npr:

Even those of us who can’t tell the difference between a pinot noir and a merlot are probably familiar with the basic rule of wine pairing: white wine with fish and red wine with steak. But when it comes to tea pairings, we’re stumped.

Yet it turns out there is an art to unlocking new flavors in your food by pairing it with tea. Sipping oolong with a buttery, citrusy madeleine can highlight the flowery and milky notes of the tea, while a hot cup of green tea melts the texture of goat cheese and enhances its creamy notes.

Now a whole new breed of experts has risen up to spread this knowledge: tea sommeliers.

“The whole idea of pairing tea with food is that you should have a tea that’s going to enhance the flavor of the food, or vice versa,” explains Aurelie Bessiere, a tea expert at Palais des Thes, a tea production company based in France. “What you want to happen in your mouth is to feel the different layers of taste and flavors of both tea and food.”

Tea Sommeliers Are The Hot New Thing In Food Pairing

Photo credit: Kathy YL Chan for NPR