Chocolate Earl Grey Tea Latte

While coffee and chocolate are a common pairing, tea and chocolate are not necessarily put together that often. Coffee does go extremely well with chocolate because the two products share a lot of common notes and flavors. Tea may be milder (generally speaking) and not have flavors that mirror those of chocolate, but many teas can compliment chocolate quite well.

One of these teas, for me, is Earl Grey. The black tea has a strong note of bergamot, which makes the tea strong enough that it comes through even when put into a glass with chocolate. I’ve had earl grey tea-infused chocolates, but this time around I combined chocolate with straight earl grey tea to make a Chocolate Earl Grey Tea Latte.

The tea latte starts with strongly brewed ear grey tea that is topped off with steamed milk, sweetened with chocolate and sugar. I like to use dark chocolate and I always melt it into the milk, as it will incorporate much more smoothly with milk than it will with the tea. You can use hot milk instead of steamed, too. The drink has a great combination of black tea, chocolate and a hint of citrus – and it all works beautifully, even if it’s a combination you wouldn’t ordinarily try!
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Homemade Gingerbread Latte

Spicy gingerbread lattes are a coffee shop favorite around the holidays. Most are made with a gingerbread-flavored syrup, but I find that you don’t get quite as good results as you do at the coffee shop even when you use the same brand of syrup at home. I prefer to make my Homemade Gingerbread Lattes using ingredients that are actually found in real gingerbread instead of some artificially flavored syrup. The results are more gingerbread-y and much tastier.

This gingerbread latte starts, of course, with strongly brewed coffee. You can use espresso if you have an espresso machine. I lightly sweeten the coffee and stir in molasses, along with a pinch of cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg. Go easy on the spices, as in a small cup of coffee they will add a lot of aroma and flavor. Top off the coffee with hot or steamed milk, as well as some whipped cream, and you’re ready to serve. The drink can be sweetened to taste or with more molasses, for a stronger flavor, but it is definitely a holiday in a mug.

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Chai Tea Spiced Cider

Apple cider is one of my favorite winter drinks, not just because it’s tasty, but because like its seasonality. It is something that I only drink in the winder and I like it served piping hot. While there are many different brands of apple cider (and ways to make your own spiced cider), you don’t really get the variety of flavor with cider that you get with tea. Combining tea and cider seemed like an easy way to combine two of my favorite drinks into one new one that is perfect for a cold day.

This Chai Tea Spiced Cider is simply chai tea that is steeped in apple cider, as opposed to water. The spicy tea gives a lot of flavor – and a subtle tea note – to the sweet apple juice, and the combination of hot cider and spices is ideal for taking the chill off. It’s good enough that I wouldn’t be surprised to see it pop up on the menu board at a few coffee shops. Using cider that is already spiced will yield an even spicier drink, though plain apple cider works perfectly with the chai tea. You can use any tea brand that you like and loose leaf works just as well as bagged tea. I use loose leaf for a larger batch, but will often use bagged tea for convenience when making just one cup.
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Dark Chocolate Mocha with Instant Coffee

I visited the Smuckers headquarters in Ohio just over a week ago, and while I was there I got to spend a little bit of time in the test kitchen. Smuckers owns Folgers, which is one of the largest coffee brands in the world. I don’t typically use Folgers coffee, but it was fun to taste all the different varieties of it and use it in some of their coffee recipes. One relatively new product that they were particularly excited about were the Folgers Single Serve Packets, which put instant coffee in a handy travel pack. This was a simple mocha, which I made using Folgers travel packs and dark chocolate syrup.

I like instant coffee for making flavored coffee drinks at home because it’s very low maintenance and easy to customize. It is also easy to make just one or two servings in less than two minutes with basically no cleanup. In this case, I made a very short cup of instant coffee (quite strong, with much less water than recommended) then sweetened it up with dark chocolate syrup, milk and whipped cream. It may not sound as elegant as a mocha latte, but it definitely tasted delicious.
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Pumpkin Spice Coffee

A little spice can brighten up an otherwise ordinary cup of coffee – and add a little extra seasonal flavor. Pumpkin spice is a combination of cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg that is typically used to season pumpkin pie and other pumpkin desserts (hence the name), but shows up many other kinds of fall dishes. I’ve even used it in chili before! But like many flavors that work well in desserts, pumpkin spice also works well in coffee. You can add a splash of spice to the top of a latte, but to really get some fall flavor, I like to add this combination of spices to my coffee while it is brewing.

The amount of spice should be added to taste. You can sprinkle the spices over the grounds before turning on your coffee pot or you can blend them with your coffee beans in the coffee grinder, if you’re working with whole spices. I use about 1/2 a teaspoon of ground spices when I’m working with already ground coffee, and slightly more when I’m grinding them fresh. Either way, you’ll get a pot of coffee that has a wonderful aroma and a distinctly fall flavor. It is especially good when you’re making coffee for a crowd and want a little something different. I topped my cup with pumpkin spice marshmallows for even more spice – and a very cute look.

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