Tea: Wine’s Sober Sibling is a multilayered handbook and cookbook with tea in the lead. It is an in-depth guide into the myriad possibilities of tea for tea connoisseurs and beginners alike. This book explains how similar tea and wine are and how they react when associated with food. Try over 70 original recipes, each with three matching tea suggestions and mouthwatering pictures, and experience the wonders of tea for yourself. There are chapters that explore the relationship and pairings of tea and cheese, tea and chocolate, and tea in mixed drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. 

Readers will also learn about how food pairings work and how to use tea as an ingredient for cooking through easy-to-follow recipes. Various methods of steeping tea are covered, and readers will learn how to easily prepare tea for everyday enjoyment to the best practices for restaurant use to more advanced, intricate methods for the experienced tea lover.

Explore the many infographics, tables, overviews, and graphs used to illustrate the major concepts of the book, and take a deep dive into the world of tea and food pairings with 294 pages brimming with information, including 6 pages with tea-related links to recommended tea shops, schools, and interesting videos about tea.
In short: this book is a must for everybody who is looking for the best food and drink experience, but especially for those who look for a non-alcoholic option for wine. Tea is that option. In fact, it is the only true replacement for wine, as it enhances the flavor of food, just like wine does. Often even better so.

Mariëlla Erkens is a tea connoisseur and educator, and a food pairing specialist living in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She was the owner and head chef of Eden, a restaurant in the fishing village of Itacaré, Brazil, from 2003 to 2008, where she served contemporary dishes with seafood and vegetarian food. From 2008 to 2011, Mariëlla Erkens worked as a freelance chef and food stylist in Amsterdam.

She is the author of the book: Tea: Wine’s Sober Sibling, published in Dutch in 2019 and in English in December 2021. The English version is only available digitally and available at all major online bookselling platforms.