An afternoon of tea and chocolate tasting in Cornwall. All in the name of National Chocolate week. Featuring Marc Demarquette for the chocolate element and Jonathan Jones for the Cornish tea side of things.
On what was meant to be a beautiful blue skied autumnal day, but turned out to be a grey and extremely blustery one, we set off for one of Cornwall’s posher parts, the Roseland Peninsula. It was the beginning of Chocolate Week and we were heading down to a tea and chocolate tasting event at Smugglers Cottage & Tea House at Tolverne on the Tregothnan Estate.
This was to be a double act with Jonathan Jones, the tea expert at Tregothnan and Marc Demarquette. Can that be right? Not the famed London artisan chocolatier in the depths of Cornwall? Yes indeed, it was National Chocolate Week and for once we were not going to be deprived of a top notch event.
But before I get carried away with chocolate and my new found enthusiasm for mixing the leaf and the bean, thanks to Matcha Chocolat, I’ll just insert a short garden tour.
Trelissick Gardens
Trelissick is on the opposite side of the river Fal to Tolverne and as we don’t go down that way very often, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to pay a visit to these beautiful gardens. I’d imagined sitting in the autumn sunshine, warming my bones and banishing my cold whilst admiring the beautiful colours of the autumnal leaves.
What we got was a gale force wind, no sunshine and a fast stomp around the garden. Actually it was more of a shuffle in my case – teeth chattering all the while. We were more worried about avoiding falling branches from the trees than admiring their beauty.
To cross the river, we had to take the King Harry Ferry. Whilst this was rather romantic, it had us reeling in shock after £7.50 was extracted from our reluctant hands for the privilege of the five minute crossing there and back.
Tea And Chocolate Tasting
So to the tea and chocolate tasting. We were greeted warmly on arrival and offered a cup of tea to help stave off the cold whilst we waited for the others to arrive. We were also given a much anticipated and thus much appreciated chocolate to try. It was one from the beautifully decorated Demarquette Ganache Collection, Thai Lemongrass.
Both Marc and Jonathan waxed lyrical about their chosen subjects and I just wished I’d come better prepared with pen and paper so I could record every nugget of information. The tea and chocolate tasting event was a very friendly, relaxed and good humoured occasion. There were plenty of questions from the audience and the experts were happy to answer them throughout the session.
Even CT, initially a reluctant participant, cheered up remarkably quickly when presented with tea and chocolate. Despite feeling under the weather this was a wonderful way to celebrate Chocolate Week, very different to the chocolate cupcake tour I did last year, but no less fun.
Tea Tasting
Tregothnan is the only grower and producer of tea in the UK and is now in its 5th year of production. They grow most of the teas they offer on the Cornwall estate.
We were already familiar with their green tea, which we find clean and refreshing, so that’s the one we both chose.
The Tea House is currently a temporary structure and more like a tea tent. Plans for a more permanent (and hopefully more aesthetic) one are in the pipeline. We sat huddled around the stage with thoughtfully-provided blankets draped around shoulders and laps.
It wasn’t easy to tune in above the flapping canvas and the roaring wind. But we did out best. It reminded us that we don’t really have a climate in Cornwall, just weather. It could just as easily have been midsummer or midwinter.
Jonathan Jones kicked off proceedings by explaining about tea growing in general and tea as grown on the Tregothnan estate in particular. He handed around some tea plants for us to examine along with dry and used tea leaves. He is passionate about promoting high quality loose leaf tea in this country. Quite right too.
He gave us samples of various brews to match the selected Demarquette chocolates. Marc explained how the chocolate flavours were more powerfully released from the warmth the tea left on the tongue. We started with Afternoon Tea and some dark chocolate from Brazil. He was right.
Among some of the teas we tried were the Breakfast Tea, which not being a black tea fan, was way too strong for me and manuka tea. This comes from the Leptospermum scoparium bush, also known as tea tree in New Zealand, where it seems to cover virtually every hillside. It has a delicious warm aromatic quality and grows extremely well in Cornwall.
Chocolate Know How
Just in case you don’t know, Demarquette – Fine Chocolates is one of the top chocolatiers in London. All of the chocolates are made by hand. Marc uses some of the finest quality chocolate you can find. He is as passionate about chocolate as Jonathon is about tea, if not more so.
