Camino Coconut

The Canadian chocolatier Camino uses mostly Fair Trade ingredients to make their chocolate bars; they . This one features coconut. The ingredient listing looks good, cacao mass, golden cane sugar, coconut flakes, cacao butter, whole cane sugar and ground vanilla beans (the coconut flakes are not Fair Trade). The cacao content is at 65%.

How does it taste? I like the flavour combination of coconut and dark chocolate certainly, and have enjoyed it in other bars. The chocolate itself is not the most flavourful and is not smooth, but it is a pleasant eating bar, especially if you like that combination. I don't think that I would buy this bar again.

Elevate Me! Espresso Coconut Crunch

This protein and fruit energy bar from PROSnack Natural Foods Inc. I liked better than the Cocoa Coconut Cluster I tried earlier, it has the taste of coffee beans, or espresso, paired with the chocolate. The ingredient listing of the two are almost identical, this one's is whey protein isolate, dates, raisins (Organic), apples, almonds, cranberries (cranberries, cane sugar and sunflower oil), cacao (Fair Trade and Organic) and coffee beans (Fair Trade and Organic). I'm still not convinced of the wonderfulness of coffee and chocolate as a flavour pair, but this bar was pretty good, despite its high price.

Mecsa Osha Peruvian Jungle Chocolate 65%

This is the second of two chocolate bars from Mecsa Osha I've tried, the other being similar but at 75% cacao content. This chocolate bar, like the other, is produced from cacao beans from Peru, and is Fair Trade chocolate (meaning the local producers get paid more for their beans) and Organic. Mecsa Osha means "Sleeping Beauty" and refers to a mountain in the jungle of Peru where the beans are produced. The ingredient listing is fairly good, cocoa liquor, cane sugar, cocoa butter and soy lecithin.

How does it taste? Like the other one, the bar is very hard, you need a fair amount of strength, in your hands and teeth, perhaps because it is much thicker and less wide than other 100 g bars. This tasted better than the 75% bar, fruitier and less chalky. Ultimately, though, I wish to spare my teeth, and doubt that I would buy this bar again.

Divine Mint Dark Chocolate

The UK chocolatier Divine Chocolate Ltd. uses Fair Trade chocolate from a cooperative of cacao farmers in Ghana, called Kuapa Kokoo. Unlike the straight chocolate bar, this one is flavoured with mint, both as a peppermint crisp (mint-sugar) and as a peppermint oil. The cacao content is at 70% and the ingredient listing looks good, cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, peppermint crisp (5% - sugar and peppermint oil) soya lecithin, peppermint oil and vanilla (all but the peppermint oil Fair Trade).

How did it taste? The mint flavour is definitely there, and it pairs well with the dark chocolate, and I liked the pairing of the two flavours, but I found the peppermint crisp disconcerting (it felt like I was eating crunchy sugar bits - which is what it is, but I don't think it's really needed - just the peppermint oil is good enough). This was bought at a health food store for about $3. I don't know if I would buy this bar again.

Divine Dark Chocolate

The UK chocolatier Divine Chocolate Ltd. uses Fair Trade chocolate from a cooperative of cacao farmers in Ghana, called Kuapa Kokoo. These are as well shade-grown cacao beans from small individually run farms. This is a UK company, but it also says it is produced in Germany. The cacao content is at 70% and the ingredient listing looks good, cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin and vanilla (all Fair Trade).

How did it taste? Pretty good, a fair indicator of how good their chocolate is and tastes (I always have said that the signature bar for any chocolatier, showcasing their chocolate, is their no-extra-flavours-added bar). I would say that this is the best bar made from Ghana cacao beans I have tasted. This was bought at a health food store for about $3.

Mecsa Osha Peruvian Jungle Chocolate 75%

This chocolate bar is produced from cacao beans from Peru, and is Fair Trade chocolate (meaning the local producers get paid more for their beans) and Organic. Mecsa Osha means "Sleeping Beauty" and refers to a mountain in the jungle of Peru where the beans are produced. The cacao content of this bar is at 75%. The ingredient listing is fairly good, cocoa liquor, cocoa powder, cane sugar, cocoa butter and soy lecithin.

How does it taste? Not that good, fairly chalky, and the bar was quite hard, ie. it took a fair amount of strength to break (though the bar was certainly thicker and thus less wide than other bars, so that probably was the reason why). This bar was about $3 from a health food store. I don't know if I would buy this again.

