Green & Black's Espresso

This is one of the few chocolate bars from Green & Black's that I had not tasted yet. The espresso part comes from Arabica coffee beans, ground as fine as the cacao. This is an intense coffee flavour chocolate bar. The cacao content is at 67%. The ingredient listing is good (all save the lecithin are Organic), chocolate liquor, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, coffee, soy lecithin (emulsifier), vanilla extract and whole milk powder.

How does it taste? Like drinking a cup of coffee. I'm exaggerating, but it is a strong coffee, or espresso, flavour, so, if you don't like coffee, then this bar is not for you (the strong flavour comes from freshly roasting the coffee beans, then grinding them so fine that the tongue can not distinguish between the chocolate and the coffee). I do like coffee, but most of the time not in a chocolate bar. This is good quality chocolate up to the standards of Green & Black's. I don't think I would get this bar again.

Green & Black's Hazelnut Chocolate Spread

I like a fair few of Green & Black's chocolate bars, and also like Nutella (as you might have guessed), so recently given the opportunity, this being on sale (it's much more expensive than Nutella, but worth it), I decided to try it finally. Comparing the ingredients, Green & Black's uses sunflower instead of palm oil, and palm fat and soy powder instead of whey powder; otherwise they are the same (the actual percentages could be different, certainly, and only Green & Black's states that the hazelnut content is 10%).

How did it taste? Which do I prefer? Well, no clear winner, though I do like the Green & Black's very much, the hazelnuts taste as if they might have been toasted, and the hazelnut taste is definitely there, strong and good. Given that the Green & Black's is much more expensive, I don't think I will be buying it as often as Nutella, but now that I know how it tastes, I definitely will be purchasing it when it's on sale.

Green & Black's Dark 70%

I've liked a lot of the English chocolatier Green & Black's chocolate bars; this one is simply their 70% cacao content dark chocolate, no other ingredients or flavourings. The ingredient listing is good, all Organic, cocoa liquor, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin, vanilla extract and whole milk powder.

How does it taste? Pretty good, a smooth chocolate, if a little fruity. I prefer their other offerings, but I got a good deal on this bar ($1 each, and several of them; for some reason, Shopper's Drug Mart in Mississauga were closing out Green & Black's chocolate bars), so I can't complain. I think that I would buy this bar again.

Green & Black's Organic Butterscotch Milk Chocolate Mini Eggs

Last Easter, I found the new offering from Green & Black's, their Dark Chocolate Praline Mini Eggs, with Hazelnuts, which I enjoyed. This year, I looked for them again, and, to my surprise, found a new offering beside those, butterscotch mini eggs (or at least new to me, and these and the Dark Praline were in more stores - Shopper's Drug Mart - than last year). This is a long title for this entry, I've even chopped off the bit where it says "with crispy cereal and crunchy toffee pieces". The ingredient listing is certainly long too (but all Organic), Organic Raw Cane Sugar, Organic Whole Milk Powder (22%), Organic Cocoa Mass, Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Butterscotch (8%) (Organic Raw Cane Sugar, Organic Glucose, Organic Butter, Organic Palm Fat, Organic Molasses, Natural Flavouring), Organic Crisp Cereal (3%) (Organic Rice Flour, Organic Sugar, Organic Oat Flour, Organic Wheat Flour, Organic Barley Flour, Organic Rye Flour, Organic Malt, Salt), Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin and Organic Vanilla Extract. This is a milk chocolate, but high on the scale, at 37% cacao content. This too probably is related to their Butterscotch chocolate bar, thought that does not have the crispy cereal in it, and I have not tried that particular bar.

How do they taste? Not as good as the Dark Praline ones, and certainly the Butterscotch aspect of it is not strong, the crispy cereal is more prevalent than the toffee pieces. I don't think that I liked this enough to pay the over $7 for it again next year.

