Tea 107: Week Six Exams

Well, Cooking With Tea/Tea and Food Pairings is a wrap now! I have to say, so far this has definitely been my favourite one so far! I just feel like so much of what I learned is stuff I’m going to be applying practically on probably a daily basis. It was a really fun class.

Following the trend of past modules, this was a three part exam. Part one was an online test with 50 questions based on the course material. So far, that’s the only part of the final that I have the mark for (probably wont get the rest of my marks until after Christmas) but I absolutely nailed it and got a score of 48/50 which is the best I’ve done yet! From there I moved on to part two which was a blind cupping of six different teas.

For the cupping, I had to identify the tea and country of origin and then because this was the food pairing module I also had to list a food I’d pair the tea with. I think this probably would have been very straight forward except for one hiccup: one of the teas used in the cupping was definitely Lapsang Souchong and since all the teas for this cupping come in a sealed envelope for someone else to prepare for me that Lapsang had over a month to sit and get all of the other samples nice and smoky. So, every single cup had a smoke note to it that made the rest of the flavours hard to decipher.

Ultimately, I’m confidant I got all of the non black tea cups correct (three of the six) but when it comes to those other three I’m a lot less sure. One absolutely had a more potent smokey/ashy note which I said was the Lapsang. My options for the other two were either Darjeeling, Assam, or Keemun and neither cup tasted like ANY of those options because of the flavour contamination.

The final part of the exam was a presentation! We had to create our own afternoon tea menu for a fictional restaurant/tea house/hotel or what have you. The menu had to include dishes prepared with tea and dishes to be paired alongside tea. The avenue I went with, and had so much fun doing, was a creamery which I playfully named “Scoop of Cha”. I had things like an Apple Icecream with a Darjeeling, Pineapple Sorbet and Lapsang, Fresh Mint Icecream and Assam, and a Rougui with a “Poached Peach” frozen yogurt. It was an absolute BLAST creating the pairings and it really made me feel like that’s something that in the future I really want to be doing in some capacity or another, be that in making tea blends of my own, working in a tea house or restaurant doing the food pairings, or some other form which I maybe haven’t tapped yet.

Tldr; best module so far. Wish me luck on the tests I haven’t gotten marks back for yet.

__Morgana__

Good luck!

Fjellrev

Exciting, and best of luck!

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__Morgana__

Good luck!

Fjellrev

Exciting, and best of luck!

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Hello! My name is Kelly, though many people in the tea community call me Ros or Roswell.

I am a mid-twenties tea addict, blogger, and all around nerd. I grew up in the Prairies, but a few years ago I relocated to Quebec to pursue a career with DAVIDsTEA in the tea industry! I’m still working on getting my French language skills down…

My first introduction to tea, in any form outside of instant and bottled iced tea, was about seven years ago when I happened to stumble upon DAVIDsTEA while looking for a birthday present for a friend! I tried their Birthday Cake rooibos blend, and I’ve been hooked on tea ever since! In those seven years; I was introduced to the online tea community, expanded my interest in flavoured teas to include a deep love and appreciation for straight teas and traditional brewing methods, got a tea themed tattoo, started reviewing teas, amassed a sizable tea and teaware collection, became a TAC certified Tea Sommelier, & even came full circle by beginning a career in the tea industry with DAVIDsTEA!

I consider myself a Jack of all Teas, and strive to have a knowledge and appreciation of all tea types, formats, and styles of drinking. I don’t like to feel boxed in to just being a “flavoured tea” or “straight tea” drinker – my expectations may vary depending on the type of tea or how it’s been processed/prepared but if it’s good tea, it’s good tea no matter how it’s been made!

You name it, I probably drink it- and I’ll absolutely try anything at least once.

My default method of preparation is hot, Western style, and straight – but I’m not opposed to additions if I’m in the right mood. If I ever add something to a tea or use a different method of preparation I will ALWAYS call it out in the tasting note though.

I like to listen to music when drinking tea, especially when I’m brewing a large pot at a time or steeping Gongfu. Often I curate very intentional tea and music pairings, and sometimes I share them here in my tasting reviews. Music is something that I find can deeply affect the experience of having tea.

I’m also one half of the “tea and fandom” podcast GeekSteep where, weekly, we discuss newly explored fandoms over tea as well as try to figure out the perfect tea to pair with each fandom. You can find us on Spotify and Apple & Google podcasts.

Favourite flavour notes/ingredients: Pear, lychee, cranberry, cream, melon, pineapple, malt, roasty, petrichor, sweet potato, heady florals like rose, hazelnut or walnut, sesame, honey (in moderation), and very woody shou.

Least favourite flavour notes/ingredients:
Lemongrass, ginger, strongly spiced profiles (and most Chai in general), mushrooms, seaweed, chamomile, stevia, saltiness or anything that reminds me too much of meat that isn’t supposed to taste like meat…

Currently exploring/obsessed with: Sheng from Yiwu, Yancha (Qilan in particular), anything with a strong sweet potato note. Also, I need to try ALL the root beer teas! Searching for a really good caramel flavoured blend, ideally with a black tea base.

Please contact me at the instagram account listed below if you would like me to review your teas.

Currently I’m employed in the tea department of the DAVIDsTEA head office. While I’m still sharing my own personal thoughts on new & existing DAVIDsTEA blends, I am no longer numerically rating them due to the obvious conflict of interest. Any comments expressed are a reflection of my own thoughts and opinions, and do not reflect the thoughts and opinions of the company. Any DAVIDsTEA blends you currently see with a numeric score were reviewed prior to my being hired there and have not been adjusted since becoming a DAVIDsTEA employee.

Location

Montreal, QC, CA

Website

https://www.instagram.com/ros...

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