Tea & Chocolate: Liquorice & Fennel

I had odd hours today, with no lunch, and all I wanted when I came home at 4:30pm was a cup of tea and a piece of chocolate.

I've had the bar of chocolate in my fridge a few weeks.  I opened it to try one square as soon as I bought it, but didn't have a proper beverage to wash it down with at the time.  It was chunky and chewy, filled with fennel seeds, crushed almond and pieces of dried fig.  It's Fig, Fennel & Almond (70% cacao) by Theo Chocolate.  Theo has such interesting flavor combos in their Fantasy Flavors collection, with adorably-illustrated labels, and all are organic and fair trade certified (a few are vegan, this one included).  Fig, Fennel & Almond has so few ingredients (cocoa beans, sugar, cocoa butter, almonds, figs, fennel, ground vanilla bean).

The tea is an herbal one, which I got in the goodie bag from the NYC Coffee & Tea Festival this past weekend.  It's Sweet Liquorice Mint by Choice Organic Teas (all their teas are organic and fair trade certified, like the chocolate!).  The pyramid sachet came nearly full; more full than I've ever seen in fact.  It contains liquorice root, peppermint, spearmint, and cornflowers.  I'm not one for all-out minty teas, but I like mint in most blends.  I love liquorice root in teas (but I also like anise liqueurs such as Pastis... not everyone does).  The liquorice root lent its sweetness and viscosity for a full, "velvety" texture, which mellowed out the mints. 

I figured I should take a caffeine-free herbal infusion with my slightly caffeinated chocolate, since I do want to relax this evening.  The first time I'd tried the chocolate I was unsure about it, but knew I'd need to retry with a hot beverage to aid in its mouth-meltyness.  I thought the mint in the tea could've been a stretch for pairing with fennel-laced chocolate, but not so.  This was quite a lovely combo!