Tea sweets
Romantic Tea Infused Chocolates
Give the tea-loving chocoholic the perfect gift this Valentine’s Day with tea-infused chocolates. There’s an ideal pairing for every kind of tea and chocolate. Finding the right combination produces a union that delights the palate and raises the individual components to a higher level. Make this Valentine’s Day a triumph by offering your loved one exciting new sweets they’ll never forget!
A match made in heaven
There are several reasons why tea and chocolate pair well together. Both are influenced heavily by the terroir they come from. The flavors of tea and cacao beans change dramatically depending on how high they’re grown, the soil quality, and the climate. Neither is consumed in their raw state and requires skilled artisans, long hours, and much love to produce the end product.
As with tea, chocolate can range from sweet and subtle to robust and bitter. With endless variations in between. The creamy elements of cocoa butter and milk soften tea’s astringent qualities. This allows them to harmonize on the palate, enhancing all the flavors. In contrast, dark chocolate is powerful enough to hold its own against more complex teas.
Create pairings
Creating a tea and chocolate-tasting flight for you and your loved ones is easy. Start with white chocolate and work your way up to dark. Here are some recommended pairings.
- White Chocolate – the high amount of cocoa butter in white chocolate means more fat. Which creates a smoother, creamier mouth feel. This allows it to pair well with teas that are bitter or astringent. One of the most celebrated combinations is white chocolate mixed with matcha. Each elevates the other’s weaknesses by balancing the matcha’s sharp, grassy notes with the white chocolate’s decadent sweetness. Green teas, Jasmine tea, and herbal tisanes blend seamlessly with white chocolate.
- Milk Chocolate – Usually made with 10-40% cacao, milk solids, milk fat, and some sweetener, milk chocolate is the easiest to pair with teas. It can handle strong bitter black teas, toasted Genmaicha, and Hojicha, as well as the spicy, bold flavors of chai and fruit teas—the honeyed muscatel notes of a first-flush Nepalese tea pair especially well with high-quality milk chocolate.
- Dark Chocolate – Containing the highest percentage of cocoa, dark chocolate reflects the purest essence of the cacao bean. The flavor can vary dramatically, depending on where it’s grown, from fruity and bright to earthy and spicy. Certain oolongs, and even Tie Kuan Yin, hold their own against dark chocolate while aged Pu’er sings. Layering the leather, wood, and tobacco notes of an aged Pu’er with the bright acidity and sweetness of tropical fruit from dark chocolate creates a harmonious combination that’s utterly unique.
See: Romantic Tea Sweets for Valentine’s Day
Tea-infused chocolates
Several talented chocolatiers are producing exquisite tea-infused chocolates using premium loose-leaf teas and single-origin cacao beans. These heavenly sweets are perfect for celebrating love and affection on Valentine’s Day.
Raaka | Green Tea Crunch Chocolate Bar
“Cacao starts with a fruit-just like tea starts with a leaf.”- Raaka chocolate. What makes Raaka chocolate bars unforgettable is that they use unroasted single-origin cacao beans to make their chocolate. This allows the fruity notes of the cacao to shine.
Raaka also goes one step further by steeping Genmaicha green tea in melted cacao butter so that the toasted nutty flavor infuses more deeply into the chocolate. Puffed quinoa adds a crunchy element and a hint of playfulness to this sophisticated chocolate bar.
Paper & Tea Infused Chocolate
The innovative team behind Paper & Tea has collaborated with Master Chocolatier Kevin Kugel from Original Beans to create the world’s best line of tea-infused chocolates. Famous for his commitment to sustainability and sourcing the finest cacao beans, Kugel blends his unique cacao flavors with the sophisticated teas from Paper & Tea. The In The Mood For Love Bar uses the delicate fragrant notes of Jasmine tea to enhance the caramelized sweetness of milk chocolate. A combination that evokes romance and adoration.
Some other chocolates in the series include dark chocolate infused with an orange chamomile tea blend and white chocolate steeped in turmeric and ginger spiced tea. Paper & Tea pushes the envelope by seeking to elevate the tea experience, and they’ve done it again with this inspiring new line of tea-infused chocolates.
Dallmann Confections | Tea and Chocolate Pairing Box
The Tea and Chocolate Pairing Box from Dallmann offers an enticing multi-sensory experience. Each handcrafted chocolate presents a delicious and fragrant combination of tea, such as jasmine, lavender, and hibiscus, with high-quality cacao that are as visually stunning as they are flavorful.
Isabella Knack, the founder of Dallmann Confections, grew up working in her family’s renowned pastry shop in Vienna that’s been in business since 1954. After moving to San Diego, she took her inherent love for desserts and channeled that passion into crafting stunning artisanal chocolates.
Delysia Chocolatier | Tea Collection Chocolate Truffles
Inspired by the celebrated tea houses of London, this award-winning selection of tea-infused chocolate truffles pays homage to three of the most famous types of tea. The talented team at Delysia Chocolatier lovingly steeps Earl Grey tea in a dark chocolate cream to bring out the distinct orange and bergamot notes. For their sumptuous Chai Tea truffles, they infuse white chocolate ganache with a masala spiced chai tea blend and then set it in a dark chocolate shell.
Each luxurious bite transports you to a chaiwallah’s cart. Matcha powder is added to a special dairy-free ganache to impart a hint of green color and vibrant spring grass flavor.
Siamaya Chocolate Thai Tea Milk Chocolate Bar-
Northern Thailand is becoming recognized for growing high-quality cacao, and the team behind Siamaya Chocolate is all about celebrating Thailand’s unique flavors. With bold combinations such as Durian fruit, milk chocolate, and even Khao Soi Curry and chocolate, they’re quickly becoming the masters of flavor.
Their Thai Milk Chocolate bar seamlessly blends a classic Thai tea’s creamy, sweet, and spicy notes with locally sourced cacao beans. Siamaya is meticulous in its sourcing and only uses organic, all-natural ingredients from local farmers. They’re also dedicated to improving the lives of their producers by always paying higher than market prices for their goods.
Mariage Frère Truffles Au Thé Marco Polo®
One of France’s oldest and most venerated tea houses, the Mariage family has been sailing the seas looking for exceptional teas for hundreds of years. Their exclusive blends and single estates teas pair beautifully with their rich tea-infused chocolate truffles and bon bons.
An enticing and exquisite combination of flavors is created by blending the exotic notes of their beloved Marco Polo® tea with decadent layers of classic French truffles, a marriage between the great chocolate tradition of chocolate truffles and the exquisite flavors of red fruits, flowers from China and Tibet, and vanilla. Luxury, history, and tradition create a sweet moment that sparks true passion.
Love all the great pairing ideas. I enjoy turmeric and ginger tea and my husband loves white chocolate. I think this Valentine’s Day we will try them together. 🥰