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.
One 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!”
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My sentiments exactly Diane. I have however tasted many tea infused candies that were not good. It’s great to get a vetted list from you. I’ll be sure to try them. Chocolate is a favorite of mine, right behind TEA!
I have a new friend who came up with one of the legends of the candy industry, Jelly Belly jelly beans, David Klein. I have mentioned tea-infused candy to him, and he is interested but he’s also extremely busy with his other candy lines. I’ve had some bad tea-chocolate candy combos as well, Michelle. I’d love to try Charles Chocolates creations!
Why don’t you send Charles a link to this post and request a sample for you to write a review on T Ching. Worth a try!
Being a huge fan of tea I love the idea of tea and candy but having tried the Matcha KitKat I have to say that chocolate based candy with tea infusions might not work. Chocolate just has a little too much strength and sweetness that simply overpowers anything I’ve had previously. Novel idea and happy to ‘sample’ everything :)
Michelle, I just might do that! Worktops.co, I had no idea a mainstream candy like KitKat had something with matcha. Well, this is actually a bestseller for a serious chocolatier, Vosges: http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/product/vosges-super-dark-chocolate-candy-bar-matcha-green-tea-spirulina/best_selling_gifts
Actually..you mentioned the sweetness aspect of chocolate, which is probably why Vosges used the dark chocolate, which I prefer anyway to milk chocolate.
Hi Diane! Take a look at this post on Green Tea Kit Kats written by Ifang Hsieh: https://tching.com/2014/02/uji-matcha/
Thanks, Rafe, I had missed that post. I have a friend who is a top Hispanic blogger and I know the big companies do special tastes/products for specific cultures.