Happy March Everyone!
We just love this time of year when the days are getting longer and warmer, but the snow is still covering the mountains here in Park City. As many of us are beginning to feel the pangs for Spring sunshine, it’s always nice to have a few items in the tool kit to keep the winter blues at bay. A big one for me is a steaming cup of tea with chocolate, so this month chocolate and tea is our focus for our Limited Edition bar and Subscription Box.
Being from England, I grew up drinking tea from a young age. Every time someone comes to your house for a visit, be it a good friend or window cleaner, you always put the kettle on and offer tea. It’s common courtesy. Now looking back, I realize what a wonderful ritual it is to make and be served tea many times throughout the day.
For me it’s been a way to connect with someone or have a nurturing pause in the day. Had a bad day? Put the kettle on. Waking up a little groggy? A cup of cha (slang for tea in the UK) will sort it. Your family pops in unannounced? Get some tea and biccies (biscuit slang in the UK) together on a tray to share. Tea has always been a daily source of comfort and way to connect with people.
Since getting into chocolate making over 9 years ago, a new side of tea has opened up for me. Pairing chocolate and tea together really changes the tea experience with the addition of the sensory melt of the chocolate, while opening up new combinations of flavor.
In this month’s subscription box we have included some of our favorite chocolate and tea pairings of the moment. Each bar below, has a sachet of Rishi tea to pair:
Ecuador 75% Chocolate paired with English Breakfast
Madagascar 75% Chocolate paired with Blueberry Hibiscus
Mid Mountain 70% Chocolate paired with Peppermint Sage
100% Cacao Bar paired with Jasmine
Our March Limited Edition Bar is an earl grey tea bar with a 60% cacao oat milk base. It’s a bar with a creamy burst of Earl Grey and a floral bergamot finish to conjure up those first hints of Springtime. This bar was inspired by our London Fog truffle (which has earl grey tea, cream, and vanilla), which is a crowd favorite at our cafe in Park City.
Let us know if you have any favorite tea pairings with our chocolate. Half the fun is experimenting with different flavor combinations.
I also wanted to include some of my favorite tea quotes that inspire me and also make me giggle.
Happy tea drinking and chocolate eating!!
— Anna, Co-Founder
FAVORITE TEA QUOTES
“Drinking tea ... punctuates our day with precious and refreshing pauses, whether it is after a satisfying meal or when taking a much-needed break in our busy schedule.”
— Mutsuko Tokunaga, New Tastes in Green Tea
My dear if you could give me a cup of tea to clear my muddle of a head I should better understand your affairs.
— Charles Dickens, Mrs. Lirriper's Legacy
A cup of tea is a cup of peace.
— Soshitsu Sen XV, quoted by Kenneth S. Cohen
Make tea, not war.
— Monty Python
Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves — slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.
— Thich Nat Hahn
Never trust a man who, when left alone in a room with a tea cozy, doesn't try it on.
— Billy Connolly
Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.
— Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady, 1880
