Name: Homemade Chocolate-Mint Syrup
Total time: 25 min
Yield: Makes about 500ml
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 4 Teapigs Chocolate and Mint tea temples; 300ml freshly drawn water (used at 95C, off-boil and stood 30 seconds); 200g golden caster sugar; 30g unsweetened cocoa powder, sieved; 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1/2 tsp natural vanilla extract); 2 tsp fresh lemon juice (balances the sweetness without reading as lemon); A small pinch of fine sea salt; 1 clean sterilised 500ml bottle with a tight-fitting lid

This turns a box of Teapigs Chocolate and Mint into a bottle of chocolate mint syrup to keep in the fridge. Stir it into cold milk for a quick milkshake, into hot milk for an instant hot chocolate, over ice cream, or into a creamy cocktail. You brew the tea strong, then cook it down with Cocoa, sugar and a little vanilla into a glossy syrup.

Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for the Homemade Chocolate Mint Syrup recipe. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/recipes/mint tea/homemade chocolate mint syrup/

A couple of small things make it: sieve the cocoa so the syrup does not go gritty, and add the vanilla off the heat so it keeps its freshness. A squeeze of lemon goes in too, not enough to taste of lemon, just enough to keep the sweetness from cloying. It keeps for about three weeks.

⏱ 25 min 🍽 Makes about 500ml 📊 Easy 📚 Mint & Peppermint Recipes

You'll need

4 Teapigs Chocolate and Mint tea temples
300ml freshly drawn water (used at 95C, off boil and stood 30 seconds)
200g golden caster sugar
30g unsweetened cocoa powder, sieved
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1/2 tsp natural vanilla extract)
2 tsp fresh lemon juice (balances the sweetness without reading as lemon)
A small pinch of fine sea salt
1 clean sterilised 500ml bottle with a tight fitting lid

Method

Boil the kettle, let it stand thirty seconds to drop to 95C, and pour the 300ml over the four tea temples in a heatproof jug. Cover and steep for ten minutes for a strong concentrate.
Lift out the temples without pressing them and discard. You should have around 270ml of dark concentrate.
Pour the hot concentrate into a small heavy based pan and whisk in the sieved cocoa until smooth. Sieving is what keeps the syrup from going gritty.
Add the sugar, lemon juice and pinch of salt, and set over a medium heat.
Whisk steadily for eight to ten minutes until the sugar has dissolved, the cocoa is fully blended in and the syrup thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the vanilla paste; adding it off the heat keeps its flavour fresh.
Let the syrup cool in the pan for ten minutes, as pouring it boiling hot could crack a glass bottle.
Pour the warm syrup through a funnel into a sterilised bottle, cap tightly and label with the date.
Cool fully, then keep in the fridge for up to three weeks.
To use: about 30ml into a glass of cold milk for a milkshake, 60ml into hot milk for a hot chocolate, 30ml over vanilla ice cream, or a measure into a creamy cocktail.

What you'll end up with: A 500ml bottle of dark, glossy chocolate mint syrup, smooth with dissolved cocoa and flecked with vanilla, a clear peppermint lift on the nose, and enough for a dozen or so drinks and puddings over its three weeks in the fridge.

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🛒 Made with this tea

Teapigs Chocolate and Mint, 15 Tea Bags 37.5g£7.50