Rue du Thé (and Chocolate)

Shortly after discovering cioccolata calda in Berkeley at Almare in 2011, I learned of Rue du Thé in Burlingame.  Though Rue du Thé (which in French means "Street of Tea") specializes in tea, they also feature European drinking chocolate.

A branch of Leland Tea Company in San Francisco, this storefront a block off the "Ave" in Burlingame opened in 2011 and continues to serve up chocolate, tea, and chocolate with tea at 1228 Donnelly Avenue.  Though the quality has shifted, this little French-inspired tea house is still worth a visit.

When I first visited two years ago, Rue du Thé's drinking chocolate selections were not found on their menu, but were featured on a printed sheet near the front counter.  There was no "set menu" as their selections changed as their chocolate changed.  On my first visit, their drinking chocolate options included:

• lapsang souchong and cayenne
• genmai chai
• cardomom and espresso
• lemon grass
• cinnamon coconut
• milk chocolate
• dark chocolate

These were drinking chocolates, many infused with tea, as Rue du Thé was partnering with Jade Chocolates, which used the facility to create their unique and exotic chocolate blends. Rue du Thé would create unique drinking chocolates from some of the Jade Chocolate bars to create a thick and lucious cup of chocolate decadence - cioccolata calda with a twist.  

Unfortunately, they were out of their most popular drinking chocolate - jasmine - and so based on their recommendation, I decided to try the lapsang souchong and cayene drinking chocolate.  I soon discovered that lapsang souchong is a smokey tea with cayenne adding a kick, and unfortunately, it was not as pleasant as I would have liked.  Though thick and Italian-style, there was a bit of a dirty shoe taste due to the tea, which unfortunately overpowered the chocolate. 

But that did not deter me.  On my next visit to Rue du Thé, I decided to go with a straight forward, basic dark chocolate drinking chocolate.  This definitely worked much better for me.  I've since then learned to first sample the basic before experimenting with other flavors.

Unlike Almare which makes their drinking chocolate in an Ugolini chocolate dispenser, Rue du Thé makes each cup of drinking chocolate individually, taking chopped up chocolate bars and adding it to your milk of choice.  With high-grade 70% cacao dark chocolate, I was able to get mine made vegan with soy milk.  I was not disappointed this time.  It was excellent with a nice smooth texture and balance of bittersweet chocolate.

In other visits (yes, I became a regular customer and have had good conversations with the owner/manager, Will), I was able to try some of their other flavors, including their popular jasmine drinking chocolate.  This one, unfortunately, could not be veganized as the jasmine tea is first steeped in cream, added to dark chocolate, and then formed into bars, which are then chopped up and melted into drinking chocolate.  Though not vegan, it was wonderful none the less and definitely beat out the lapsang souchong tea.

When I'm in a real sweet tooth mood, I've gone for their salted caramel drinking chocolate. It is, as you can imagine, thick and gooey and sweet, but it warmed a few cold winter afternoons of studying in their little French-themed cafe.  The salt in the caramel does cut some of the sweetness, but it is rich and filling and takes a lot to finish a whole cup.  I've often sipped half and taken the other half home.

A little over a year ago, Jade Chocolates needed to expand and move on as they were growing, having consistently won international recognition.  Unfortunately, as Jade Chocolates moved on, the offerings of drinking chocolate at Rue du Thé changed.  There is now simply -- dark chocolate, milk chocolate, jasmine, and salted caramel.  Other than jasmine, the variety of chocolate and tea combinations are no more.

On my most recent visit, my cup of dark chocolate (with soy milk) came "very liquidy".  The server said that many have commented that their drinking chocolate was "too thick" and asked for more milk. I shared how I preferred the thick drinking chocolate they "used to serve" and she more than willing went to work to thicken it up by slowly heating it more and adding more chocolate.  She too prefers her drinking chocolate thick.  It returned with the perfect consistency.  The taste however...

Without Jade Chocolates, Rue du Thé now uses Guittard chocolate chips which makes their drinking chocolate a little more sweet and less "bitey" or bittersweet than I like.  The servers couldn't tell me the cacao % but they estimate 60%.  I think it's more like 50%.  It was pretty sweet.  I ended up drizzling the drinking chocolate on the chocolate chip scone I purchased to use up the gift card I had.  The mild, rather neutral taste of the scone went well with the sweet richness of the chocolate.  

As much as I've enjoyed my time at Rue du Thé over the past two years, the recent changes have made the taste experience less enjoyable.  I've found myself searching for other locales for my cioccolata calda fix and I'm thankful to have found some.  Stay tuned as I continue to highlight other places in the Bay Area as I celebrate American Chocolate Week.