Don Mei : Gorgonzola!
But this is a LIGHT Gorgonzola.
This is a Dolce Gorgonzola.
Let's TASTE it first, because I don't think it's going to be TOO heavy.
It says "dolce" on it.
Mmm.
Good one, just the right level of "bleu" in it.
It's got moist...
Liselle : Yeah.
It's not too SHARP, is it?
It's quite SOFT.
Don : No.
It's still got some cream, and it's got that SALTINESS to it that is really nice.
So I've got a FEW here.
This was very DIFFICULT for me to theoretically figure out.
Let's start with this.
This is a COOKED Puerh tea.
MUCH DARKER than any other tea we've had before.
Liselle : What do you mean by "cooked"?
Don : It’s RIPENED.
It's a FERMENTED Puerh tea.
This is Black Yunnan Tuo.
Let me try and get it in here.
You can see it's a very, very dark...
Liselle : That's EARTHY.
Don : Yeah.
That's VERY earthy.
The classic flavour profile for this type of tea very CAVERNOUS, wet cavern, cellar...
Liselle : Yup.
It smells DAMP.
Don : Let's give it a taste.
It's the classic Hong Kong tea, right?
Liselle : Hmm.
Don : Very strong, but smooth.
Liselle : Very smooth, I'd say.
Don : Slight sweet.
It's a really high quality, cooked...
Liselle : I think you should have it with a bit of the blue bit.
Don : Okay.
Liselle : It's FINE.
It's NOT remarkable.
Don : Yeah.
I would agree.
Liselle : I mean, it tastes quite nice together.
It feels almost like - because that's sort of RICH - but don't you think ANY tea would
make you feel that way?
Don : No.
I think if you had a tea that didn't have as much STRENGTH as this, you wouldn't notice
it.
If it was a green tea it would just taste like you had WATER.
This feels like it's actually STRIPPING, and kind of CLEANING.
Liselle : So it's allowing you to eat MORE CHEESE, basically.
Don : Yeah.
It’s actually one of the things that people use this tea ALL THE TIME for.
This is a digestive tea.
You drink this after meals to actually...
Liselle : Allow you to eat more.
Don : Well or to clear that bloated feeling.
They use it like an Armagnac, or whatever, digestif after a meal.
It gives you that real CLEANSING feel.
So if you have a really FATTY meal this cleanses it.
It really DOES, not in a HARSH way, but in a really quite nice way.
Liselle : It's nice, but it's not ENHANCING the cheese.
Don : Okay.
NOW we're going to try a RAW Puerh.
THAT was a COOKED Puerh, this is a RAW Puerh.
This is a young Gu Shu.
A 2015 Puerh from ancient arbor - so this is 500 year old tea trees - this is a really,
really COMPLEX TEA.
Liselle : HOW is it complex?
Don : Because it's relatively WILD - in the way that it's GROWN - and because it's an
ancient tea tree, it's bringing up SO MUCH minerality from the SOIL that it has a really
complex FLAVOR profile.
It's slightly grassy, slightly mushroomy...
Liselle : I can't put my finger on it.
It's hard for me to...
Don : Yeah.
It's FLEETING, so it changes.
It's got FLORAL, it's got MUSHROOMS, it's got WOODY and GRASSY notes.
It's got a BIT of fruity notes, like APPLEY notes.
Liselle : So why pair it with THIS?
What was your reason?
Don : My thinking was, young Gu Shu, in MY opinion, is quite APPLEY - kind of a dried
apple aroma.
And I was thinking of the blue cheese and apple combination, and seeing whether or not
they would PLAY OFF of each other.
Liselle : There IS a dried fruit, generally, in this.
Don : Yeah.
So I kind of figured that the cooked one doesn't have much fruitiness to it.
Liselle : Mmm, there's a bit of MARMALADE suddenly.
Don : Yeah.
This tea is one that you really need to sit with and EXPLORE, because it will KEEP GIVING
loads of different...
Liselle : Do you smell the marmalade?
Don : Yeah, absolutely; that cut-rind marmalade.
Liselle : Mmm.
That's such an interesting tea.
Don : Look how THICK the tea is.
Can you see how VISCOUS it looks?
With the bubbles just kind of not moving around in there?
Looks JELLY-like a little bit.
It's REALLY rich in MINERALS, and it has more ASTRINGENCY.
It has this kind of bitterness, right?
Liselle : Mmm.
Don : My thinking was that the SALTINESS of this - ESPECIALLY if we get some blue - SHOULD
suppress the bitterness so it would ENHANCE the flavour of the tea.
Let's see if it's as BITTER as when you FIRST tasted it.
Liselle : No it isn't.
It actually tastes a bit SWEET now.
Don : You're getting more of the appley FRESHNESS out of it.
Liselle : That's such an INTERESTING combination.
Don : Mmm.
Yeah, I can't quite work it out.
Liselle : It's one that makes you want to KEEP tasting it.
Don : Mmm.
I think it WORKS.
I think it REALLY works.
There's something SO INTERESTING about the combination.
Liselle : This is a real JOURNEY.
It's really SATISFYING, because the tea - when you try it to start off with - tastes slightly
BITTER, then you have this really SOFT, SALTY, CREAMY cheese.
Then you taste the tea the SECOND time it's gone slightly SWEETER, and CHANGED.
It just doesn't taste as bitter, and is SMOOTHER.
Yeah.
What's happening is that the SALT is suppressing the ASTRINGENCY, and the CREAMINESS is, I
think, allowing the FRESHNESS of the tea to show itself a little bit more.
Let's try it with the comte.
Liselle : NOT as good.
Don : No.
Isn't it?
It almost CANCELS out.
Liselle : Do you know why?
The comte's got a SWEETNESS to it - a sweet, nutty FLAVOUR to it - and you want the sweetness
to come from the TEA.
There's NO sweetness in this blue cheese...
Don : What happens is that the flavour profile of the YOUNG Gu Shu and the COMTE, in a way,
feels like it's TOO SIMILAR...
Liselle : Too similar.
Don : And then the cheese OVERPOWERS it.
Whereas THIS combination allows BOTH to SHINE; it gives enough of a the contrast without
SUPPRESSING too much so that there's a really nice INTERPLAY.
That's FASCINATING, isn't it?
Because THAT really doesn't work.
It's like you're drinking WATER suddenly, and you know how COMPLEX that tea is.
Liselle : Yeah.
I would say.
THIS is a PERFECT pairing.
Don : Okay.
Well, let's try the LAST one.
Liselle : What's THIS one?
Don : This is a Wu Yi Lapsang, which is a VERY LIGHTLY smoked - so it's not as HEAVY
as a lot of those OTHER ones out there.
Let's see if it brings out more of the kind of SPICINESS and WARMING nature of this cheese.
Have a taste first.
Liselle : Let me smell it.
Don : Okay.
Liselle : Yeah, VERY smokey.
What smokey?
Wood chips?
Hickory smoked?
Don : It's PINE WOOD smoked, but there some really, really HEAVY smoke.
Liselle : Would you say there's MAPLE, and THAT KIND of?
It's quite SWEET, kind of like HICKORY smoked RIBS, or something.
Don : Right.
It's got SAVORINESS to it.
Liselle : Savoury MEATINESS to it.
Don : Right.
Let's see how it works with this.
Liselle : Not as good.
Don : Not as good as the young Gu Shu.
I think it WORKS.
I think they DO work TOGETHER, but not as well.
There's not as much INTEREST as the raw Puerh.
Liselle : No, that definitely gave you that JOURNEY.
Don : Okay.
So Gorgonzola with RAW Puerh seems to do the trick.
All right, we're on to our LAST cheese.