Achieving a perfect green tea pairing is like going to the beach. At first, you might enjoy the sunlight soaking into your skin, but soon, you’ll realize there’s so much more you can do (e.g., swimming, fishing) than just breathe all that fresh air.
While a cuppa green tea is as delicious and healthy as can be, you’re in for one pleasant surprise to know tons of foods enhance the drink like no other. No less than Queen Elizabeth enjoyed her fave morning tea with biscuits, and yes, tea with milk has been quintessentially British since the 17th century.
So, if you’re a newbie tea enthusiast (or a late-bloomer tea connoisseur) excited to know what foods should go well (and what won’t) with your cuppa green tea, hop in. This post will give you a rundown of 10 of the best green tea pairings — and how to create one to make your mouth water. Read on.
A Little Hors d'oeuvre
The secret to perfect tea pairings is recognizing that not all green tea is created equal. While oolong tea may have the broadest range of tastes among true tea types, green tea also has several unique varieties. Below are the three main types.
1. Fruity Green Tea
A concoction closely associated with India and Sri Lanka, fruity green tea harbors that endearing natural sweetness. This tea type doesn’t go well with deep-fried or greasy meats but is perfect for unsweetened pastries, sandwiches, and fruit salads.
2. Vegetal Green Tea
Mostly associated with Japan, this green tea exhibits a grassy flavor that reminds you of seaweed. No wonder it pairs perfectly with seafood such as sushi, and yes, sencha tea should be one of the finest examples of this tea type.
3. Smoky Green Tea
Now, smoky green tea is your best bet to pair green tea with stronger-flavored foods than just seafood. Mostly a product of tea artisans from China, this tea type pairs best turkey, chicken, and root vegetables but won’t go well with sweet chocolates.
10 Perfect Green Tea Pairings You’ll Adore
Then again, your palate is the final arbiter of what’s best for you. A good rule is that green tea should enhance your meal and not overpower it. If you’re confused, the following list should show you the way.
1. Bread
Want an energy-boosting breakfast to jumpstart your day? Then you can’t go wrong with whole wheat bread paired with a fruity green tea. Bread, with its rather bland flavor, blends well with a cuppa of aromatic, less-oxidized tea leaves — perfect for energizing your mornings and afternoon breaks.
2. Seafood
That unique aftertaste of seafood (e.g.sushi, grab, lobsters) complements green tea's grassy and flowery flavor. Small wonder the mouth-watering combo of sencha and seafood is a much sought-after duo at the dinner table. Pleasing your taste buds so much you’ll be asking for more.
3. Chocolate
A green tea pairing you should try, especially when it comes to black chocolate. Balance that bitter aftertaste of cocoa so familiar to black chocolates with the sweetness of matcha green tea, and you have yourself a match made in heaven.
Yet that doesn't mean you should shy away from milk-based chocolates, which offer a much sweeter chocolate blend. Vegetal green tea such as sencha provides just the right balance to enhance the sweet chocolate flavor. The result? An ultimate smooth, balanced flavor that appeals to your most delicate little taste buds.
4. Barbecue Dinner
Are you looking to substitute beer or that glass of wine to go with your roaring barbecue parties? It’s a tough find. Fortunately, green tea should save the day. Not only is green tea a fantastic substitute for beer but also, the nootropic drink enhances BBQd foods more than any other tea type.
5. Pan-fried Chicken
Chicken prepared on a pan has a smokey yet subtle flavor, perfect for making the ideal green tea pair. Green tea's flowery clean grassy taste can complement the smokey aroma that the chicken fried on a pan emits.
It’s a perfect match. Be it the deep-fried alternative of fried chicken or the uncoated yet seasoned chicken that is seared on a pan. The trick here is to use that smoky green tea to subdue the greasy taste of a pan-fried chicken.
6. Fruit Salads
Indeed, green tea is good news for most of us who have a sweet tooth. Pairing fruit salad and green tea means you’ll enjoy an energy-boosting snack that you’ll long for to counter the summer heat. Plus, it’s a most nutritious combination gilded in natural sugars that won’t make you hungry as refined sugars would.
7. Fruits
Nature’s fruits are delectable, yet you get an even healthier and more delicious snack paired with green tea. Sweet fruit flavors blend perfectly with the mildly sweet approach of green tea. For best results, we recommend sweet fruits (e.g., mangoes, apples, bananas).
8. Sandwiches
All the distinct yet delicious flavors rolled as one inside a sandwich may make you long for one. Nonetheless, pair it with fruity green tea and see how your taste buds shout for more as you raise your snack experience through the roof.
9. Pizza
Again, another smokey delicacy, pizzas are packed with various flavors that all work together to get that iconic pizza taste that makes you want more. Pizza's smokey flavor balances out green tea's clean grassy taste. If you’re gunning for the fences, pair smoky green tea and pizza with vegetable toppings.
10. Honey-based delicacies
Honey-based delicacies are naturally sweet, paired with green tea, and you can guarantee to inspire your taste buds even more. For one, you cut the bitterness associated with tea when you pair it with honey.
It’s a telltale sign. You’re bound to satisfy your taste buds even more when you expand your horizons. And reach out for that perfect green tea pairing today.