A sugar stick is rock candy at its best looking: crystals grown slowly around a wooden stick. This one is yellow and carries a lemon flavour. You stir with it, and as you stir it dissolves — so the stick is spoon and sweetener in one.

Why rock candy rather than a cube

Rock candy dissolves more slowly than ordinary sugar, and that isn't a nuisance but the whole point. Your cup sweetens gradually, so you still taste the tea itself in the first sips. The lemon stays light: it doesn't push the tea aside, it gives it a fresh edge.

What it goes with

• Black tea — Earl Grey and lemon were made for each other.
• Green tea and herbal infusions, where a touch of acidity lifts the flavour.
• Hot lemon with honey, for when the weather lets you down.
• In the East Frisian tea tradition strong tea is sweetened with brown rock candy; this is its cheerful cousin.
• And yes, in an espresso or cappuccino too, if you like things sweet.

What to do with it

Put a few beside the teapot when people come over — they'll take one by themselves, if only because they look good. In a tea gift they sit well next to a tin of loose leaf and a filter. And on a children's table they are simply sweets on a stick.

Ingredients

Sugar, flavouring, colouring: E160a.

Nutritional values per 100 g

Facts

• Rock candy on a wooden stick, with flavouring and colouring
• Length 11 cm, 10 g net per stick
• Store in a dry place