What Desserts to Pair With Dessert Teas?

Dessert tea is a small pleasure with a big personality. It tastes like caramel, chocolate, vanilla, or toasted nuts, and it turns an ordinary afternoon into something to look forward to. The lovely part is that these blends were made to sit right next to something sweet (if you want1).

Many European cafes serve a cuppa with a single square of dark chocolate that just enhances the mood before even taking a bite.  Dessert with the dessert tea sounds decadent - and it is.  But how do you pick the sweet bite? There are three easy ways to think about it. Then, at the end, a five-minute treat worth making tonight.

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The simplest move is to pair a tea with a dessert that tastes like the tea. You already love the flavor, so give yourself a double helping of it.

Reach for our Chocolate Hazelnut Dessert Herbal Tea and set a square of good dark chocolate on the saucer. The tea is naturally caffeine-free, built on sweet honeybush, so it is happy any time of day. Two hits of chocolate and hazelnut, one in the cup and one on your tongue.

Pecan is another easy match. Brew a pot of Porch Sippin' Pecan Black Tea, our pecan praline blend, and cut yourself a slice of pecan pie.  

Shop Chocolate Hazelnut Dessert Herbal Tea

Shop Porch Sippin' Pecan Black Tea

Complementary flavors

Some flavors were made for each other, even when they are not the same flavor. Think of cookies and milk. That is the idea here. You pick two sweet things that have always gotten along.

Vanilla Sugar Cookie Herbal Dessert Tea is our take on a warm sugar cookie, and it drinks like one fresh from the oven. Cookies have always loved a little milk, so serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a few sugar cookies on the side. It is naturally caffeine-free, which makes it an easy choice in the evening.

Cinnamon and apple are old friends too. Steep a cup of Rainy Day Puerh, our sweet cinnamon blend, next to a warm slice of apple pie. The earthy, spiced tea does have caffeine, and it makes the apple taste even more like fall.

Shop Vanilla Sugar Cookie Herbal Dessert Tea

Shop Rainy Day Puerh

Contrasting flavors

Now for the fun one. Sometimes the best pairing is an opposite. A bright, tart dessert can wake up a rich, creamy tea, and each one tastes better for the company.

Try our Coconut Macaron Dessert Black Tea with a slice of lemon meringue pie. The tea is creamy and sweet with coconut and almond, and the sharp citrus of the pie lifts that coconut right up.  

You can play the same trick in reverse. Pour a cup of Sugar Plum Black Tea, all bright plum and cardamom, alongside a dense chocolate torte. The fruit cuts through the chocolate so the last bite tastes as good as the first. This one is low in caffeine as well.

Shop Coconut Macaron Dessert Black Tea

Shop Sugar Plum Black Tea

Dessert tea questions, answered

What is a dessert tea?

A dessert tea is a tea blend flavored to taste like a dessert, such as caramel, chocolate, vanilla, or toasted nuts. You can drink it on its own as a sweet-tasting cup, or serve it beside an actual dessert.

Do you drink dessert tea with milk?

It's up to you. Creamy black teas and chai blends take a splash of milk nicely. Fruity oolong and lighter blends are often best on their own.  But in general, I like milk in my dessert tea.

Which dessert teas are caffeine-free?

Our herbal dessert blends are naturally caffeine-free. Vanilla Sugar Cookie Herbal Dessert Tea and Chocolate Hazelnut Dessert Herbal Tea are two easy places to start.

Can I drink dessert tea after dinner?

Yes. For an evening cup, reach for a naturally caffeine-free herbal blend. Save the caffeinated blends, like black and puerh, for earlier in the day.

Save room for a dessert tea affogato

Here is the one to make tonight. An affogato is usually a shot of espresso poured over ice cream. Swap in a strong dessert tea and you get something softer, and just as good. It brings the pairing ideas above into a single bowl.

1. Brew one heaping teaspoon of Soul Warmer Herbal Tea in a half cup of just-boiled water. Steep it strong, about six minutes.
2. Scoop vanilla ice cream into a small bowl or glass.
3. Pour the hot tea over the ice cream and eat right away, while it is still half melted.

Soul Warmer is a caramel blend and naturally caffeine-free, so this works after dinner. Want a little caffeine? Brew Porch Sippin' Pecan Black Tea instead. Both are a treat over vanilla.

Shop Soul Warmer Herbal Tea

Pick one tea and one sweet bite this week, and give yourself the ten quiet minutes to enjoy them together. Which pairing are you trying first? I'd would love to hear.