We love that these products are all made from things that might have been thrown away if someone hadn’t noticed how rich they are in flavor.
Credit: Bailey Garrot
Credit: Bailey Garrot
Bewitching Herbal Cacao Tea from Xocolatl
Atlanta chocolate-maker Xocolatl is known for sourcing cacao beans from all over the globe to produce single-origin chocolate bars that surprise with their variations in flavor. But, they also offer a different way to savor chocolate: Bewitching Herbal Cacao Tea. It’s a blend of roasted husks and nibs of cacao beans with black tea, cinnamon, peppermint, vanilla and licorice root. Yes, chocolate tea, and we are here to tell you it’s delicious, flavorful and satisfying, while also being light. The combination of chocolate, mint, spice and vanilla hits every note you want in a refreshing drink. We’ve been drinking it iced, but this is going to be a terrific alternative to hot chocolate when the weather finally cools off.
$15 per 3.5-ounce canister, enough for about 20 cups. Available at Xocolatl at Krog Street Market (with curbside pickup available), 99 Krog St., Atlanta, and at xocolatlchocolate.com.
Geisha Cascara tea from Belux Coffee Roasters
Ben Li and Lucy Liu opened Belux Coffee Roasters in March, 2018. The couple offers more than a dozen house-roasted, single-origin, single-farm, micro-lot, organic coffees from Central and South America, Africa and Asia, plus one tea: Geisha Cascara. It’s coffee cherry tea, made from the skin and fruit, or “mucilage,” of geisha coffee beans grown on the Cafe Granja La Esperanza estate in Colombia. The coffee is known for its floral, fruity and tea-like flavors, and that carries through to the coffee cherries, which go through 36 hours of fermentation before they are dried and processed into tea. When you understand the source of the tea, you can appreciate its fruity flavor even more. You taste dark cherry and raspberry notes — and, at the end of your sip, a little hint of coffee — in the brewed tea, which is delicious, hot or cold.
$14.95 per 2.5-ounce tin. Available at Belux Coffee Roasters, 5430 McGinnis Ferry Road, Alpharetta, and at beluxcoffee.com.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Cocoa dust from Cocoa Academic
Chocolatier Bethany Moore opened Cocoa Academic in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2016. In her online shop, she offers a great range of gourmet chocolate bars, which we’ve sampled and written about before, but what we tried recently was the cocoa dust that she bills as a caffeine-free alternative to coffee. It’s made from ground roasted cocoa husks, the outside shell of the beans that are roasted to make delicious chocolate. Open the bag, and it smells exactly like cocoa powder. You can brew a pot of just cocoa dust, using a French press or your coffee maker, or you can do as we did, and mix it half and half with fresh ground decaffeinated coffee. Add a little milk or cream, and you’ve got instant “mocha” — and instant delicious.
$18 per 7-ounce bag, enough for 30 servings. Available at cocoaacademic.com.
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