Pairing Tea with Sweets – Plus, a Creme Brulee Recipe
Take the time to relax, reflect and enjoy your favorite cup of tea with dessert after a meal.
What could be more enjoyable? Served alongside desserts, classic flavored teas and tisanes can highlight both the sweet and the drink. Perfectly paired treats will enhance (not overpower) what you’re sipping.
For straightforward suggestions, try these:
- Jasmine or Sencha green tea with fruit desserts
- Chamomile with honey madeleines
- Hibiscus herbal teas with cobblers or muffins
- Peppermint with chocolate mousse
- Strawberry Ginger herbal tea with macarons
- Assam with crème brulee
Love Chai?
Enjoy the full-bodied Rajah Reserve Chai with classic pound cake, brownies, cinnamon baked goods, unflavored cheesecake, and apple muffins.
Are floral notes your favorite?
Try Very Velvet Oolong with lavender shortbread and macarons. Pair light floral teas with rich brownies: the lightness of the tea complements the richness of the brownies perfectly.
Pairing tea with chocolate is a world of exploration.
There are a few classic guidelines to use. You can look for pairings that have similar flavor characteristics, or you can find combinations where the tea and chocolate contrast each other. Oriental Beauty Oolong or Jasmine with Flowers Green Tea complements dark chocolate as the floral notes in both are highlighted. Green Walnut Green Tea goes well with the nuttiness of other dark chocolates. On the complimentary side of pairing, a spicy Masala Chai is enhanced by creamy milk chocolates.
If you prefer fresh fruit for dessert, you’re in luck.
Tea is a fitting accompaniment! Pair grapes and melons with Bai Mu Dan White Tea. Try Sweet Mirabelle Green Tea with stone fruits. There are many teas to bring out the natural sweetness and flavor of a fruit snack or dessert.
Do you want your tea to be your dessert?
Try the decadent Turtle Pecan Rooibos. The naturally caffeine‑free rooibos wraps you in warmth while dark chocolate, silky caramel, and buttery pecan notes melt together like a luxurious dessert. It’s a sweet, velvety evening indulgence that feels decadent yet wonderfully guilt‑free.
Or try Blueberries & Cream Rooibos for a delicious guilt-free dessert. This gorgeous herbal blend combines violet-hued cornflowers with orangey-brown rooibos. Infused, Blueberries & Cream is ruby red in color, with aromas of homemade blueberry jam and lightly sweetened yogurt. Flavors of sweet, juicy blueberries meet the sweet, woodsy flavor of rooibos and a subtle (yet essential!) cream note. A lingering aftertaste of fresh, ripe blueberries makes pairing this tea entirely superfluous.
Are you into baking?
The distinct citrus flavor of Earl Grey is the perfect match for lemon cake drizzled with dark chocolate (learn more about our Earl Grey teas here). The malty notes of Assam will balance sweetness and complement creamy desserts. The traditional English Breakfast goes perfectly with shortbread or a berry pie. Explore and discover flavors that complement each other, for you.
Here is a spicy, decadent dessert and tea combination to try. Pair this recipe for Crème Brulee with Cinnamon Roll Black Tea:
CINNAMON CRÈME BRÛLÉE
2 cups whipping cream
2 tablespoons Cinnamon Roll Black Tea
1/2 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons extra sugar
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon for topping
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan on medium heat, heat the tea and cream together until simmering. Strain tea leaves. Then whisk in sugar and egg yolks until well blended. Pour the liquid into 4 small ramekins. Place the ramekins into a large roasting pan filled with boiling water until the water comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake at 350 degrees just until the crème brulee is set, but still wiggly in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes.
Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days. Remove the crème brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Mix together cinnamon and sugar and spoon equally over the 4 ramekin dishes. To caramelize the top of the creme brulee, use a kitchen torch to melt the sugar and form a crispy top.
