When consumers are trying to choose a type of tea, they want to know when the best time is to drink it. Is it for first thing in the morning, after a meal, or perhaps later in the day? Part of this is deciding whether it should be drunk alone or with food. Being able to tell your customers which teas best pair with which snacks is a useful sales angle for a white label tea company.
Tea and snack combinations a white label tea company should know about:
1. Earl grey and citrus treats
Earl grey is made with oil of bergamot, and bergamot is a type of orange. This means that this tea goes particularly well with sweet, citrusy treats flavored with oranges or lemons. This could be a lemon drizzle cake or a piece of lemon shortbread, or even a piece of dark chocolate that has been infused with some orange notes.
2. English breakfast tea and digestive biscuits
In the United Kingdom, famous for its copious tea consumption, digestive biscuits are not just one of the most common snacks, they are particularly popular for dunking in tea. More robust than the similar rich tea biscuit, they can cope with strong flavors like English breakfast tea. The chocolate-coated varieties are also particularly sought after, with the chocolate melting slightly as it enters the hot tea. This combination also plays on that childhood favorite of milk and chocolate, as English breakfast tea is generally served milky.
3. Spicy tea and chocolate
Broadly speaking, plain dark chocolate pairs well with a variety of strong, spicy flavors. Since chocolate infused with ginger is such a popular combination, for example, it is logical that tea with ginger could also be a welcome companion to the chocolate on its own. Tea containing other spices, such as cardamom or cinnamon, could also work, as could herb-infused options such as mint.
4. Green tea and salads
Green tea has a lighter, more subtle flavor than black tea, which means it is best paired with milder-tasting foods. This could be a more savory salad with lettuce and perhaps even rice or pasta, or it could be a fruit salad. Melon is considered a particularly good accompaniment to green tea.
5. Tea and Cheese
You may think of cheese as pairing best with wine or other alcohol, but it can be paired with tea as well. There is a delicate balancing act to perform to try and balance the flavors of your cheese – which can run from strong and sharp to light and creamy – to your tea, which can also vary widely in astringency. That means that the milder notes of brie or goat’s cheese are better paired with subtler green tea, whilst the bolder taste of blue or smoked cheese needs more robust black tea as a companion. Fruity teas can also work well.
These are just five of the more common pairings of teas and snacks. What someone eats with their tea is clearly a highly personal choice dependent on individual taste, but knowing the best combinations allows you to make recommendations to your customers and to better tailor your products to the market.