I’ve been reading about tea for years and working with tea for years.  The absolute breadth of possibilities with tea is amazing and one application is in candy-making.  We carried tea-infused bars when we had our store in Temecula years ago, but it’s been a long and difficult road for dedicated chocolatiers to bring tea into this venue successfully.

loading image waldenOne story is of Charles Chocolates of the San Francisco Bay area who, after a devastating investor experience (of which I can empathize), had to reboot, successfully raised money to do so in a KickStarter campaign and is known for wonderful tea-infused chocolate recipes, including this one for Earl Grey Truffles, shared in a video by Martha Stewart, hand-making them beside Charles:
Torn Ranch has done tea and chocolate combinations for years, as have a number of smaller chocolate/candy companies.  There are bagged tea-infused candies by Bali’s, and Asian companies have done hard candies with green tea for years.
I just read this article on tea-infused chocolate from the Candy Industry blog, written in December of 2014.  “Tea Infused Chocolates May Be The Next Big Thing.
I’m not a tea purist in the sense of turning my nose up at blends that are done with true artistry and the best ingredients, and the same rule applies for me with tea-infused products like chocolate.  As long as they taste amazing and the quality is impeccable, I say, “Give me one of those Earl Grey, Chai, or Moroccan Mint infused dark chocolate truffles up in here!”
Loading image from T Ching archives.  IMAGE 1: