Hojicha White Chocolate Cheesecake Pairings

After making the Hojicha White chocolate cheesecake we tasted 4 different teas to find the perfect pairing. 

Sencha of the Forest Glow
Wakoucha
Sencha of the Wind
Kyobancha 

Here’s the results: 

Sencha of the Forest Glow

A high grade, unshaded,  spring tea with naturally sweet, umami taste. Undertones of orange and cinnamon can be detected. 

Harvested in May, it is lightly steamed and rolled, with a medium body and astringent taste. We chose this tea to contrast the sweet, woodsy flavour of the cheesecake. 

Pine Needle Wakoucha

A Japanese black tea with a medium body and subtle astringency. We thought this tea, with underlying notes of molasses and honey, would balance well with the sweetness of the cheesecake. 

Sencha of the Wind

A very savoury, high grade sencha, with vegetal and umami tasting notes, we thought this tea would act as a palate cleanser when paired with the hojicha white chocolate cheesecake. 

Kyobancha

Unique to the Kyoto region, we chose Kyobancha as we thought the woody flavour would compliment the woodsy sweetness of the cheesecake, 

Virtually caffeine free, we thought this would be the perfect evening pairing. 

The Tasting

Sencha of the Forest Glow 

We found the astringency of this tea acted as a natural palette cleanser. Almost replicating the Matcha and wagashi pairings that Japan is so famous for. 

Paired with the cheesecake, the astringency in the Sencha of the Forest Glow was heightened. The high contrast between the sweet, creamy cheesecake, and the Sencha of the Forest Glow paired well, though we recommend brewing this tea strongly if pairing with a sweet, creamy dessert. 

Wakoucha 

This was a pleasant pairing. The Hojicha White Chocolate Cheesecake and the Wakoucha Japanese Black Tea share the same flavour profile. At first, we were worried this would drown the taste of both, but we were pleasantly surprised. 

The Wakoucha enhances the taste of the Hojicha in the cheesecake, making it “pop”. 

Sencha of the Wind

Hoping to recreate the palette cleansing results we found with the Sencha of the Forest Glow, we were sorely disappointed. On its own, Sencha of the Wind is delightfully savoury, with a rich umami taste, however, paired with the woodsy, sweet cheesecake we found both flavours to be lost. 

Sencha of the Wind is too delicate, in our opinion, to pair well with this cheesecake, and we found it killed the flavour, making it difficult to detect any tasting notes. 

Kyobancha

Like with Sencha of the Wind, we found the taste of this tea to be lost in the cheesecake. The sweetness of the cheesecake overpowers the natural sweetness of Kyobancha, making it taste much more astringent. 

Overall, we found the taste of the cheesecake overpowered and drowned the light, comforting favour of Kyobancha. 

The Winners… 

Depending on your preference, the two tea’s we would recommend are: 

Wakoucha 

Sencha of the Forest Glow

If you’re looking for an easy pairing that compliments well, we’d recommend going for Wakoucha Black Tea. The honey and molasses undertones really compliment the woodsy, sweet Hojicha white chocolate cheesecake. 

If you’re looking for more of a contrast, and like the pairings of Matcha and wagashi, we recommend Sencha of the Forest Glow. Acting as a palette cleanser, it really heightens the flavours of the cheesecake.