Sipping Sunday without the "Sip"; It's Time for Tea!

When I think of tea and chocolate, I usually think of relaxing with a hot cup of tea in the afternoon while taking a moment to savour a piece of rich chocolate. But mixing tea into solid chocolate is becoming more and more common. Many companies that make flavoured chocolate bars offer an Earl Grey flavoured chocolate or chai-spiced chocolate bar. But there is a company, The TeaRoom, that is devoted to creating chocolate-tea 'fusions', and giving their consumers that wonderful flavour combination without the need to steep anything.

I bought two "chocolate fusions" by The Tea Room last weekend, and since it is Sunday, I thought it was a great day for relaxing with a cup of tea and chocolate.

The first chocolate bar that I tasted was Chamomile & Honey fused with a sweet White Chocolate. The chocolate bar was not big - only 51 grams (1.8 oz) - and it had the subtle flavour of chamomile tea in it. The white chocolate was quite sweet, but was nice with no artificial flavours like commercial white chocolate often has. I also liked that there was no vanilla in it, so that the chamomile and honey flavours were highlighted and not overwhelmed by other flavours.

The second bar was a 38% milk chocolate bar fused with Black Masala Chai tea.  For those who do not know, Masala Chai has the flavours of cardamom, cinnamon, pepper and clove combined, creating a really spicy chai flavour.  The combination with the milk chocolate was a sweet and spicy combination, which sort of tasted like drinking a chai latte with chocolate.  My recommendation would be to drink a nice warm cup of milk with this chocolate bar and it would be like having a chocolate chai latte!

I bought these two chocolate bars at the Bulk Barn in Sudbury, Ontario.  They are both listed as USDA Organic and neither have artificial flavours or colours. Although both bars were a little on the sweet side for me, I would likely buy their other flavours to try and I would purchase these chocolate bars again as gifts for friends who love tea. Here are the details from the wrappers of these two chocolate bars:

Chamomile & Honey Chocolate Fusion, White Chocolate, 30% Cacao Organic, 1.8 oz (51g)
The Tea Room (San Leandro, CA, USA)
http://www.thetearoom.biz/
Ingredients: organic cane sugar, organic cocoa fat, organic dry whole milk, organic chamomile tea, organic honey, soy lecithin (added as emulsifier). Contains: soy, milk products. May contain traces of peanuts, gluten, wheat and/or other nuts and spices.

Black Masala Chai Chocolate Fusion Milk Chocolate, 38% Cacao, Organic, 1.8 oz (51g)
The Tea Room (San Leandro, CA, USA)
http://www.thetearoom.biz/
Ingredients: organic unsweetened chocolate, organic cane sugar, organic cacao fat, organic dry whole milk, organic black tea, organic cardamom, organic cinnamon, organic pepper, organic clove, soy lecithin (added as emulsifier).  Contains: soy, milk products. May contain traces of peanuts, gluten, wheat and/or other nuts and spices.

Looking for other tea and chocolate combinations?  A few days ago I tried a Raaka Virgin chocolate bar with Vanilla Rooibos tea.  It too was tasty and a very relaxing flavour combination, so checkout the post! http://ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/raaka-virgin-chocolate-flavours-of.html