea. It really made the green tea sing! And like Elizabeth said, it rounded out those somewhat “sharp” green tea flavors.
Teahive Cheese paired with Raspberry Rose Petal - The tea was an explosion of luscious flavors. The sour hibiscus and long floral finish complemented the cheddar’s earl grey tea rub, and the salty cheese was a fantastic counterpoint to the sweet-tart tea.
Pour Me a Slice paired with Pu'erh Leaf - Infused with Basil Hayden’s Kentucky Bourbon, the malty flavors of the bold Pu’erh Leaf tea stood up to the cheddar’s boozy spice. This one made the cheese taste insanely more bourbony!
AU: I was absolutely AMAZED at how impactful the tea and cheese pairings were. It was crazy!!
EK: Hot Tea & Cheese is the Modern Classic. Wine and Cheese is classic, yes. But we discovered that the pairing of Cheese and Tea is superior to wine. What?!! Yes, it’s better for tasting all the flavors in the cheese.
The heat of the tea draws out subtle flavors that a cold drink masks. And, if you are really into tea, you soon learn that there are similarities with wine, such as tannins, astringency, complex layers of flavor and terroir.
Anthony, Josh and I were blown away when we did the tea and cheese tasting and we were especially impressed with how the cheese tamed the tannins in the Fukamushi Sencha—the green Japanese tea. As much as I have always tried to love the grassy green tea, it has always been too tannic for me and made my teeth squeak—anyone else know what I mean by that?
Well, a bit of the Creamy Beehive Seahive cheddar completely tamed the tea. After that, I was convinced—as we all were.
If this all sounds intriguing to you, today is your lucky day! If you are a paid subscriber, you will be entered into our drawing for a chance to discover these pairings yourself at home!
EXCLUSIVE W4D BEEHIVE CHEESE & TEA ZAANTI GIVEAWAY
*Must be a Paid Subscriber by May 15, 2023; 11:59pm PST to be eligible.
Beehive Cheese has partnered for years with Tea Zaanti to show how cheese and tea are natural companions. They will send one lucky winner an industry tasting box, so you can taste the amazing pairings with your family and friends!
As we learned, it’s all about balance. A robust tea should be matched with strongly-flavored cheeses. Delicate teas are best with lighter, smoother cheeses. Sweeter teas complement saltier cheeses, and teas that are high in tannins pair well with creamy cheeses. Tea’s warmth awakens flavors that are otherwise imperceptible.
Have a great weekend, loves!
xx
That tea strainer is also good for dusting with confectioners sugar. A tip i learned from a Dorie Greenspan/Oxo collab