Name: Vanilla Rooibos Hot Chocolate
Total time: 10 min
Yield: Serves 1
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 2 Dragonfly Organic Vanilla Rooibos pyramid bags; 300ml whole milk; 60g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), roughly chopped; 1 tsp golden caster sugar (optional, to taste against the bitterness of the chocolate); A small pinch of fine sea salt; 2 tbsp lightly whipped double cream, to top; A pinch of ground cinnamon, to dust; A small square of dark chocolate for the final grating

A hot chocolate for the evening, made properly with real dark chocolate rather than a sachet, and with no caffeine to keep you up. The difference here is that the milk is steeped with Dragonfly Organic Vanilla Rooibos first, so the vanilla and the gentle honey malt of the tea carry through and meet the bitterness of the chocolate halfway.

Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for the Vanilla Rooibos Hot Chocolate recipe. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/recipes/rooibos/vanilla rooibos hot chocolate/

The order of work matters. Pull the bags from warm milk rather than boiling it, then melt good 70% chocolate into that infused base with a pinch of salt. Done this way it drinks as one thing, smooth and rounded, rather than chocolate and tea sitting awkwardly side by side. A little whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon finish it off.

⏱ 10 min 🍽 Serves 1 📊 Easy 📚 Rooibos Recipes

You'll need

2 Dragonfly Organic Vanilla Rooibos pyramid bags
300ml whole milk
60g dark chocolate (70% Cocoa solids), roughly chopped
1 tsp golden caster sugar (optional, to taste against the bitterness of the chocolate)
A small pinch of fine sea salt
2 tbsp lightly whipped double cream, to top
A pinch of ground cinnamon, to dust
A small square of dark chocolate for the final grating

Method

Warm the milk in a small heavy based pan over a medium low heat to about 80C, steaming with the first fine bubbles at the edge but not simmering.
Take it off the heat, drop in the two rooibos bags, cover and steep for eight minutes. Warm milk keeps the vanilla fresh and stops a skin forming too soon.
Lift out the bags, pressing each against the side of the pan, and discard.
Return the pan to a low heat. Add the chopped chocolate, the sugar if you want it, and the pinch of salt, whisking gently as the chocolate softens.
Keep whisking over a low heat for two to three minutes until the chocolate has melted in and the drink lightly coats the back of a spoon. Do not let it boil.
Pour into a warmed tall mug and spoon the lightly whipped cream on top in a small dome.
Dust the cream with cinnamon, then grate a few fine shavings of dark chocolate over the top.
Serve straight away. The cream cap holds for about five minutes before it melts down into the chocolate.

What you'll end up with: A dark, glossy hot chocolate with vanilla and a faint honeyed warmth from the rooibos beneath the cocoa, a soft cap of cream, and cinnamon and chocolate shavings on top.

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🛒 Made with this tea

Dragonfly Organic Vanilla Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 100g£4.50