A matcha made in heaven: Bird & Blend Tea Co. partners with the artisans at Cocoloco Chocolates to produce one-of-a-kind, tea-infused chocolate bar

22 May, 20

This month, two renowned British brands that share so many characteristics, have joined forces to create a bespoke range of tempting treats. The team behind the award-winning tea company Bird & Blend have partnered with artisan chocolatiers, Cocoloco Chocolates, to produce one-of-a-kind, tea-infused chocolate bars that marry the magic of these two independent companies.

The Cocoloco Chocolates x Bird & Blend range will include three unique flavour combinations, merging the best elements of both of these innovative brands, for the ultimate British collaboration. The chocolate bars will be available through Bird & Blend’s newly launched online provisions pantry, making them both highly unique and totally exclusive.

Both brands began life in much the same way, after their respective founders became inspired during their travels around the world. Wanting to bring original, quality products to the British people, in order to fill a gap in the market, these two separate businesses share very similar identities and ideologies – something that made a culinary partnership ever more appealing.

After years of working for corporate brands within the tea industry, Krisi Smith decided to use her skills to create her own range of innovative, top-quality blends that were creative and quirky in equal measure. Alongside her partner Mike, Krisi started Bird & Blend Tea Co. in 2013, from her mum’s spare bedroom. The pair created each brew by hand, packing them and selling them at local markets, gradually building the brand up from scratch. As well as their online venture, Krisi and Mike now have Tea Mixology stores in Brighton, Royal Tunbridge Wells and Bristol.

With a very similar back story, Cocoloco Chocolates is a small, family-run business that was founded in 2016 by Toby Cuthbert and Paulina Filar. Pressing pause on their careers in education and law, Toby and Paulina started the brand with a lot of enthusiasm and a broken chocolate machine to hand. They set to work crafting creative recipes, sourcing the finest cocoa from around the world and playing with wacky flavour combinations. Ethical and unique, Cocoloco Chocolates are handmade in small batches in East Sussex and Toby and Paulina have since grown the brand into two shops and a colourful online store, which ships delicious goodies globally.

A match made in heaven, these two stand-out brands first collaborated in 2019, when Toby and Paulina decided they wanted to serve Bird & Blend tea in their chocolate café in Hastings. Spotting the potential of bringing together the two brands, the team at Cocoloco Chocolates set about infusing their chocolate with Bird & Blend’s signature teas. Both parties fell in love with the flavours and knew there was much more that could be done to bring these amazing brands together for an unrivalled product partnership.

Now, less than 12 months later, these two hand-raised, independent British brands have revealed the fruits of their joint labour, showcasing the beauty and innovation of their individual products. The partnership has so far seen the invention of three unique chocolate bars that are sure to fly off the shelves including:

Earl Grey Crème Tea Infused Chocolate Bar (£5)
This rich bar consists of Cocoloco’s creamy, finest-tasting 43.5% Venezuelan Milk Chocolate, infused with Bird & Blend’s Earl Grey Crème Tea, for a hit of ceylon black tea and vanilla – a new classic.

Peaches & Cream Matcha Infused White Chocolate Bar (£5.90)
Flavoured with Bird & Blend’s Peach Cobbler matcha, this creamy, mouth-watering white chocolate bar enjoys juicy peach, fresh cream and biscuit notes, which make it the ultimate nostalgic treat.

Dark Chocolate Chilli Chai (£5)
Perfect for dark chocolate lovers, a tea-infused combination of Cocoloco’s Vegan Dark Chocolate and Bird & Blend’s award-winning Dark Choc Chilli Chai tea – a combination sure to awaken the taste buds!

In addition the partnership will also shortly be launching another three new and exciting flavours including a vegan option Peach Cobbler Chocolate Bar (64% Peruvian), Eton Mess Chocolate Bar (43.5% Venezuelan) and Black Magic Matcha (31% Dominican Republic) – all £5 each.

Designed to be enjoyed alongside a cup of your favourite Bird & Blend brew, these bespoke chocolate bars are also entirely unique to the brand’s online provisions store. The Pantry launched in April and is stocked up with household staples and artisan treats from an array of renowned, independent British brands. Bird & Blend is offering worldwide shipping on all pantry products, so every customer can get their store cupboard items delivered to their doors in a matter of days.

Founder Krisi Smith commented: “At Bird & Blend, we’re all about creativity, innovation and quality and we love working with fellow independent brands that share our ethos and that’s why we’ve teamed up with Cocoloco! We’re thrilled to be able to bring our customers top quality, artisan chocolate bars that are each infused with some of our most celebrated teas. You won’t find these amazing, bespoke bars anywhere else and we’re so proud to be working with a fellow, Sussex based brand that started life in a similar way to Bird & Blend – as an idea to make a difference.”

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