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Treat your inner chocoholic to an all-natural cocoa feast
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Is there any better way to mark the lengthening nights than to indulge in copious amounts of organic chocolate?
It’s a question we asked ourselves here at IndyBest Towers, to which we answered, resoundingly: no, there is not.
So we rounded up some of the best chocolatiers to specialise in organic produce, and put their bars to the test, choosing only the most delicious to feature here. Not every bar here is certified organic, but each one strictly follows the organic ethos. And many of them happen to be entirely free of dairy, gluten and soy – ideal for any chocoholics with specific dietary requirements.
1. Conscious Chocolate Wild At Heart: £1.92 for 50g, Conscious Chocolate
It’s not often that you see blue-green algae listed as an ingredient in a chocolate bar, but that is exactly the case here. It only accounts for 0.18 per cent, however – the far more prominent flavours are the maca and vanilla, which go deliciously together. Some raw chocolate does tend to lack creaminess, but not so with this sumptuous bar. Each of Conscious’s bars is handmade and hand-wrapped, avoiding gluten, dairy, soya and refined sugars.
2. Seed and Bean Caffe Mocha Rich Milk Chocolate Bar: £2.49 for 85g, Seed and Bean
This bar from Seed and Bean – a British chocolatier which uses nothing but organic and natural ingredients – is our favourite of a new trio launched in time for Organic September (the other two flavours are aromatic fennel and sweet orange and lime). But it is this one, caffé mocha, which we enjoyed the most. With only 36 per cent cocoa, there’s a rich, milky flavour, and a not-overpowering coffee kick.
3. Pacari Passion Fruit Organic Chocolate Bar: £3.95 for 50g, Pacari
A perennial winner at the International Chocolate Awards, Pacari works with thousands of small organic cocoa farmers in Ecuador to make organic dark chocolate. Everything is done in Ecuador, from the sourcing of the cacao to the packaging. And it all culminates in an intriguingly diverse range of produce, from chocolate-covered goldenberries to rose-flavoured bars. Our favourite is the passion fruit bar, made with 60 per cent cacao. The flavouring is barely discernible at first, but reveals itself more with time. The bar is also free from gluten and soy, as well as vegan friendly.
4. Mulu Dark with Raw Cacao Nibs: £2.99 for 68g
Handmade in small batches on the edge of Dartmoor, Mulu is another chocolatier which sources its cacao from sustainable farms in Ecuador. It creates raw chocolate, which is cooked at low temperatures to ensure none of the flavour is lost. We particularly enjoyed this bar, which is packed with raw cacao nibs, adding an interesting twist to both the taste and texture. Mulu has a whole new range in the pipeline, so keep an eye out for that.
5. Chocolate and Love Orange 65% Dark Chocolate: £2.99 for 100g, Ocado
Your taste buds will be taken on a gustatory trip around the world with this bar, which brings together cacao from Peru and Dominican Republic, cane sugar from Paraguay and Costa Rica, and bourbon vanilla from Madagascar – oh, and it’s all put together in Switzerland. The results are delicious – if you let this bar melt in the mouth, as Chocolate and Love suggests, the orange flavour is delectably enhanced.
6. Montezuma’s 54% Cocoa Dark Side Milk Chocolate: £2.59 for 100g, Montezuma’s
This milk chocolate bar is made using an unusually high amount of cocoa – 54 per cent, to be precise – but that is certainly no bad thing. It leads to a tasty middle ground between milk and dark chocolate, so there is plenty of creaminess to offset the strength of the cocoa. There are plenty of other flavours in the range – one which we enjoyed, but perhaps won’t be for everyone, was the chili and lime bar.
7. Green & Black’s Salted Caramel Thin Bar: £2.29, Green & Black’s
Green & Black’s is probably the best known organic chocolatier out there, and the creator of the UK’s first ever Fairtrade Foundation-certified chocolate bar. Its latest range, Thin, features this dangerously moreish salted caramel offering – the salt comes from Anglesey, while the caramel is made in Yorkshire. There is a real crunch to the bar, and the flavours are well-balanced.
8. Zotter Bacon Bits: £2.93 for 70g, Zotter
When it comes to sheer inventiveness in the flavour department, we’re not sure Zotter can be topped. From bars infused with bacon crackling to others that boast hempseed and mocha as the presiding flavours, it’s worth spending time to scour the range and find something to fit your tastes. Hundreds of the bars are suitable for vegans and avoid gluten and milk, too.
9. Åkesson’s 75% Criollo Cocoa: £5.95, Åkesson’s
Using cocoa grown within the 2,000-hectare Bejofo estate in Madagascar, this 75 per cent chocolate was recently awarded Gold by the Academy of Chocolate, and it’s easy to see why. It immediately gives an intense flavour, with the fruity undertones proving delicious.
Of course, we greatly enjoyed each of the bars on this list, and it’s certainly worth checking out the other bars on offer from the chocolatiers we included. But our favourite was the offering from Conscious Chocolate – innovative and addictively delicious.
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