Tea Pairing
I learned a very interesting tea fact the other day. Did you know that matcha, or Japanese green tea, is traditionally served with a sweet side dish? This is because the vegetal overtone of matcha is naturally accompanied by a slightly sweet undertone that becomes heightened when paired with sweet food. It is one of the reasons why desserts containing matcha powder and choc-matcha lattes have become so popular lately.
However it’s not just matcha that pairs well with certain foods. All teas can be perfectly paired to compliment not only their taste but their health and wellness benefits too – especially herbal teas.
To show you just how beneficial (and tasty) tea pairings can be, over the coming weeks we’ll be showcasing a Tea Now pairing guide featuring examples of how you can use tea pairings to ensure you receive the very best benefit out of every cup.
Our pairing guide spotlight this week is on Tea Now’s Enhance Organic Immunity Tea.
With the cooler months creeping up on us, now is the perfect time to start giving our bodies that healthy immunity boost to help see us through the dreaded cold and flu season.
Enhance Immunity Tea is a toasty, comforting blend with a soft nutty flavour that really does taste like a warm bowl of soup.
It contains:
- Organic Green Tea
- Roasted Organic Brown Rice
- Organic Turmeric
- Organic Fennel Seed
- Organic Green Tea Extract
When pairing Enhance Immunity Tea, it’s important to look for foods that will complement both the tea’s immunity boosting quality as well as its warm, nutty taste. All the organic ingredients in this blend are well known for their anti-inflammatory properties, turmeric in particular. The reason why anti-inflammatory foods are so vital to protecting our immunity is because inflammation is our body’s way of responding to damaged cells, whether this occur through illness or injury. While this is a beneficial response that allows our body to work through its natural healing process of repairing cells and flushing toxins, it should be only a temporary process. Keeping our body in a constant state of inflammation by eating inflammatory foods - such as refined grains, processed foods, excess sugar etc - impairs our immunity’s ability to recharge because it is always on high alert. This is why Enhance Immunity Tea makes such a great addition to an anti-inflammatory diet.
Because Enhance is a distinctly savoury blend, it is a tea best enjoyed with mild flavours, such as brown rice/whole grains, fish, chicken and steamed or lightly sautéed vegetables. Whilst you don’t necessarily need to restrict adding additional seasoning to your meal – on the contrary, cracked pepper in particular is a vital pairing partner to turmeric, as it unlocks much of turmeric’s anti-inflammatory powers - you do want to keep the flavours mild in order to avoid overloading your taste buds and to allow those nutty overtones in Enhance tea to literally enhance the natural flavours in your food.
So for breakfast, you might like to try oat porridge with berries and pepitas, or perhaps some scrambled eggs with turmeric and black pepper on wholegrain toast.
For lunch, you could try a wholesome lentil, beetroot and hazelnut salad with ginger dressing or a yummy grilled sauerkraut, avocado and hummus sandwich.
For dinner, this anti-inflammatory roasted cauliflower, fennel and ginger soup would pair especially well with the flavours of Enhance.
For me, I personally enjoy sipping Enhance with a lightly grilled barramundi fillet with some lovely sautéed Asian greens over a bed of steamed quinoa with some cracked peppercorns.
The best thing is that these suggestions are just a small taste of the many anti-inflammatory meals you could pair with Tea Now’s Enhance Organic Immunity blend.
The only question now is, what will you be serving with your next cup of Enhance?
* Tania Pritchard is a tea enthusiast with an interest in health and wellness. We love her take on all things tea & she is a regular contributor to our blog.
Tania is not a qualified health practitioner. Always consult a heath professional before deciding if a health product is right for you.
https://www.willcookforfriends.com/2017/01/steel-cut-oats-with-kefir-and-berries.html
https://thehealthychef.com/blogs/Recipes/supercharged-scrambled-eggs
https://www.copymethat.com/r/mGur8QX/grilled-sauerkraut-avocado-sandwich/
https://www.superchargedfood.com/blog/dairy-free-themes/roasted-cauliflower-fennel-and-ginger-soup/