A consistent conflict I hear about in the tea world is that tea retailers have difficulty attracting people to true tea and tea education. The US market has fallen in love with blended teas that provide fruity refreshment. As a result, the traditional culture of true tea is overlooked: pure processed Camellia sinensis leaf. A strategy that is working for many tea retailers is hosting tea pairing events. They are a hip way to introduce true tea to new tea lovers by combining connoisseur products such as chocolate, specialty sweets, and cheese, with tea. Arranging a pairing event is a simple and engaging way to bring people into your tea shop and coming back for more.
Earlier this year Tealet hosted a tea and chocolate pairing event with Madre Chocolate, an Oahu-based bean-to-bar chocolate maker that has mastered the art of chocolate pairings. I learned that the methods of Madre’s pairing selection are not much different from what I learned during my food science/flavor chemistry days. The goal is to discover pairs that complement each other and provide a fuller and more balanced palate.
The science of the palate is not hard to understand. There are three main factors that 
make up our palate; taste, flavor, and texture. Taste is what is perceived by our taste buds; consisting of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami (savory). Certain preceptors are more sensitive in different locations on the palate. Based on where on your palate you are experiencing a taste sensation, you can confirm the level of each taste in the tea or pairing item. This is not 100% accurate, but a good general practice.
Perhaps one of the most important factors of the palate is flavor, as there are thousands of volatile compounds (aromas) that the human nose can detect, versus only five taste receptors. In order to develop a strong palate, one must be in touch with their olfactory receptors, which can be trained, or “calibrated,” with tasting vials. This method is often used in the food science world in qualitative sensory analysis to understand the human perception of food products; results are compared to quantitative analysis using expensive equipment like gas chromatography mass spectrometry.
The final element of the palate is texture. This is mouth feel and should be evaluated not just as the feel, but also the location in the mouth (or throat) it is perceived and the duration of the texture. The goal of a successful pairing event is to provide products which, when consumed simultaneously, provide a full palate, encompassing all three elements.
Although there is some heavy science behind creating a great tea pairing event, the best way to get people engaged is to make it fun. Prior to the event, create and document what you believe are great pairings and provide these as recommendations to attendees of your event. There is no right answer – everyone’s palate is unique – so encourage your attendees to try out their own pairings and make their own evaluations. A more casual event will provide a more accessible true tea experience for your attendee (and future loyal customer). Let them know that a sophisticated palate is only relative; it just must be exercised. You can see an example of a tea and sweet pairing we recently launched with Amsterdam Stroopwafel maker Rip van Wafels. Feel free to use this as inspiration for your next tea pairing event.
Images courtesy of the contributor.
I love your idea to introduce your tea customers to Orthodox tea. That is always my quandary. On the one hand, when a friend describes themselves as a “tea lover” and I know that they’re only drinking blends, I used to have to bite my tongue not to say anything negative. Now I see it as the beginning of their tea journey. Each time they come to my house, I offer them a different tea for them to experience. Before too long, I’m giving them a personalized size tea pot and some whole leaf tea to go home with. The rest is history as they join the ranks of tea drinkers and tea lovers around the world.
Thanks Michelle, it’s always so much fun to introduce new people to the true nature of tea. It’s contagious too, which is always why I say the best tea is shared tea.
The “science of the palate” is super interesting. For me, food has always been about texture first, and taste second. I don’t crave carbs, I crave fluffy warm breads. I don’t crave salt, I crave the feeling of salt crystals on pretzel sticks. It’s so gratifying…
Too often I hear from purported tea connoisseurs, or read articles such as this that are critical of those who don’t drink ‘true’ tea. In fact we should be grateful to those much maligned blended teas as they are, in many cases, a gateway to the pure leaf. I’ve learned that the best way to introduce newcomers to pure (unadulterated) tea is through tea blends and infusions. As an example, Latina/Hispanic women are the largest consumers of sweetened/carbonated beverages, hence their high rates of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses. It’s easier to wean them off these nutritionless beverages and onto teas that they find flavorful and reminiscent of traditional cultural tastes. A tea shop may have the luxury of selling only pure Camellia sinensis teas, but it would surely be losing out on a large customer base. My experience has been that once customers are hooked, they’re more willing and interested in graduating to the ‘true’ teas. Finally, when pure leaf is infused with other botanicals, is the leaf still not present? It may not be 100% leaf, but I’d rather think of the final product as value-added, for many of these botanicals and herbs themselves are known to have various healthful qualities. No matter our beliefs about true tea, I don’t believe it is for us to define nor determine who or what makes a tea lover. After all, tea blends have been around since the 1800s and I doubt that we should question the millions of English tea lovers that love their Earl Grey!
You make excellent points JoAnn. As mentioned, I agree with your perspective. Once those who enjoy blends are committed to tea, they seem more willing to try orthodox teas as well. My most serious concern relates to the simplicity of true tea and the sweet, delightful flavor it imparts. Those drinking blends won’t have the pleasure of appreciating the taste of green tea for example. When brewed properly, it has a simple taste, without flavors or sweeteners of any kind. That is what I want people to experience. Blends do provide wonderful herbs and botanicals that have tremendous health benefits as well. Some blends however were made to mask the taste of lower grade tea, adding flavors that overpower the bitterness of tea. Lack of attention to proper brewing techniques also caused that bitterness, which again, blends can hide.