I love tea, and I love chocolate. Surprisingly, the two things go together spectacularly! You’d assume that coffee was the natural go-to hot drink to accompany a chocolate snack (unless you want double trouble with a hot chocolate), but tea is just as good.
This is my short guide to tea and chocolate, chocolate in tea, and even chocolate tea. Don’t forget that if you’re ever looking for a tea with a very specific ingredient, then you can use my Tea Review Index to narrow your search.
Dark Chocolate vs Milk Chocolate vs White Chocolate
You’ll be surprised by just how well different types of chocolate go with different teas. In fact, I’ve had success with all types.
A good way to find the most harmonious tea and chocolate pairings, is to think about what foods go naturally with chocolate. For example, lemon and white chocolate, raspberry and dark chocolate, mint and milk chocolate…
Then, you can find some teas that have similar tasting notes to these foods and pair them with chocolate.
- My favourite white chocolate pairings – Chinese green tea, matcha, Tim Hortons Honey Lemon.
- My favourite milk chocolate pairings – Yuyun Yunnan black tea, chai and spiced teas.
- My favourite dark chocolate pairings – Pu-erh, hibiscus and orange tisanes, Dimbula Ceylon teas.
If you want to set up a tasting session, I recommend the Raw Halo Vegan Chocolate Gift Collection. I was lucky enough to win this set on Instagram, so I can vouch for it!
Black Tea, Green Tea, Chai?
When it comes to finding a blend that pairs well with your chocolate, you’ll want to avoid any teas that are particularly light and delicate. A jasmine green tea, a silver needle white tea, and other lightly fragranced teas will be immediately overpowered by chocolatey notes.
Instead, pick any tea with a bit more body. For example:
- Malty Assam tea, with bold tannin notes,
- Lapsang Souchong tea, with smoky depth and woody notes,
- Masala chai (spiced tea), with strong cinnamon and ginger notes,
- Dark oxidised oolongs, with mineral notes and intense flavours,
- Matcha green tea, with intense grassy astringent notes.
Don’t be afraid to play around with your teas. I recommend brewing a small amount of each tea, using a gaiwan, and trying them out with various chocolates.
My Top 5 Tea and Chocolate Blends
Adding chocolate to tea can be a bit daunting. So, here are my top blends that already have that chocolate ingredient. All you need to do is brew them.
Tea Musketeers Avalanche Andrea
This Lapsang Souchong-based black tea is deliciously rich and smoky. The black tea is bold but still very smooth and there are warm notes of spices and cocoa tingling your tongue. You will love sipping this tea on bonfire night and into the winter months. It’s a chai, designed to remind you of sitting by a campfire with a hot chocolate.
Smoky, spiced, warm, and dark chocolate notes make Tea Musketeers Avalanche Andrea a winner.
Whittard Spiced Chocolate Orange Tea
This tea was part of the Christmas set back in 2020, I believe (don’t quote me on that). Chocolate and orange are a classic combination, and this blend tries to replicate it. To be honest, it doesn’t really succeed in that.
Whittard Spiced Chocolate Orange tea is an herbal tea – there’s no caffeine in it – and the chocolate spiced flavour is very strong. The dark cacao nibs and heavy cinnamon spice really linger on your tongue, with only hints of orange to brighten the cup.
Adagio Chocolate Chai
I describe this blend in my full review as a “caffeinated hot chocolate” because of all the chocolate teas I have reviewed, this one is most chocolatey. Brew this one strongly and add some milk. You’ll be surprised at how sumptuous and rich this is. It’s a blend of black tea, cocoa, ginger, and cinnamon.
Often, chocolate ingredients in tea creates a watery texture, but Adagio Chocolate Chai is wonderfully thick and decadent in texture as well as flavour.
Whittard Silent Night Tea
This is an unusual example of chocolate melted in tea. Whittard Silent Night is a lighter green tea blend, with soft spices, and white chocolate stars floating around in it. So, you do get that slightly oily film on the top of the tea once it has brewed, but overall, this tea is divine.
The green tea base is warm and hay-like rather than grassy, while the melted white choc creates a smooth, slick, and creamy texture. The combination works beautifully, with the green tea providing a sturdy base and the white chocolate adding some sweetness.
English Tea Shop Coffee Cream
Last but certainly not least is another example of an unusual flavour combination… but it works so well! I loved reviewing this tea and I was very sad when I ran out.
English Tea Shop Coffee Cream is a mix of black tea, coffee, cocoa, and safflower to create a rich, warm, and surprisingly bright flavour. I describe it as mellow and soft in my full tea review, but you definitely will want to add a drop of milk to add that creamy note it’s begging for.
FAQs
Can you put chocolate in tea?
Yes, chocolate will melt into hot beverages. It can make the tea a little oily, so a better way to get that cocoa flavour into a cup of tea is to infuse cacao nibs in it instead.
How do you add chocolate to tea?
You can literally melt chocolate into a brewed cup of tea, or you can add cacao nibs to the teabag/loose leaf when you brew it.
What has more caffeine chocolate or tea?
A cup of average chocolate will contain 150mg of caffeine, whereas a cup of brewed black tea contains just 47mg of caffeine. However, when you compare chocolate to dried tea leaves (not the liquid tea you end up with) then tea has much more caffeine – 47mg per 2g of dried black tea leaves.
Do chai and chocolate go together?
Yes, they go very well together. Chai is a warmly spiced, milky tea drink so adding a little chocolate (even in the form of hot cocoa powder) will work beautifully.
What drinks go well with chocolate?
Tea and coffee both go well with cocoa.
What desserts go well with tea?
It really depends on the type of tea. A strong, standard black tea is great for washing down rich and heavy foods – like puddings, choc cake and pies. For lighter desserts (think fruit tarts, meringue, sorbet, etc.) then I would choose a softer green tea.
What tea goes with a chocolatey cake?
Any bold, malty black tea with strong tannin notes – this will wash down the rich chocolatey flavours easily. My personal choice would be this single origin loose leaf Assam by WhatCha.
Does matcha and chocolate go together?
Yes, they do go together. Milky flavours go well with matcha powder (hence the popularity of the matcha latte) so pick white chocolate or light milk chocolate.