Sal-TEA: Making and Using Tea Salts
(Originally published Jan 15, 2020)
Besides water, tea is the beverage that is drunk the most around the world, and is quickly rising in the ranks of popularity in the US, but what most tea drinkers don't know is that tea can be more than a drink. Tea is a versatile ingredient in cooking and flavoring foods as well.
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In a later article, Cuppa is excited to share more ways to use tea in cooking including recipes to try at home, but today we're going to talk about a simpler version of using tea in your foods: tea salts.
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Tea salts are just as they sound, tea and salt mixed together.
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Tea salts add an extra dimension of flavor to cooking and flavoring everyday foods including popcorn, meats, roasted vegetables, and anything else your creative taste buds can think up.
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Making tea salt is super easy. Just choose your favorite teas, and your favorite salts, blend together and let sit in a sealed container overnight. The longer the tea and salt are together the better the flavor will be.
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You can also use a chunkier salt, like flaked or sea salt, add the tea and crush with a mortar and pestle or spice grinder to better incorporate the flavors and make a finer sprinkle of salt.
We've paired a few common types of salt with our favorite tea match-ups below:
RECIPES
When it comes to recipes for tea salts, the possibilities are endless. Find a flavor tea and salt you enjoy, blend, and add it to whatever foods your little heart desires.
There are plenty of other ingredients you can add to your tea salts as well, including citrus zest, herbs, and spices. To start, below is a simple tea and salt combo chart that pairs types of teas with the salts mentioned above.
To blend your combinations we recommend 2 parts salt to 1 part tea, then add in desired amounts of additional ingredients, and they should be used within a month for best flavor.
The flavor combinations are absolutely endless when it comes to Tea Salts. Drop a line in the comments and let us know what you combined and what you cooked it with!