Cocoa Bean and Mint Tea Infusion
January 9th 2015
Not being able to find a mint tea that I liked, I decided to experiment with cocoa beans and fresh mint leaves. I use cracked cocoa beans which are sometimes called cocoa nibs or grué de cacao, but feel free to experiment with different types of cocoa beans.
INGREDIENTS
12 mint leaves
6 cocoa beans, crushed lightly, or 11/2 teaspoons cocoa nibs
2 teaspoons palm sugar or light muscovado sugar
METHOD
Bring 500ml filtered or mineral water to the boil
Place 6 mint leaves and the cocoa beans or nibs into each glass, along with a teaspoon of palm or muscovado sugar. Pour on the boiling water and stir until the sugar has dissolved
Wait for the cocoa beans to sink to the bottom of the glass, which takes 2-3 minutes; then it’s ready to drink!
Once the weather warms up, try adding lots of ice for a chilled infusion!
From ‘Adventures with Chocolate’ by Paul A. Young (Kyle Books, £14.99) Photography: Anders Schonnemann.