Chocolate infused with tea — be it Earl Grey, green or Irish Breakfast — is exploding in the chocolate industry. Many confectioners showed off their candy brews at the 8th annual Chocolate Show this weekend in New York City.

"Tea and chocolate are a very good combination," said François Payard, owner of Payard patisserie and bistro in Manhattan. "They are two strong flavors that go well together."

And go well together they do, when it's quality chocolate and equally top-notch tea. Payard's Earl Grey dark chocolates are divine, as are the Missouri-based Bissinger's green-tea truffles with lemongrass. Chocolate Bar in Manhattan's Greenwich Village offers both tea-infused truffles — Irish Breakfast and Earl Grey — and chocolate-infused tea, made with Valrhona flakes of 99 percent cacao.

"Tea and chocolate are sharing an interesting evolution within the consumer market," said Chocolate Bar owner and founder Alison Nelson. "They're both high in antioxidants, so putting them together is a natural choice."

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Posted by Lawren at November 14, 2005 08:49 AM | Trackbacks (0)

You Said

Yum!

Says: lynne at November 14, 2005 10:55 AM

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