Category: tea pairings

NATIONAL TEA DAY APRIL 21st, 2023…

National Tea Day – 21st April 2023- #tea #British #hot

The British love of anything to do with TEA dates back centuries and this soft spot seems to only get stronger with time! National Tea Day’s slogan is “Brew More. Do More.” The vision is to inspire special moments with tea. Working with a variety of partner companies throughout the year, they desire to bring tea drinkers, tea servers and the entire tea industry together.

Although tea originated from China, a lot of people associate it primarily with the United Kingdom, since it was the British who helped popularize tea in Europe.

Contrary to popular misconception, tea wasn’t introduced to Europe by the British; it was Dutch sailors who first brought it to the European continent from China. The earliest known mention of tea by an Englishman was by an agent for the British East India Company in 1615.

It is celebrated in tea rooms, hotels, pubs and cafés through special events, and charitable fundraising events held across the country, including a tea ‘Fes-Tea-Val’ at Chiswick House & Gardens in London. 

Despite the fact that tea has been popular in the UK for hundreds of years, the question of when to add the milk is one which still provokes many an argument! Most people first pour the tea into the cup, then add the milk, but others disagree. It is said that this was a way for the rich to show off their wealth. They often drank tea in porcelain cups, and it was only the better-quality porcelain that could withstand the temperature of very hot tea. This meant that people who had lower-quality cups needed to first pour the milk so that the cup wouldn’t break.

One fascinating fact – The average Brit drinks 876 cups of tea every single year – enough to fill two bath tubs. 

Source: National Today, Discover Britain Magazine, Learn English Wikipedia

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WHICH IS THE BEST TEA TO HAVE WITH YOUR CHOCOLATE EASTER EGGS…

With Easter around the corner and the Easter eggs stacking up ready to eat, I thought a post on the right tea to drink with your chocolate might go down well.

You can look for tea/chocolate pairings that share similar flavour characteristics, thereby enhancing one another. You can also find very satisfying combinations where the flavors of the tea and chocolate contrast. Finally, look for tea/chocolate pairings where the characteristics of each aren’t necessarily the same, but are compatible or complementary in some fashion.

Flavour Enhancers

Flavor Contrasts

Complementary Flavors

Lastly, a note on flavoured tea and flavoured/filled chocolate. There is absolutely nothing saying that you can’t extend this pairing approach to include flavoured teas or filled/flavoured chocolates. That said, it’s important to keep it simple, and let a couple of flavours to take the spotlight.

According to Linda Villano from SerendipiTea. “When approaching the Tea & Chocolate pairing, the possibilities are endless so first narrow down the number of teas you will be pairing within each category and identify them on paper. Keep things simple and well organized. Focus on specific groupings using your basic tea tasting rules, for example work with White Tea first, then move along the color spectrum from light to dark, ending with Pu-erh.  Taste the tea independently of the chocolate carefully minding the general characteristics, aroma, flavor notes, and mouth-feel of each tea you plan to pair. Do the same with each of the chocolates independently of the tea.  Take your time, munch on a bit of plain cracker between each tasting to clear your palate, and take copious notes. But most importantly, enjoy the process.”

Source: SerendipiTea, Arburteas,