Ethically sourced and harvested produce is very high on his agenda. He even featured in the Panorama documentary Chocolate – the bitter truth. Marc spoke a little about the history and the ethics of buying truly “fair traded” chocolate. He spoke to us about the importance of provenance as well as of production.
Real chocolate is slow chocolate – it takes a lot of time to ferment, roast and conch. Time is money and if poor people are not to be exploited along the supply chain, we the consumers should expect to pay a fair price. As with all top quality products, less is more.
Talking of luxury products, he has created three exclusive chocolates for Tregothnan, Kea Plum, Earl Grey and Honey. All ingredients, other than the cocoa, come from the estate.
As I’m sure you are already aware, good quality chocolate contains cocoa butter, an ingredient much prized by the beauty industry which makes it a rather expensive commodity. The temptation for chocolate manufactures is to substitute this for vegetable oil. And indeed this is what is used in most mass produced confectionery.
Samples of both deodorised (as used for skin products) and pure cocoa butter (as should be used by chocolate makers) were passed around for us to touch and sniff. We could certainly smell the difference.
Chocolate Tasting
At various points during the afternoon, we tried two more from the Ganache Collection, Fleur de Sel and Blanc Manger des Antilles. This collection has the names of the chocolates printed on the chocolate itself, an ingenious method of being able to select just what you want from the box. Both were delicious indeed.
The salty sweet caramel really set off the slightly sour dark chocolate and the Antilles had one flavour chasing another across the tongue (nutmeg, cinnamon, coconut and rum) – wonderful stuff. As well as another dark chocolate whose identity now escapes me, we also got to try the recently launched Vietnamese Ben Tre bars, both dark and milk.
In addition to being ethically sourced, £1 from every bar bought is donated to Action Against Hunger. The 70% dark was robust whilst the 40% milk was creamy and tasted of honey. Not surprisingly, both have won awards.
Chocolate Ganache Demonstration
Marc also demonstrated how to make a “simple” (his words not mine) ganache. This was the part I was most excited about, given my propensity for splitting ganache and making a total mess. He made a Tregothnan Earl Grey Tea ganache using the tea, cream and honey from the estate. He made it look very easy, but the secret appeared to be in using a whisk to slowly fold the ingredients together.
We all then had the unenviable task of eating up the ganache whilst it was still warm. Awful, but someone had to do it. Again the flavours exploded on the tongue, the secret being in the warmth of the chocolate, although I suspect that the ingredients had something to do with it too. I will be attempting Marc’s method sometime soon and if it works I’ll tell you how to make a successful ganache!
Smugglers Cottage
Unfortunately, I was not feeling so great and thus missed most of the photo opportunities. I could kick myself now. Apart from forgetting to take some of the actual chocolates that we ate, I didn’t take any pictures of the venue.
Smugglers itself was a really picturesque thatched cottage. We had a guided tour later and inside, it was cosy and snug and was a good setting for a romantic meal. I was rather sorry we weren’t staying for the three course chocolate dinner that followed our event. Eisenhower’s chair presided by the fireplace; he apparently stayed one night at the cottage when planning for the D-Day landings.
The location itself was stunning. Also quite remote – a mile down a wooded track with the Fal estuary lapping almost on its doorstep. Indeed a visit by boat would probably be the best option. Fortunately, they have some pictures on their website, so you can see what it looks like there.
Other Cornish Chocolate Tastings You Might Like
- A Cornish cornucopia
- Cornish chocolates
- National Chocolate Week: Cornish Tea Rooms
- Temper temper: the secret of chocolate success
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you ever go tea or chocolate tasting in Cornwall, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or advice?
If you post pictures on social media, tag me @Choclette8, so I can spot them.
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Choclette x
Jean | DelightfulRepast.com says
I reviewed some Tregothnan teas some time ago and really enjoyed them. Next trip to England (someday over the rainbow) I’m definitely visiting Tregothnan and Cornwall. I must say, though, I’m a “cream first, then jam” kinda gal! 🙂
Choclette says
I’ll try to pretend I didn’t see the “cream first” bit and focus on our very special Cornish tea. It is quite exciting to live in the only part of the UK that grows tea.
Maya Russell says
Once went to the Roseland Peninsula for a stay. It was beautiful.
JaynesDen says
This looks idyllic. A beautiful part of the country.
