A Starter’s Guide to Food Pairing With Tea
Tea has been your go-to favourite beverage of the day. Having your evening snacks with tea might be your me-time routine. Traditional food pairings like cake, sandwiches, cookies have always been the most compatible companions for the Tea. What food goes best with tea apart from these?
Pairing your favourite beverage with a food substance that will enhance the taste of the same is not an easy task. We have to be particular in our sense of taste to make a decision. We have tried our taste buds to do the job for you.
What Flavours Go Well With Tea?
Food pairings have been in our cultures for centuries. We know what food we eat with red wine, which dessert comes after what meal and traditional snacks with tea like sandwiches. Amendments and improvisations have always been made because of the persistent food culture in human civilizations.
Food knowledge and sophisticated taste palettes have crossed the traditional line decades ago. With globalisation and interactions, food has changed and so have our taste buds.
Apart from globalisation and traditional values, individual choices and tastes play a crucial role in deciding the food pairings. Food today has a growing intrinsic community and tea has its own culture. Snacks with tea too have evolved.
Things to Eat With Tea
Tea culture has an intrinsic taste and you have to get clear of your basics of tea to make it a choice of food. If you are a beginner or someone who has just started to learn the concept of tea, this article is just for you. We know the struggle of making choices. They can be tough right?
Take a breath, take it easy! We are here for you! The art of food pairing is an evolving field globally. Chefs and Tea Lovers have done it all to present the best snacks with tea in their knowledge on your table.
It is because the right snacks with tea can make your taste and the bad ones can break it. Do not get overwhelmed and follow the guide that we drafted for you below. There are certain rules to follow and tips and tricks to keep in mind before making a choice.
The choice also depends on the type of tea you are using: Orthodox or the CTC. If you are a lover of orthodox teas like us, we are lucky! Pairing orthodox and pure teas is fairly very easy and straightforward.
Tea Pairing Menu
Here are the rules to follow while preparing your food with the orthodox tea:
Green Tea
The tea has a naturally bitter taste and hence we have to keep the thing in mind before making the pairing of food. Green Tea goes very well with food that has a vegetative and earthly colour like tea. It goes best with vegetarian dishes, green curry, and salads. If you are looking for meat, go for the chicken dishes. However, make sure that you choose light snacks with tea.
Our Suggestions:
- Botanical Green Slim: Salads, Asian food, chicken.
Black Tea
Black tea has the highest caffeine levels and thus you need to go for food that is heavy and rich. The flavour of black tea can be best paired with meat like lamb and pasta dishes like Lasagna. The trick is to go for rich foods and robust meat. Heavy vegetarian dishes will also do!
Our Suggestions:
- Malty Black Savory: smoked salmon, spicy Mexican, creamy desserts.
- Smooth Black Saphire: lemony desserts, Indian dishes, highly seasoned dishes.
White Tea
White teas are premium. The delicate flavours and gentle aroma is only for people of high taste. The structure of mass and rich flavours can only be paired with light food. Food rich in cheese and desserts like cake is one of the best options to pair with tea. Fish is another best option to pair. Whitefish snacks with tea turn out to be one of the best pairings.
Our Suggestions:
- Vintage White Tea: Light fish, basic salad.
- Winter White Sage Tea: Basmati rice, salads.
Bottom Line
Snacks with tea can be a tough choice to make. A basic understanding of tea tastes is needed to make the best choice. With time and evolution, a lot of changes in the traditional things to eat with tea have been made. We hope that the above-given suggestions and tea pairing menu will be of your help.