Discover How Drinking Tea Can Turn from a Necessity into a Pleasure! Just like Wine, Tea Has Its Bouquet of Tastes and Flavors That only Appropriate Food Choices Can Reveal

Discover How Drinking Tea Can Turn from a Necessity into a Pleasure! Just Like Wine, Tea Has Its Bouquet of Tastes and Flavors That Only Appropriate Food Choices Can Reveal

Are you one of the thousands of people struggling to include several cups of tea in their daily diet in order to accelerate their metabolism, lower cholesterol, melt away fats, eliminate toxins and improve their health? It is a laudable initiative you have taken, but what if you could enjoy tea just as much as you enjoy your glass of red wine over a rare meat or your morning coffee?

It probably seems impossible, but it is not. Tea, just like wine, goes better with certain foods, which accentuate its taste and flavor and can turn it from the barely bearable drink you struggle to finish into a real delight. The only thing you need to do is to find out what foods go with what tea and try various combinations until you find the ones that suit your taste and preferences.

Food Suggestions for the Most Popular Unblended Tea Assortments:

 White Tea – It produces such a light infusion that most foods overwhelm its flavor and make you feel as if you are drinking plain hot water. The natural sweetness of this tea should be emphasized by the food accompanying it, so you need something light, with delicate flavors and without this natural sweetness characteristic to white tea. This means fruits and dressing salads are out of discussion, which leaves us to basic, simple salads. Don’t worry if the combination does not sound too appetizing, white tea tastes great on its own, with or without the salad. And if hot drinks are not exactly your thing, an ice white tea will definitely work its magic on your senses.

 Green Tea – It is much easier to combine than white tea, being available in three flavor profiles: grassy/vegetal (Japanese), strong/smoky (Chinese) and fruity/citric (Indian and Sri Lankan). The Japanese green tea, with its grassy, fresh flavor, goes very well with seafood, which prepares your palette for receiving and actually enjoying its raw feel. The Chinese green tea, with its smoky flavor acquired in the manufacturing process, calls for foods stronger than seafood, but lighter than red meat, and unsweetened, like chicken, turkey, different varieties of potatoes, light stir-fries, lighter types of pizza and most root vegetables. The Indian green tea is recommended in associations with light meat, like turkey or chicken, salads (including fruits salads), unsweetened pastries (croissants, paninis, whole wheat bread, etc). Although greasy or deep fried foods should be avoided).

 Oolong Tea – Available in many varieties, Oolong tea varieties can be divided into two main types: light and dark. The light ones are flavored, aromatic and flowery, and it is important to combine them with foods that bring out these characteristics: light, with delicate or no fragrance and natural sweetness, like crackers, baked chips and other snacks, but nothing fried. The dark varieties, on the other hand, are full-bodied, strong and smoky, going great with pastries, maple syrup pancakes, baked or fried light meat, rare red meat, fish and desserts, but having nothing in common with spicy sauces or spicy, greasy meals in general.

 Black Tea – There are three types of black tea, each with its own tendencies in terms of food pairing: fruity, earthy/malty and smoky.

 The fruity varieties originate mostly from Sri Lanka and India. They are the best choice for desserts and sweet foods in general, especially thick pastries. The tannins in these varieties help cleaning the oral cavity and accentuate the sweet taste of the foods. Thus, the second and following bites of whatever pastry or dessert you are eating will feel just as delicious, or perhaps even more delicious than the first bite.

 The earthy/malty black tea varieties