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.
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.
Want the background, not just the brew?
Brewed with: Dragonfly Organic Vanilla Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 100g
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