A Review of New Things I've Tried #35 (Chocolate Edition)

I really love chocolate. I can't believe how many options there are in vegan chocolate bars these days. I have done so many chocolate-based round ups! Even so, it's been nearly a year since I reviewed chocolate here, because it took me a while to find ten more new-to-me chocolates. It's okay. I don't mind. This is the kind of research I find totally painless!

1. Taza Toffee Chocolate with Almond & Sea Salt

After my friend turned me on to Taza chocolates and told me they were all vegan, I snapped up this toffee bar in a flash when I saw it available for delivery. Like other Taza chocolates, it had that distinctive crumbly texture, but I was expecting it and didn't mind it at all. This is delicious.

2. Moo Free Rice Milk Chocolate with Sea Salt and Lime

Though I'm discovering--much to my bewilderment--that I'm morphing into a person who prefers dark chocolate to milk chocolate, I enjoyed this. The salt and lime added a complexity of flavors to balance out the sweetness of the chocolate. This was a firm, smooth bar. Inside, it was cute, too--it had little squares with a butterfly design stamped on it--so if you're into aesthetics, this is a good chocolate for photographing. (Sorry I didn't think to do that for you here.)

3. GoMaxGo Major Bar

This is the newest candy bar in the GoMaxGo line, and I'm not sure what it may have been modeled after, because I have lost connection with what traditional candy bars are like out there. I think it reminded me most closely of a Heath bar--toffee enrobed in chocolate. It was very sweet and got stuck in my teeth, but I loved the crunch of this bar.

4. Dolfin Dark Chocolate with Pear and Roasted Almonds

I rarely mention the packaging for things here, but I think it's important to know that I thought this one was really excessive: There is a fully-sealed plastic inner liner, covered in paper, that is then covered in more plastic. That's an inappropriate amount of plastic, in my opinion. As for this chocolate itself, pear is an unusual flavor in chocolates, so I was excited to try it, but the bits of dried pear were tiny and incredibly hard--more or less impossible to bite and it made me feel like I was chomping down on pecan shells. The taste itself was good, but I couldn't enjoy it. I'd be unlikely to buy this again.

5. Evolved Caramel Coconut Butter Cups

These were amazing, the kind of thing that makes you stop and close your eyes and enjoy being alive. The only complaint I have is that the chocolate on the bottom was not very thick and the coconut butter squirted out easily, so they're messy.

6. Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Sunflower Seed Butter Cups

I think I'm still warming up to sunflower seed butter, though it's definitely growing on me! These were a nice treat I picked up on impulse (just about everything I pickup at Trader Joe's is an impulse buy, to be fair). I'd happily eat these again.

7. Cocomels Holiday Collection Chocolate-Covered Coconut Milk Toffee

Although I get why this was a special "holiday" item, I wish this was available year-round. I loved this. The only thing that might make it better would have been if it were coated in chopped almonds. The chocolate is just the right consistency, and so is the toffee. This, I will admit, is pricey. It's about $10 per box and you just get five substantial single-serving size pieces of toffee. But sometimes, one just needs a splurge, you know? It was Christmas.

8. Taza Mexican-Style Stone Ground Dark Chocolate

This is a good dark chocolate, crumbly like most of the Taza chocolates. It had a surprising hint of salty flavor for me, even though it isn't a salted chocolate. This is a great, basic, serve-with-fruit or put-in-hot-cocoa chocolate.

9. Dr. Bronner's Magic Crunchy Hazelnut Butter Bar

I knew Dr. Bronner's as a do-everything soap, so I was surprised when they came out with a line of chocolate bars. This is the first one I've tried, and I will definitely be trying the others! The chocolate is smooth, the hazelnut butter is crunchy and decadent, and I thoroughly enjoyed every bite.

10. Taza Mexican-Style Stone Ground Vanilla Dark Chocolate

This one was a Christmas gift, and what a lovely one! This is similar to the plain Taza Mexican-style chocolate, but with the mellowing flavor of vanilla. This was wonderful alongside tea biscuits with hot herbal tea.

Although I am jealous of the people living in the countries where there are things like vegan Lindt truffles, I think we Americans are holding our own in the chocolate world. Do you have a favorite chocolate?