Earl Grey Hot Chocolate
Updated Jan 24, 2026
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Rich, thick hot chocolate is made even more delicious with the addition of Earl Grey, giving it a lovely citrus twist. It’s surprisingly easy to make from scratch.
Recipe Summary
- I made this Earl Grey hot chocolate super thick, rich, and decadent. How all hot chocolate should be!
- An easy 6-ingredient recipe where all you need to do is heat and stir the ingredients together.
- I topped the drink with a homemade cream topping, taking it to another level of goodness.
Note from Jee
I first came up with this recipe back in 2018 and I couldn’t believe how good it was!
I wanted to get the hot chocolate super rich and thick, just like the ones I’ve had in Paris. This rich drink is a drinkable chocolate that’s flavored with Earl Grey. Once you’ve had a sip of my Earl Grey hot chocolate, you won’t be able to go back to watery, powdered hot chocolates. This is the real deal.
Ingredient Notes
- Earl Grey tea: You don’t need high-quality loose tea for this recipe. For this recipe, I recommend using tea sachets or tea bags since it’s easier to use than loose tea.
- Dark chocolate bar: Use at least 70% chocolate. The higher the percentage, the higher the cocoa content in the bar. You can use semi-sweet chocolate chips (no need to chop) instead of the bar.
- Milk: Use any milk you’d like. I like it with whole milk since the texture turns out to be the creamiest.
- Heavy cream: Adds richness to the drink.
- Sugar: To balance the bitterness of dark chocolate, use a bit of sugar.
- Salt: This is my secret ingredient. It brings out the sweetness in the chocolate even more.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Finely chop the chocolate so it can easily melt into the milk.
Step 2: Heat milk and cream.
In a saucepan, heat milk and heavy cream on low heat until small bubbles form along the sides of the pan. Take off heat.
Step 3: Add Earl Grey to the hot milk and cream mixture. Steep.
After the steep, discard the tea bags.
Step 4: Melt chocolate.
Heat saucepan with steeped Earl Grey on low heat. Stir in chocolate, sugar, and salt until chocolate has completely melted.
Step 5: Make whipped cream topping.
Combine heavy cream and sugar in a tall cup. Whisk using a handheld milk frother until the cream thickens. It should take just seconds.
Step 6: Divide hot chocolate into two cups and top each with cream topping. Garnish with grated chocolate.
Expert Tips
- Don’t boil the heavy cream and milk. Just bring it to a simmer to avoid burning the milk.
- The cream topping is best when it’s only slightly whipped and the heavy cream has thickened a bit. Whip until you get soft peaks.
- If you’re using loose tea, replace the 2 tea sachets in this recipe with 1 tablespoon of loose Earl Grey tea.
Related
- Iced Earl Grey Tea Latte
- London Fog Drink (Earl Grey Latte)
- Earl Grey Chocolate Spread
- Earl Grey Viral Cheesecake
- Apple Cold Brew Earl Grey Tea
If you tried this Earl Grey Hot Chocolate recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ star rating and let me know how you like it in the comments below.
Earl Grey Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
Earl Grey Hot Chocolate
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 5 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped + grated for garnish
- 2 tea sachets Earl Grey, (or 2 tea bags)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Cream Topping
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
MAKE EARL GREY HOT CHOCOLATE
- Heat milk and heavy cream. In a saucepan, simmer milk and heavy cream on low heat until small bubbles form along the sides of the pan. Take off heat.½ cup heavy cream, 1 cup milk
- Steep Earl Grey in hot milk for 10 minutes. Discard tea sachets.2 tea sachets Earl Grey
- Return to low heat and stir in chocolate, sugar, and salt.Stir until chocolate has completely melted.5 ounces dark chocolate, 1 tablespoon sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt
MAKE CREAM TOPPING
- Whip together heavy cream and sugar.Combine heavy cream and sugar in a tall cup. Whisk using a handheld milk frother until cream thickens. It should take seconds. Stop before stiff peaks form.⅓ cup heavy cream, 1 teaspoon sugar
ASSEMBLE DRINK
- Divide hot chocolate into two cups and top each with cream topping. Garnish with grated chocolate.
Notes
- Don’t boil the heavy cream and milk. Just bring it to a simmer to avoid burning the milk.
- The cream topping is best when it’s only slightly whipped and the heavy cream has thickened a bit. Whip until you get soft peaks.
- If you’re using loose tea, replace the 2 tea sachets in this recipe with 1 tablespoon of loose Earl Grey tea.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My kids and I love Earl Grey, so tried this recipe today…YUM!! I will say, this is very rich, but would definitely be so good on a cold day with a good book!
amazing recipe. just made it. very simple and effective. all the flavors are there. delicious. excellent work and thank you for sharing.
cheers
Your recipe looks really good. I googled chocolate earl grey to see if there was such a thing b/c the other day my Starbucks earl gray tea wasn’t hot enough. I made a hot chocolate in the keurig at work and then I thought “well if I mix this with the tea…” and voila it worked and it was good.
Q: Other than Bigelow Earl Grey tea bags, the only loose leaf I have is Harney & Sons Victorian London Fog tea. The only difference would be the vanilla flavor (and if removed, the lavender) in the tea.
Your recommendation?
2: Without the funds for new kitchen tools/gadgets, I make due with what I have. So, I use either my French press, or (removing one beater) a handheld mixer to froth milk, cream, etc. Which, if either (unless you’d ditch both in this recipe) do you recommend?
Hi Jess, you can totally make the drink using Victorian London Fog tea. For the cream topping, go with the handheld mixer.
I generally really love this site and its recipes, but please note that some of the ingredients in the list aren’t mentioned in the actual recipe (the salt and sugar for the hot chocolate).
Also, half a teaspoon of salt seemed like a lot to me (and I really love salt!) so I cut it down in half, and even though it turned out delicious, my hubby noticed that it’s quite salty, asking me if I put this amount purposely.
So I think that a pinch and a little bit less sugar would be enough. Another thing was that even after the chocolate was technically completely melted, it wasn’t emulsified – so I used the immersion blender again to make it smooth.
Hi Meg, thanks so much for your comment! I updated the recipe to include the parts that were missing. I also changed it to 1/4 teaspoon salt to make it a little less salty since I agree with you that 1/2 teaspoon salt may have made it too salty.
Who knew Earl grey tea could be better! This is a keeper making this for sure for my daughter and myself will have to have with Earl grey macaroons another favorite thank you so much!
this sounds amazing and i cannot wait to give it a whirl this weekend!
Hi Brooke, make it! It’s delicious if I do say so myself. ha.
Wow! I never thought Earl Grey tea can be used as a based for hot chocolate. This is a must try!
Hi Nicky, do it! It’s so good!