There are rare moments when I feel like wrapping myself up in a blanket and sipping a cup of hot chocolate instead of tea. During one of those moments I thought to try and merge the two drinks so I didn’t have to feel like I was cheating on my beloved tea. So, enter your new favourite winter drink: tea infused hot chocolate! If you want a more flavourful cup, you’ll definitely want to make this. Once you taste tea infused hot chocolate, it’s hard to go back to regular. Now, you’ll just need to ask yourself what tea you’re going to steep with the hot chocolate.
Before beginning to infuse tea with my cup of hot chocolate, I was introduced to the idea of tisane infused hot chocolate at Canadian coffee chain, Tim Hortons.
Years ago, when ordering a hot chocolate from Tim Hortons a friend recommended that I ask them to add their peppermint tea bag to the cup. That was how I started to whip up peppermint hot chocolate on the go.
It made me think of other tea and hot chocolate combinations that may work.
What is Tea Infused Hot Chocolate?
My methods for tea infused hot chocolate consists of chocolate powder and steeped tea. Sometimes a bit of milk to make it extra creamy, too. That’s pretty much it!
This allows you to infuse the unique flavours of a tea with chocolate for a warm drink.
Tea to Infuse in Hot Chocolate
I’ve tried tea infused hot chocolate with many different teas, and it’s hard to pick a favourite. They all offer something different. But here is a list of some teas to try out in this recipe.
Don’t see a tea recommended on this list? Give it a try anyways and see if it works!
– Earl Grey
– Masala Chai
– Hojicha
– Genmaicha
– Lapsang Souchong (smoky hot cocoa, anyone?)
– Chamomile
– Peppermint blend
– Vanilla blend
– Berry blend (hello, chocolate covered berries!)
How to Make Tea Infused Hot Chocolate
There are 2 ways you can make tea infused hot chocolate. The longer method is making homemade hot chocolate on the stove top. The quick method is using premade hot chocolate powder.
Both are equally delicious. So, time is more of a factor than taste when deciding on a tea infused hot chocolate method to use.
Homemade Hot Chocolate Method
The tea infused hot chocolate recipe below is made from scratch using unsweetened cocoa powder. You can use any cocoa powder you have on hand though.
I add a sweetener to this recipe though. Therefore, if you use a pre-sweetened cocoa powder, be careful to not make the hot chocolate too sweet (it’s possible!).
Quick Method
As mentioned, the recipe below makes hot chocolate from scratch. But, you don’t have to do that to make tea infused hot chocolate!
If you want to make a quick version of this tea hot chocolate recipe, I’ll let you in on a secret….
Make hot chocolate how you normally would with your favourite hot chocolate powder. Follow the measurement directions that are on the packaging. However, instead of filling your mug with hot water, fill it with tea!
Steep a tea you’d like to infuse with the hot chocolate powder. Make sure you steep it double strength so the chocolate doesn’t overpower the tea. To do so, use more tea leaves.
Then pour the steeped tea in the mug with the powder and mix!
I do love making hot chocolate from scratch using the recipe below. It’s an extra decadent treat. But, I frequently make tea infused hot chocolate the quick method as well. Especially if I’m just making it for myself!
I recommend giving both methods a try and picking your favourite or whichever is most feasible for you. Just don’t forget to top your mug with whipped cream or marshmallows afterwards 🙂
Now, let’s get infusing…
Tea Infused Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 teaspoons loose leaf tea or 2 tea bags
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Instructions
- 1. In a small saucepan, heat the water to the temperature needed for the type of tea you are using (ie. black tea, 212 degrees F). Add the tea leaves or tea bags, cover and let steep for 5-7 minutes.
2. Strain tea leaves or remove tea bags. Whisk cocoa powder, milk and sugar in the saucepan until smooth on medium-heat.
3. Remove from heat when hot, serve in mugs with marshmallows or whipped cream and enjoy!
Notes
Like the idea of tea infused hot chocolate? Pin this recipe for later here –> https://bit.ly/3dNRuAH
What tea will you infuse into your next cup of hot chocolate? Let me know in the comments.
I love strong black teas and have a lot of them, but they’re never combined with chocolate. It turns turns the wonderful brews into mud.
I add chocolate to coffee, notably freshly ground, precisely brewed espresso beans which make great mocha drinks with no bitterness.
As opposed to weaker teas, good espresso stands up to a variety of flavoring syrups, strong spirits, ice cream, sweetened condensed milk, whipped cream toppings and more.
I agree that not all black teas infuse well with a rich chocolate drink, like espresso would. I definitely prefer tea blends in this case. I don’t really drink coffee, so I try to find alternatives. 🙂
this is such an awesome idea. I got this tea for Xmas called “Luxe Vibes” by a company called Tea Vibes, http://www.teavibes.com – it’s a rich black tea infused with coconut and dark chocolate – it’s so nice with this cocoa tea fusion recipe. Sooooo excited to look over all your recipes! Big fan! Xo Link for the tea is: https://teavibes.com/collections/black/products/luxe-vibes
Oh, yum! That does sound like a wonderful tea to infuse with hot chocolate.
This sounds like a great way to explore unique taste combinations!! I just bought mocha cappuccino k-cups today before I read this and may try to combine some tea flavors with them. I have made hot cocoa (chocolate) from cocoa powder and etc. before as well and would like to try that. Thanks for this blog post! I really enjoy your insights and manner of writing. I am from Illinois and first tasted Tim Horton’s coffee on a trip in the summer of 2000. I am usually found with a cup of tea or coffee accompanying me through each day.
I think you may have just changed my life. I’m not sure why I haven’t thought of infusing my two favorite things together before. Instead I’ve been buying some weird premixed chocolate inspired flavor tea that just seems unnatural. I’m going to give this a try tonight!
That’s awesome to hear! I’m curious how your experiment with tea infused chocolate goes, so please keep me posted on what tea you use and how it is 🙂
Tea Infused with Hot Chocolate – An interesting concept! I love Masala Chai and never really thought of trying it out with Hot Chocolate. Must give it a try. Thanks for sharing this interesting recipe.
This is a great idea! I would definitely try making this with an aged pu’er. I’ve had a ‘hot chocolate’ pu’er that I loved (Rare Tea Cellar), and Fiki Tea Bar (Appleton, Wisconsin) makes a hot chocolate drink using that pu’er. It is delicious and so comforting. Of course, my Florida temps are starting to think about spring tea flavors… 🙂
I would love to hear how your pu’er hot chocolate turns out! 🙂