Maya Russell says
It looks quite tropical in the picture. Gorgeous. I have been to the Roseland Peninsula before. If we go again I’ll look this place up.
Choclette says
Thanks Laura – nearly there on the recovery. Funnily enough milk didn’t come into the equation at all, but then again neither did lemon. Returning to Penzance on holiday or to live?
Laura Nickoll says
I hope you’re fully recovered. What did they think about pairing chocolate with milky tea? I do love a piece of G&B 70% dark with a milky earl grey (tea enthusiasts probably balk at the idea of putting milk in earl grey…). A lovely, evocative post. I’m returning to Penzance in the spring, and can’t wait.
Choclette says
Celia – It is indeed a beautiful place, I’m very lucky to be living in such picturesque part of the country. When I reluctantly moved away at 18 I spent years trying to get back again. Feeling much better now thanks, just last few snivels.
KitchenMaid – indeed how I suffer for my stomach 🙂 Thanks for the choc cake tip – I have a recipe for one which has been on my list for a long time now – I’m saving myself for later 😉
CityHippy – What no chocolate week in Australia? You’d better start one.
Chele – thanks, more treats needed I say.
Chele says
What a treat and a perfect way to celebrate Chocolate Week! Great pics too ;0)
cityhippyfarmgirl says
Nice one. Can I possibly be transported and experience all this as well? Chocolate Week…I think it needs to be held everywhere.
Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial says
Great post, Choclette – hope you’re well and truly on the mend now though! Gorgeous chocolate, and I absolutely love that photo of the river (even though it cost you both a fortune to cross it)! What a beautiful place it must be!
The KitchenMaid says
Well done you for braving the terrible conditions AND feeling ill. The things we do for chocolate eh? Hope you’re feeling better.PS The Gizzi Erskine book has a recipe for an Earl Grey choc cake – with a sort of tea praline scattered on top. Might help you recover…
Choclette says
BVG – thank you. I suspect you are in the majority, but I think the tied may be turning.
Ananda – glad you liked it. Maybe I should do a poll on who prefers their chocolate with tea and who with coffee.
Hazel – thanks, the weather is not always kind to us 🙂 I should follow your tea tip – I am too impatient.
Sushma – thank you for your kind words.
Michele – unfortunately not invited, just a fee paying member of the public – maybe one day. We did get a rather cool Tregothnan jute bag to take home, but nothing edible.
Dom – however dedicated to chocolate, it would be hard indeed to taste but a smidgen of what’s out there OR then again, looking at some blogs, maybe not.
Liz – thank you. Bit of a virulent cold this one – 9 days and I’m still sniffing and coughing. But chocolate is always a great comfort.
Margaret – it was great, just wish more of that sort of thing going on down here.
Gillian – Indeed I do as will be trying to make it myself soon. The truffles were wonderful, but I expect yours are pretty damn good too. In fact if you care to send me a few sometime I could review them???
300 ml boiled double cream steeped (can’t remember how much earl grey, but not a lot) for as long as possible. Then 350g dark chocolate, 150g milk and 1 tsp honey.
Margaret says
This sounds like a really wonderful day for any chocoholic and ‘top notch’ too!
Gillian says
Wow Choclette. Now I am jealous. That was a fab account of the tasting. My mouth was watering! Now did you manage to remember the ingredients for the tea ganache? I’d love to try. Demarquette is a name that has been popping up in lots of blogs so I guess they must be beautiful truffles.
Liz says
I agree with all of the above – and I love the Roseland. Hope the choc fest helps you to a speedy recovery..
Dom at Belleau Kitchen says
great post… well worth doing even though you were feeling under the weather… so much chocolate… such little time!
Sushma Mallya says
lovely pics and write up….
5am Foodie says
All I can say is wow, you do get invited to cool events! Sounds absolutely fantastic. Hopefully you got some nice treats to take home too…
Hazel says
Ahh sounds wonderful, despite the weather and you feeling under the weather! I almost always eat my chocolate with a cup of tea. I just sit a chunk on my tongue and let the tea do it’s business. Yum!
Ananda Rajashekar says
lovely post, love ur 2nd pic..am very much a tea and choc girl 🙂
Brownieville Girl says
Wonderful post Choclette!
Have to say I’m a coffee and chocolate girl though!!