1st pair: Sencha green tea (Japan) + goat's cheese (with or without melba toast) The Sencha tea was grassy and mildly sweet, mouth-feel was quite nice. The goat's cheese paired with this tea worked well because the cheese was mildly salty but it didn't over power the tea and complimented the light sweetness of the tea. The creaminess of the cheese also seemed to be enhanced as I continued to sip the tea and eat bits of the cheese.
2nd pair: Darjeeling (Makabari) + Watercress, pecan, cream cheese sandwich (white bread, no crust) The Darjeeling tea was a good clean tea with medium astringency. The cream cheese and the oil from the pecans balanced the astringency of the tea but the flavours of the food were very light which complemented the tea as it was not a strong black tea.
3rd pair: Golden monkey oolong (error, should be black tea after looking at my notes again) tea + orange blossom custard This tea was sweet with a lingering taste. Not overly strong but good quality tea. The custard was slightly tart and sweet which paired well with the tea because there was some contrast and one item did not over take the other in strength of taste. The milkiness of the custard also went well with oolong.
4th pair: Assam black tea + aged gouda The Assam tea was quite astringent and had a clean taste. The aged gouda was also very sharp and salty which was able to stand up to the strength of the Assam. The milk in the cheese also mellowed the astringency of the black tea. I was quite surprised by how well this paired and really enjoyed the combination of the two especially because the cheese also reminded me of Gruyere cheese. After the tea and food pairings class, I started to think about some other pairings, especially ones that did not include cheese or milk products. Some individuals may be lactose intolerant or not enjoy the taste of cheese so developing other pairings is important.
How about:
- Green tea with daifuku (strawberry/red bean filled) - possibly slightly bitter/vegetal taste with mild sweetness?
- Oolong with salty foods/meats, maybe fried foods?
- White tea with a mild fruit or flower flavoured jelly?
thought had good flavour but it wasn't as delicious as the Sencha tried in class. The leaves were also not as small and were not as bright green. The colour of the tea liquor was more green/light yellow than my picture would indicate, unfortunately the lighting at my place and my camera are not the greatest. The infused leaves were also larger and less of a bright green than the one sampled in class. I really don't know much about green teas from Japan as I have yet to take the China and Far East Teas course so I'm just relying on my readings and the internet at this point. 
I found this great description of Sencha tea processing from the Ito En Company website. It was really informative and I really like the chart provided on the steaming time and tea characteristics. From this chart and my own tasting, I gather the Sencha tea from Davids was steamed with a moderate steaming which is a normal steam time. Of course, this is my own guess-timate and I could be wrong.