Toi, Moi & Café's Costa Rica Monte Verde Coffee

I found this Organic and Fair Trade and Special Grade coffee in a Lebanese specialty store, of all places; it was about $9. Toi, Moi & Café have made it their mission to render the coffee business more transparent (certainly I've always wondered where my coffee comes from, and why a lot of it just isn't very good). This is pretty good coffee, and my favourite bean, from Costa Rica. This is not only Organic, but is also Fair Trade (meaning more money is given to the growers). It is also what they call Special Grade, which means that it is of Arabica type, grown at an altitude of 1200 meters, should be hand-picked selectively and roasted to express all the flavours and aromas of the region. The beans are from the Monte Verde region of Costa Rica, and are Mid Roasted (neither Dark nor Light); they are also Filter Ground. I like how they say it has a Chocolate aftertaste, perhaps that is why I like it so much.

Cocoa Camino Espresso

This Swiss chocolatier I had heard good things about, and I see their bars now all over the place, but more in health food stores; this is the first of their bars that I have tried (though I have tried their organic cocoa powder). Cocoa Camino is a company that is attempting to create products from ingredients that are Fair Trade (in which local producers receive more for their raw materials, with training and other aid) - the organization they deal with is called La Siembra Co-operative (based in Canada, but the local producers are in South America). So, all the ingredients are Fair Trade, and this bar is their idea of marrying their Fair Trade coffee with their Fair Trade dark chocolate. The ingredient listing, with 55% cacao content, looks good, cocoa mass, golden cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole cane sugar, ground coffee and ground vanilla bean.

How does it taste? I'm still unsure of the merits of coffee and chocolate together, and some people, I have read, think it's absolutely wrong, but this was a fairly good chocolate bar. The chocolate was smooth and melted in the mouth well, the coffee was not too strong but definitely pleasant. I did enjoy it, and it makes me want to try some of their other offerings.

Reverse Trick-or-Treating

The idea of being socially responsible for the food we eat, to actually think about what we eat, where it comes from, who produces it, how far it travels, what impact there is on the Earth for you to enjoy it, has been growing in force, certainly over the last few years, with the very scary reality of global warming, whether you believe or not in its impact, has been garnering more and more interest in my own life. Near and dear to my heart, chocolate, the dark, bitter, tasty, wonderful sublime treat that I daily enjoy in all forms, which faces extinction on several fronts, including the dying-off of pollinators due to deforestation, chemicals and global warming, the rapid rise in price for oil leading to increased costs of raw ingredients and the final product let alone the carbon produced, and the huge multinational corporations that pay little or nothing to the farmer who grows the cacao, at least gives one pause to ponder whether that treat I just enjoyed will tip the environment over the edge into oblivion. Okay, not anytime soon, I certainly hope, but, in the meantime, while we are all waiting for the end, we can do our little bit for the World, and one of them involves a concept called Fair Trade. Fair Trade is something I have discussed now and again, certainly there are more and more products out there, chocolate-oriented and others, coffee, tea, crafts, that give the farmer a fair price, investing in their lives, thus coming closer to ensuring a product for years to come. Which brings me to what I mean by reverse trick-or-treating. Essentially, a group of Fair Trade organizations have gotten together to allow socially-aware youngsters, as they go about receiving candies on Hallowe'en, to give back to the adults a sample of Fair Trade chocolate, with some literature about such, to educate them on the dangers inherent in the chocolate trade, including potential child-slavery and those environmental impacts. To order your sample of 20 Fair Trade chocolates, go to Global Exchange in Canada, there are also ones for the States, and order yours. Hurry, as quantities are limited; you have till October 15th to order as well. You can also order Fair Trade products there, too.

Gaia Dark Chocolate Drops

This organic chocolate product from the California chocolatier The San Francisco Chocolate Factory is also Fair Trade certified, meaning the growers of the cacao receive a better price when selling their cacao beans. This is a Dark chocolate, though there is no indication of the cacao content; I would suspect that the cacao content is above the minimum 50% that allows it to be called Dark. The ingredient listing is good, all ingredients are organic, sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin (as an emulsifier) and vanilla.

How do they taste? Fairly good, a little sweet, likely as the main ingredient is sugar, but smooth and melts well in the mouth. The chocolate comes in small drops and cost about $5.

Green & Black's Maya Gold

This chocolate bar from Green & Black's, is done in the style of the Maya Indians in southern Belize, which is to say that they flavoured their chocolate with spices, though I imagine that their end product is not as smooth and professional-looking as this one is. The spices that they picked are cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla, which is paired or contrasted with orange (never my favourite, but, hey, I keep trying - maybe some day, someone will create an orange flavoured bar that I actually will like - don't take my word for it, lots of other people seem to really like the flavour combination). The ingredient listing, like all of Green & Black's offerings, looks great, organic cocoa mass, organic raw cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, soya lecithin as an emulsifier, natural fruit and spice extracts (0.1%), and organic vanilla extract. The cacoa content is at 55%, which makes it a Dark chocolate. All the cacao in this bar is FairTrade chocolate, and this particular bar is the first in the UK to be awarded the FairTrade mark, back in 1994.

