If existing opinion is anything to go by, cheese and wine go together like tea and cake, champagne and strawberries, and, well, cheese and wine.

如果照现在的说法，奶酪和酒就像茶和蛋糕、香槟和草莓，奶酪和酒一样是天然绝配。

Could it be that wine isn’t actually the best liquid to consume alongside your cheeseboard? Is there a drink out there that brings out cheese’s best qualities, well, better?

那么酒有可能不一定是干酪的最佳搭配吗?还有其它饮料能更好地衬托出奶酪的风味吗?

According to one “food and drink luminary,” we should actually all start pairing cheese with tea.

而据一位“美食达人”所说，我们都应该开始用茶来配着奶酪共食。

“Most people, in my experience, think of tea as a drink for rainy days, grandmas, or as a little sister to coffee,” Rachel Safko told Forbes. “All of the above can be true, but there’s much more versatility to tea - it’s the chameleon of beverages.”

“以我的经验，大部分人看到茶，只会联想到雨天、老奶奶，或像是咖啡的小妹妹，”瑞秋·萨夫科告诉福布斯杂志。“以上都是对的，但是茶有更丰富的功效——就像饮料中的变色龙。”

She believes tea is underrated and under-explored as there are so many different types with different qualities, and there’s a tea for every mood and occasion.

她认为茶的作用被低估了，并且还有待发掘，因为有那么多不同种类、不同品质的茶，适用于各式各样的心情和场合。

Safko believes tea could take the place of wine because they’re both affected by nature - where the grapes or tea leaves are grown, the soil, and how the wine and tea are processed.

萨夫科相信茶可以取代酒，因为它们都被自然影响—— 葡萄和茶叶都植根于土壤，而且它们的处理工序也相似。

“Like wine, teas have varying degrees of tannin along with a natural astringency: a dryness and feeling that isn’t quite bitter or sour, but more like the pleasant tartness and pucker you might get from tasting a lemon or pomegranate,” she explains. “Cheese - in its infinite glory - offers a nice balance to that astringency.”

“就像酒，茶叶含有不同程度的丹宁酸，带来自然的涩味：一种干燥敛口的涩感，并不会太苦或太酸，更像吃柠檬或石榴尝到酸味后泛起的回甘。”她解释到。“奶酪用它的甜腻恰好中和了那种苦涩。”

So how should you pair your tea and cheese?

那么你该如何搭配茶和奶酪?

Safko recommends “a crisp, lemony first flush Darjeeling - known as the Champagne of tea” with Brie and cucumber finger sandwiches. The classic combination works so well, she says, because “the fatty, creamy umami that most of us go bonkers for in cheese helps round out the bite of more astringent teas.”

萨夫科推荐了“口感清雅，富含果味香的大吉岭红茶——被誉为红茶中的香槟”搭配布里干酪和黄瓜手指三明治。这对经典组合效果极佳，奶酪中让人垂涎的脂肪奶油鲜味巧妙地中和了茶的涩味。

So if you’re trying to cut back on your alcohol consumption but aren’t quite ready to give up cheese, perhaps it’s time for tea.

所以如果你正想少喝点酒，却还不想放弃奶酪，或许是时候试试茶了。