Review Wed Dec 16 2009

Vosges Haut Chocolat and Argo Tea Partner to Offer New Line of Candy Bars

Vosges Haut Chocolat released a new line of chocolate bars last week inspired by and made exclusively for Chicago café chain Argo Tea. The new parfums, as the company calls its flavor infusions, are taken from Argo Tea's Signature drink menu and include Chai, Green Tea Ginger Twist and Tea Sangria.

In recent years, confectioners and tea purveyors alike have married chocolate and tea with zeal. The two ancient foodstuffs, after all, share exotic and old world roots as well as possible health benefits linked to the antioxidants contained in dark chocolate and black and green teas.

Combining chocolate and tea is not new to Vosges or Argo Tea. For its Matcha Bar, Vosges infuses 41% cacao chocolate with the eponymous powdered Japanese green tea. Argo's Signature menu includes Chocolate Mint and Red Velvet beverages. The former can be made with any kind of tea, to which steamed chocolate milk and mint are added. The Red Velvet drink is a concoction of red tea, raspberry syrup and white chocolate. Every winter, Argo Tea also offers the Frostea, another hot beverage, made with white tea, white chocolate and frosted mint.

Now chocolate lovers have another reason to visit Argo cafés. The Vosges Chai bar consists of faintly smokey 62% cacao chocolate with subtle ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and vanilla notes from the Assam-based Chai tea.

In contrast, the gingery spice and citrus of the Green Tea Ginger Twist bar are much more assertive and bright as they are in the beverage of the same name. The ginger tea, ground ginger and lemon oil take centerstage to the 56% cacao chocolate. Oddly, the packaging does not list green tea as an ingredient.

Finally, the Vosges Tea Sangria bar, made with 42% cacao chocolate, the dried oranges, rose hips and hibiscus metals of Argo's Fruit Sangria tisane and hibiscus powder is a bouquet disguised as a candy bar, with a dominant floral tone that lingers.

The .5-ounce tea-infused chocolate bars sell for $2.95 each and are only available at the 15 Chicago Argo Tea locations.

— Sharon Bautista / Comments (1)