How does it taste? Better than most orange-chocolate bars that I've tasted, but I still am on the search for the one that makes the grade, makes me say that orange and chocolate is a legitimate flavour combination. The chocolate itself is very smooth and tasty. I doubt though that I would eat this bar again.

Ethiquable Dark Chocolate with Orange

I must remember that I don't like the combination of orange and chocolate, I keep buying new chocolate bars with that flavour, perhaps I hope that one day I will find one that I will like. I don't like especially the ones with candied orange peel, this chocolate bar from Ethiquable uses orange pulp instead of the peel, but also sadly suffers from a weak orange flavour. The cacao content is 60%, and the cacoa beans are Fair Trade from the Dominican Republic. The ingredient listing is good, cocoa paste, cocoa butter, cane sugar, candied orange (made of orange pulp, sugar, apple, pineapple fibres, dextrose, sodium alginate, dicalcium orthophospate, citric acid and artificial and real vanilla flavour) and soya lecithin.

How did it taste? I did not really find this chocolate bar tasty, the chocolate itself was not bad, but the orangey-ness did not do it for me. I won't buy this bar again.

Ethiquable Dark Chocolate with Cocoa Nibs

I have written about Fair Trade products before (paying local farmers fair prices, and making their farming sustainable - see Max Havelaar for International Standards of Fair Trade), this dark chocolate bar with cacao nibs by Ethiquable is made from Fair Trade cacao from the Dominican Republic. With 60% cacao content, it's ingredient listing is good, cocoa paste, cane sugar (also a Fair Trade product), cocoa bean nibs, cocoa butter, soya lecithin and artificial vanilla.

I first thought that this chocolate was off, as it has an earthy taste to it when I first bit into a square. Overall, it's quite tasty, the cocoa nibs enhance the chocolatey-ness.

Numi Ginger Sun

What a name. Ginger Sun.

Makes me oh so want to drink this tea! And I oh so want this tea to taste really good.

This offering from Numi Tea features Fair Trade Certified organic Selim Hill Estate decaffeinated green tea, organic ginger and organic lemongrass. Normally I like full strength teas, and coffees, this should be interesting to taste, given the kick ginger normally gives. The decaffeination process is done through "Effervescence", using CO2, which does not extract the flavour or antioxidants of the green tea, which means it takes out the "bad" caffeine, and leaves the good stuff.

How does it taste? Well, not as gingery as I'd like, the colour of the tea however was quite amazing, a golden brown. The taste of the green tea was very subtle. Overall, not my favourite.

Cocoa Camino

Having finished my excellent Green&Black's cocoa, I was looking for another good cocoa. I decided to try the organic cocoa powder from Camino, I've seen a few of their natural products at Health Food stores. What I like about their products, other than being organic, is that this is a Fair Trade product, meaning that they buy their cacao directly from small family producers, giving them a fair price for their product, allowing them to have sustainable agriculture, rather than what many large corporations do, that is, giving very little in recompense for their product and selling it at a high price and taking all the profit. Beyond that, it all depends on whether the cocoa is actually any good, whether it works well in your end product, baked goods, and this one works well. It is Dutch-processed, which means it has a milder flavour, but a darker colour. You can see the end result in several of the last cookies I baked, they are quite dark.

Green&Black's Organic Chocolate

I bought this chocolate bar from this Natural Health store I frequent, they often have unusual and interesting foods. I had never seen this brand before, there were several different flavours. The one I chose was the Bittersweet Dark 70% Chocolate with a Soft Mint Centre. According to the information on the inside of the wrapper, they bill themselves as "The Most Heavenly Chocolate on Planet Earth". They use the finest organically grown cocoa beans, and these are called Fairtrade mark Maya Gold Chocolate, which is made by Maya Indian farmers in southern Belize. They have an exclusive long-term contract to buy all that they can produce, and pay them a higher price than that of conventional cocoa. Their cocoa beans include the varieties of criollo and trinitario. Criollo, often dubbed the Prince of cocoas, has a pleasant aroma, while Trinitaro is a hybrid between Criollo and Forasetero varieties. Forastero has a more pungent aroma.

Beyond the good feeling you get from buying a product that helps improve the life of Indian farmers in South America, I can say that their efforts of making the chocolate, including extra time conching the chocolate, something that Lindt also does and is know for, which produces a more intense chocolate flavour, has produced a chocolate bar that tastes wonderful. Conching, invented by Rudolphe Lindt, is a process by which metal beads and heat are used to grind the chocolate and sugar particles to a particle size that is smaller than the tongue can detect, resulting in a smooth product. Oddly enough, I have read that some people think that Lindt overconches their chocolate, but that is all about individual taste.

I far prefer dark chocolate, less sweet chocolate, and this bar has a more subtle mint flavour than other mint chocolate bars that I have tried, that works well for my taste buds. Check them out here.