Tag: tea

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Gourmet Chocolates

Locals Guide: June

Gourmet Chocolates

Here at Branson’s Chocolates we have chocolates that we call our Gourmet line. Some are not your everyday flavors, some are elevated flavors. They all are delicious and decadent. This month we are featuring our Gourmet Chocolates.

If you like your dessert a little spicy, or slightly exotic, or even a bit adventurous, we have the chocolate for you—Wasabi Ginger Chocolate. We add wasabi powder to a dark chocolate ganache square, dipped it in milk chocolate and top it with candied ginger.  It’s a gourmet treat for adventurous chocolate lovers which is inspired by a wasabi ginger potato chip.

Matcha Green Tea square is made by mixing ceremonial grade match agree tea powder into a white chocolate ganache, formed into squares, and then dipped in dark chocolate with a green Matcha chocolate stripe. According to many studies, Matcha tea makes this a sweet treat loaded with benefits:  L-Theanine, an amino acid known to create calmness and improve memory, powerful antioxidants including polyphenols and EGCg which is believed to be a powerful anti-carcinogen and catechins which help lower LDL cholesterol, to name a few. Thanks to http://www.naturallivingideas.com/10-amazing-benefits-of-matcha-green-tea/ .

Exotic jasmine tea is steeped to create the flavor in a semi-sweet ganache center, which is then dipped in delicious Belgian milk chocolate and topped with a sprinkling of jasmine tea.  Jasmine Tea Square is a delicious combination of bitter tea’s antioxidants and jasmine’s floral delicacy with gourmet Belgian chocolate.  Blissful everyday indulgence!

The best thing about Earl Gray Tea is that it is delicious, which is why BRANSON’S CHOCOLATES created our EARL GRAY TEA SQUARES. We steep Earl Gray Tea into rich cream, and then stir it into a dark chocolate ganache. We cover the ganache in milk chocolate and top it with a stripe of more dark chocolate. We are passionate about local products from local vendors, so we use tea from Full Leaf Tea Company based in White City, and cream from Umpqua Dairy.

This is just a few of our Gourmet Chocolates. To see the entire line of Gourmet Chocolates you can come into our retail location or check our website.

You can also find Branson’s Chocolates on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, and at bransonschocolates.com for online chocolate shopping.

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Earl Grey Tea Squares

Local’s Guide: March 2017

Earl Grey Tea Squares

Maybe you’ve heard the story of about a gift of black tea and bergamot oranges being sent from China, only to have the tea accidentally absorb the orange’s flavor during shipping. Or the one about how a friend of the Earl Charles Gray blended bergamot oil into the Earl’s tea because of the mineral flavor of the water? Or maybe how the recipe for Earl Gray Tea was actually given to the Earl as a reward for his accomplishments in China? However the recipe came about, today Earl Gray Tea is a well-loved favorite with many benefits.

  1. The bergamot in Earl Gray Tea relaxes and relieves stress, fights anxiety and depression, and boosts mood. And it has enough caffeine for a boost of energy, clarity, and focus.
  2. One of the most popular effects of Earl Grey Tea is weight loss, and it is considered to be a natural cold remedy, both thanks to the bergamot extract.
  3. Tea helps you stay hydrated due to its high potassium content.
  4. Earl Grey Tea contains high quantities of antioxidants, which helps fight off free radicals that cause diseases such as cancer. Antioxidants also help your skin to stay healthy by fighting the free radicals that damage skin.
  5. A study found that people who drank three cups of black tea daily dramatically lowered their triglyceride levels and increased their ‘good cholesterol’ HDL after three months, lowering their risk for heart disease. The participants also had increased levels of antioxidants. And research on patients with high levels of blood fats found that ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL) was reduced by 39% after a month of taking Earl Grey extract. It also reduced blood sugars by 22% and raised ‘good’ cholesterol by 41%. The reduction in blood sugar also shows that Earl Grey Tea may be highly beneficial for those suffering with diabetes.

But the best thing about Earl Gray Tea is that it is delicious, which is why BRANSON’S CHOCOLATES created our EARL GRAY TEA SQUARES. We steep Earl Gray Tea into rich cream, and then stir it into a dark chocolate ganache. We cover the ganache in milk chocolate, and top it with a stripe of more dark chocolate. We are passionate about local products from local vendors, so we use tea from Full Leaf Tea Company based in White City, and cream from Umpqua Dairy.

You can find us, and our EARL GRAY TEA SQUARES, at

  • The Oregon Chocolate Festival at Ashland Hills Hotel & Suites, March 4th-6th, Friday & Saturday.
  • The Oregon Cheese Festival at Rogue Creamery on March 18th-19th, Saturday & Sunday.

Bransons Chocolates              @bransonschocolates         Branson’s Chocolates

https://bransonschocolates.wordpress.com/  for our new blog!

http://bransonschocolates.com/  for online chocolate shopping

 

(http://worldteanews.com/insights/brief-history-earl-grey  and http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/10-surprising-benefits-earl-grey-tea-you-never-knew.html)

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Jasmine Tea Square

 Local’s Guide: January 2016

Jasmine Tea Square

Happy New Year, and welcome to 2016! At Branson’s Chocolates, we are excited for the changes that a new year always brings. One of those changes is our expansion. We are excited to start using our new addition, which is set to become our packaging room where we’ll be wrapping and packaging our mouth-watering chocolates for both retail and wholesale.

Another exciting New Year’s announcement is January’s Product of the Month– Jasmine Tea Squares, part of our gourmet chocolate line. We’ve mixed exotic jasmine tea into a semi-sweet ganache center, which is then dipped in delicious Belgian milk chocolate and topped with a sprinkling of jasmine tea.  It’s a delicious combination of bitter tea’s antioxidants and jasmine’s floral delicacy with gourmet Belgian chocolate.  Blissful everyday indulgence!

Jasmine tea is a sweet, fragrant, floral tea made by scenting tea leaves with just-blossomed jasmine flowers. The flowers are mixed with the tea leaves in temperature-and humidity-controlled rooms. Tea leaves are naturally highly absorbent and therefore make the perfect base to accept the fragrant scent of the jasmine flower simply by coming into close contact with the blossom. The flavor of jasmine tea is coveted, and is often used to flavor tea-infused dishes, especially desserts like chocolate.

In aromatherapy, jasmine essential oil is believed have a tranquilizing effect. And a 2005 study conducted by Kyoto University found that the smell of jasmine reduced study participants’ heart rates and produced “calm and vigorous mood states.” Jasmine tea is also full of powerful anti-oxidants which can help protect your body against damage from free radicals.

Be sure to catch January’s Chocolate Talk video on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/BransonsChocolatesAshland . Brian Goodwin directs and shoots all of our Chocolate Talk videos, which feature our current Product of the Month confection —which is Jasmine Tea Squares this month. Check us out on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/bransonschocolates , where you’ll find out all about our latest events and happenings, and follow us on Instagram athttps://instagram.com/bransonschocolates/  (we’re @bransonschocolates by the way) because you know that’s where to find mouth-watering photos of our delicious chocolate.

We’re often out and about at many of the local wineries and events, and January is no exception. January 22-24, we’ll be at ChocolateFest in Portland at the Oregon Convention Center. You can find more information about ChocolateFest at http://chocolatefest.org/ .

Thanks to http://www.amazing-green-tea.com/jasmine-tea-benefits.html and http://www.teatulia.com/tea-101/what-is-jasmine-tea.htm .