Gourmets often are wine lovers as well but how about tea lovers?
Here are 5 reasons why gourmets should love tea:
1) Tea is (Substantially) Calorie Free
Tea in its pure form- unadulterated by additives, other ingredients, milk or sugar- is calorie free just like plain water but it is amazingly flavorful and delightful.
Depending on the variety of tea you have on hand, you can enjoy sweetness, sourness, spiciness, woodiness, various fruity or floral nuances and a whole host of flavors, all without adding a jot to your caloric count.
2) Aids Digestion
Many of us experience the “I shouldn’t have reached for the last pie/chicken wing/ fillet/ rib” syndrome when the food that we devour mercilessly return to wreak havoc on our stomachs. Tea has been used as a digestive aid by Asian communities for centuries be it Chinese, Japanese or Korean.
The warm tea washes down the grease and oil, releasing the feeling of bloated-ness, freeing gourmets to enjoy their next meal better. Even if you didn’t over-eat on the previous meal, drinking tea makes you hungry, preparing you for the next meal.
3) Trains Your Palate
A common compliment paid to a gourmet is a ‘sophisticated palate’ or an ‘educated palate’. Technically it’s the tongue that discerns the taste but an ‘educated tongue’ evokes all the wrong associations- to say nothing of ‘training your tongue’- so we’ll stick with convention.
Tea is arguably more complex than any food or drink. It can have more than 500 types of fragrances and to best discern them, the tea and tea leaves should be smelled at different temperatures.
Then the texture, taste is multi-dimensional, so much so that tea connoisseurs slurp their tea and suck in air to aerate the tea over different areas of their tongue to discern the different levels. Savoring the finish and aftertaste is a big part of the tea appreciation process as well. After that is done, the tea drinker is encouraged to suck on their teeth to better ‘draw out’ the aftertaste.
*For more details on this you can read this article
The long and the short is that tea needs to be carefully appreciated to draw on the subtle nuances of the beverage and it rewards those who seek assiduously. Consequentially, tea appreciation helps one become more sensitive to the different aromas and tastes of food.
4) The Cooling Temperament of Tea
Some of the most delightful types of food are considered ‘heaty’ in TCM nomenclature- fried stuff, spicy food as well as baked pastries. TCM beliefs state that ‘heat’ is one of the primary sources of illnesses. Coupled with the naturally warm and humid Singapore temperature, it doesn’t auger well for the foodie.
Fortunately, certain categories of teas (green, white, yellow and lightly oxidized oolongs) are ‘cooling’ in nature and can help to restore the balance.
You can read more about the TCM nature of tea here.
Restoring balance frees us to enjoy food more after all, the best food in the world is tasteless for those with a sore throat or a stuffy nose.
5) It is an Epicurean Delight
Unfortunately words can’t quite do justice to the full taste spectrum of tea.
It is an odyssey in its own right. Often teas initially have at least a hint of bitterness but when it’s spread over the tongue, you can experience so many subtle nuances until it finally slithers down the throat, a sweetness wells up and it lingers together with a floral or fruity fragrance.
Take a deep breath or a sip of water and you will find your tea sweetened it.
That is a gastronomic delight can scarcely be replicated elsewhere.
So foodies, I hope I have whetted your appetite to venture into the rewarding world of tea.
If your previous experience with tea has not been that rewarding, it could be a case of lower quality tea or brewing methods.
*Here’s a quick tip, throwing tea leaves into a big pot and letting it steep continually doesn’t work*
*Quick tip two, if you have to keep adding chili sauce to your steak to make it palatable, it’s probably not kobe beef. By the same token, if you need liberal amounts of milk and sugar to make your tea drinkable, it’s not the finest one around*
Do invite you to try (again).
