International Biscuit Day is May 29 and we all love a good biscuit dunk, but what if I told you there’s actually a secret technique handed down through generations that reveals the ultimate consistency of dunkage.
First though, what do we mean by dunking? We think that Judi Dench’s character in the movie Best Exotic Marigold Hotel gave a great summary: “It means lowering the biscuit into the tea, letting it soak in there, and trying to calculate the exact moment before the biscuit dissolves, when you whip it up into your mouth and enjoy the blissful union of biscuits and tea combined.”
We spoke to Yorkshire Tea’s Leading Tea Expert & Senior Tea Buyer, Suzy Garraghan who shared her top tips for the perfect dunk.
1. It’s all about the angle
The trick to the perfect dunk starts even before the tea is poured. Whether you opt for a teacup or a mug, make sure it’s wide-brimmed. This will allow you to dunk your biscuit at the right angle. If you’re a ‘down-dunker’, you might be surprised to hear you’ve been dunking your biscuit wrong all these years! Ideally you want to dunk at an almost horizontal angle, so only one side of the biscuit gets soaked. The biscuit will stay stronger, allowing for repetitive dunks!
2. Choose your tea wisely
When you dunk a biscuit, it absorbs the quality and strength of the tea’s flavour, making it taste better. So, choose wisely! It ultimately comes down to personal preference, but for me, proper dunking tea are top class, peak season Assam teas like Yorkshire Gold which is full-bodied and rich in ‘gutty’ strength and malty notes.
3. Check the temperature
Monitoring the temperature of your tea is a gamechanger for perfecting your dunking technique.
The warmth of the tea dissolves the biscuit’s sugar, fat and starch, so the biscuit will eventually collapse under its own weight. Temperature, therefore, is often responsible for our drowned dunking pursuits.
The hotter the tea, the quicker the biscuit will dissolve.
While I can recommend 85 degrees as the optimum temperature for your proper brew, a perfect temperature for dunking will depend on your bikkie of choice. Tea temperature will affect each biscuit differently depending on its ingredients (more on that soon).
4. Watch the clock
The optimum dunking time shares a similar predicament to the ideal dunking temperature – it depends heavily on the biscuit variety. No matter which partners you choose, never dunk for less than two seconds or more than five seconds – and don’t forget to monitor for signs of the biscuit collapse!
For a Ginger Nut, I recommend around 3 to 5 seconds. This is one of my favourites as it can be dipped multiple times. For a Tim Tam or a Digestive, no more than 2 to 3 seconds as these varieties are less solid and will dissolve and make a mess faster.
5. Pick your partner
Now the moment we have all been waiting for… which biscuits reign supreme? While it comes down to personal preference, I do have some favourites:
· Ginger Nut: The gingernut is a funny one as I feel like it is entirely reserved for dunking in tea. Who eats a dry gingernut? Without tea, they are dry and hard, but with tea, they become beautifully chewy. The flavour means they’re not universally liked, but they are excellent value for the keen dunker due to being solid enough to be dipped, bitten and dipped again.
· Digestives: A classic digestive makes the perfect tea partner with its semi-sweet flavour and crumbly texture that lets you appreciate the taste of the tea in all its glory. For those with a sweet tooth, chocolate digestives are perfectly dunkable as well!
· Tim Tam: The chocolate covered Tim Tam will leave the dunker with the delicious mix of tea, chocolate and biscuit all at once! There are two ways to dunk the Tim Tam – the original dunking method or the rather more fun, Tim Tam Slam!
Everyone has their favourite biscuit, and whether you’re a fan of Aussie classics like Anzac, Scotch Finger, or Nice, or you prefer creamier options like Monte Carlo, Shortbread Cream, or Mint Slice, one thing is universal, biscuit dunking! Dunking biscuits in your tea or coffee is an age-old tradition, but be careful not to leave it in too long, or you’ll end up with soggy crumbs at the bottom of your cup. Love the soggy bits? No judgment here, everyone has their own unique way to enjoy biscuits with tea or coffee. Which favorite Aussie biscuit will you be dunking today?
