Tea and Food PairingJust as a hearty red wine goes well with certain foods, so it goes with tea. There is a perfect tea that will go with any food. The tea sommelier is an intriguing title, one that has, heretofore, been accompanied by a tongue in cheek giggle. But, as with wine, the art of pairing food and tea doesn’t have to be complex or intimidating. Just follow the same basic rule of thumb… lighter teas with lighter foods, stronger and bolder teas with heavier foods. 
Tea and food pairing is a great new way to entertain at home. Though cuisine & tea has always been a way of life in the eastern countries, it is a fairly new trend in America, and we know how much Americans enjoy new trends. What’s even more fun is that when you offer your guests a variety of foods and tea, there is no real wrong answer. Taste is a matter of taste. Lu Yu wrote in the Cha I’Ching, the classic Book of Tea, published in 780 A.D., “In the end, goodness is for the mouth to decide”. Be gone the critics that tell you what you should like….. you like what you like.
It seems before noon, many people like bolder teas, such as Assam, Irish Breakfast, English Breakfast blends, Pu-erh, Yunnan or Gunpowder. That could be because these teas pair well with pastries such as scones with cream and jam and hearty bacon or ham and eggs. If you prefer a lighter breakfast such as fruit, yogurt or cereal, you may prefer to pair these foods with a nice 1st flush Darjeeling or a lightly oxidized oolong such as Tung Ting.
There are so many tastes that we encounter throughout the day, including perhaps a good juicy hamburger, which would go very well with some of the India teas such as Assam or Nilgiri or even a Kenya black tea. How about some comfort food like macaroni and cheese? Try it with a nice Sencha. Feeling a bit international? Try something curry with a jasmine tea. They compliment each other exceptionally well. Having barbeque or a broiled filet mignon? Perhaps a roasted tea such as Hojicha or the wonderfully smoky Lapsang Souchong.
Dessert anyone? My advice is to start with chocolate, of course! For most desserts, Darjeeling, Tung Ting or Dragonwell are good teas with which begin your tasting. They go well with most foods. But don’t stop there. You could certainly live by the adage “Life is short; eat dessert first!”, in which case you have yet another world opening up to you.
These guidelines merely start you in a direction, not necessarily one that you will ultimately depend on, but one that has worked for me, and a place for you to start. Once you have tried a few of these tea pairings, jump out of the box and begin your own tasting. You are limited only by the number of teas you can try and the different foods that are available to you.
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