McVitie's Rich Tea The Classic One: the semi-sweet twin pack

Semi-sweet names a style of biscuit rather than praising one: there is sugar enough for the bake to colour, and no more. That restraint is why a Rich Tea can sit beside a strong mug without arguing with it.

Semi-sweet, and what that means here

Bite one and the first thing you notice is the texture: thin, hard and brittle, snapping in a clean line instead of crumbling. The taste is dry, faintly toasted wheat with only a hint of sugar, nearer a water biscuit than a sweet one, and it clears the palate fast. Compare a digestive, with its coarser wholemeal crumb, or a Hobnob, built on oats.

The published ingredient list for this barcode is short: wheat flour with added calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin, then sugar, sunflower oil, glucose-fructose syrup, barley malt extract, raising agents and salt. The allergen statement lists wheat and barley (gluten) and notes that it may contain soya. Sugars come to 20.2g per 100g on the published nutrition panel.

Two packs, one open at a time

The twin pack puts two separate 300g packs inside one carton, 600g in all, and the practical gain is freshness. One pack is opened; the other waits, still sealed, until the first is finished. A thin biscuit picks up moisture from the air readily, so the one you have started is the one to look after. Roll the top down tightly and clip it, or tip the biscuits into a lidded tin.

Your nose is the best freshness test. A newly opened pack smells clearly of the bake, warm and toasted with a thread of caramelised sugar, the product of browning reactions at the biscuit's surface in the oven. Once a pack has been open a couple of weeks the smell has mostly gone, and that fading scent tells you the biscuits are tiring well before they go soft.

Brewing for a semi-sweet biscuit

Brew it strong. A Rich Tea brings only a light sweetness and a quiet flavour, so even a long, dark builder's cup will not bury it, and milk rounds the pairing off. Black coffee is a fair alternative. What does not work is a pale green or white tea: with nothing in the biscuit to meet it, the cup and the biscuit both end up tasting thin.

For the dunk, hold it flat side down, dip half for two seconds, three at the very most, and lift it out while the upper half is still firm. Where the kettle goes on every hour or so, a twin pack disappears faster than you might expect, and the sealed second pack means the last biscuits are as crisp as the first.

The packs we stock

• McVitie's Rich Tea The Classic One Twin Pack, 2 x 300g 600g (barcode 5000168124858)

What the label says

The published ingredient list for McVitie's Rich Tea The Classic One Twin Pack, 2 x 300g 600g (barcode 5000168124858) says it contains wheat and barley (gluten), and it may contain soya. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.

Ingredients, as published: Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Sugar, Vegetable Oil (Sunflower), Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Barley Malt Extract, Raising Agents (Sodium Bicarbonate, Ammonium Bicarbonate), Salt.

Ingredient and nutrition data for this barcode: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. The pack in your hands is the final word.

What to drink with it

• Glengettie Welsh Breakfast Tea, 80 Tea Bags 250g: A strong, full breakfast brew with milk, exactly the kind of cup a semi-sweet biscuit is built to sit beside.
• Twinings English Breakfast Loose Tea, 125g: Loose English Breakfast in a pot, given a long steep, for the builder's-strength cup this biscuit suits.
• Nescafe Gold Blend Intense Instant Coffee, 190g: For the coffee drinker, a black instant coffee is a fair partner for a plain, toasted biscuit.

Elsewhere in the McVitie's range

• McVitie's Club Layers Orange, 39g
• McVitie's Club Mint Biscuit Bars Multipack, 7 Bars 154g
• McVitie's Club Orange Biscuit Bars Multipack, 7 Bars 154g
• McVitie's Club Salted Caramel Flavour Biscuit Bars Multipack, 7 x 22g
• McVitie's Dark Chocolate Digestive Biscuits, 266g
• McVitie's Digestive Pink Raspberry & Cream Flavour, Limited Edition, 232g

The full range is on the McVitie's brand page.

FAQ

What does semi-sweet mean on a biscuit? It describes a style with enough sugar to colour during baking but not enough to taste like a pudding. Rich Tea is one.

What is in the Rich Tea twin pack? Two separate 300g packs of Rich Tea The Classic One in one carton, 600g in total.

Does the Rich Tea twin pack contain soya? Soya is not in the published ingredient list, but the allergen statement for this barcode says it may contain soya, alongside wheat and barley (gluten).

How do I keep the open pack crisp? Roll it down and clip it tightly, or move the biscuits into a tin with a good lid. The sealed second pack needs nothing.

What should I drink with a Rich Tea? A strong black tea with milk, or a plain black coffee. Delicate green and white teas are too light for it.

Curator's note: Leave the second pack sealed at the back of the cupboard and forget about it until the first is finished. Brew strong, add milk and keep the dunk short. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: McVitie's Rich Tea The Classic One: the semi-sweet twin pack

More from the tea wiki

• Tea and Biscuits
• Biscuit Dunking Physics: The Real Science
• Tea Pairing Principles: Reason, Don't Memorise
• Tea With Cake: The Pairing That Never Fails (If You Get It Right)
• Tea and Food Pairing: The Five Principles

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