Green & Black's Dark Chocolate with Whole Cherries

I find this bar tastes very sour, sour enough that I wonder if they use sour (tart) cherries (the dried cherries I have in my pantry are dark red and tart too, and not dried sour cherries, but these seem even tarter). The cherries don't look like sour cherries, at least they are dark red (like bing cherries) rather than the medium red of sour cherries. Again, I say, very sour, very tart. So, saying, behind Green & Black's Ginger, this is my second favourite bar. A close second. The ingredient listing looks good, organic cocoa mass, organic raw cane sugar, organic cherries (20%) (organic dried cherries, organic sunflower oil), organic cocoa butter, emulsifier: soya lecithin, organic vanilla extract and organic whole milk powder (present because of cross-contamination with their milk chocolate bar, made on the same line). The cacao content is at 60%.

How does it taste? As I said, quite sour, quite tart (sharp is the word they use on their website, perhaps it has a better meaning than sour, but I mean the sourness of lemons and limes and sour cherries, all of which I like - but, okay, I wouldn't quibble with calling it sharp). The dark chocolate is of course good, though doesn't snap quite so well, and pairs well with the cherries (I've liked the combination before, and will again, I'm sure). It is the cherries that are the good part of the bar, they smell wonderful, and I'm glad there are quite a few in the chocolate; it's hard even to break apart pieces, the cherries stick to the chocolate. I would definitely buy this bar again.

Green & Black's Live in the & Contest

I didn't quite understand the meaning behind this contest name, until I read on the back of a chocolate bar of theirs I recently tasted, and I quote "Our name was chosen to illustrate our blend of ethics and intense taste. Green represents our sustainable and organic principles which we employ whilst making our chocolate. Black represents the colour of our original Dark 70% chocolate bar and the intense taste of all of our chocolate.". So, "living in the &" represents the idea of living green while also enjoying the dark chocolate, or black, taste of Green & Black's.

So, Green & Black's has created a "Live in the &" Contest based on this concept, partnered with Food and Wine (or should that be Food & Wine). From their website - Just share your secret for making eco-friendly choices while not compromising on life's every day indulgences. Tell them how you "Live in the &" and balance both the green & the black in your life. If the judges select your entry, you'll win a trip for two to the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen (June 19-21 2009) - including round trip airfare for 2 to Aspen and accommodations for 3 nights, Guest passes to the Classic in Aspen Grand Tastings, insider access to the exclusive Grow for Good Dinner and passes to select seminars. Unfortunately, only open to residents of the U.S. Good Luck!

Green & Black's Organic Dark Chocolate Praline Mini Eggs

I have enjoyed quite a few of Green & Black's chocolate, I found this in the on-sale section of Easter-themed products, this was $5, normally $10. Like the other chocolate bars from G&B's I've tried, the ingredient listing looks quite good, mostly organic ingredients, cocoa mass, raw cane sugar, hazelnuts (15%), whole milk powder, cocoa butter, soya lecithin (as an emulsifier) and vanilla extract.The chocolate in these praline eggs is made up of 40% dark chocolate, with a cacao content of 70%, and 42% milk chocolate, with 35% cocoa solids.

How do they taste? Quite good, everyone I've given them to has liked them. They did have almost a chunky peanut-buttery flavour or consistency at first, but this resolved into the hazelnut flavour after a couple. I would definitely eat these again.

Green & Blacks Dark 85%

I wanted to try this chocolate bar from Green & Black's, mostly because it is very dark chocolate, with 85% cacao content. Most chocolate bars with this high cacao content, I find suffer from being too chalky, 70-75% seems to be a better ratio of cacao to sugar. The cacao beans of this chocolate bar are the Trinitario varietal, and organic. The ingredient listing is good, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, fat-reduced cocoa powder, raw cane sugar and vanilla extract.

How does it taste? Fairly good, it doesn't suffer too much from the chalkiness problem, though I don't think that I would choose this particular bar from their offerings over other ones.

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.

Green & Black's Hazelnut and Currant

This dark chocolate bar from Green & Black's is one I had to try when I saw the ingredients; hazelnuts, of course, but I also like and prefer currants (rather than the more popular raisin, and yes, I know they are both made from grapes). The cacao content is 60%, fairly good, and the ingredient listing looks good, all Organic save for the lecithin, cocoa mass, raw cane sugar, hazelnuts (9%), currants (9%), cocoa butter, soya lecithin as an emulsifier, and vanilla extract. This bar I bought for about 3 dollars.

How does it taste? Pretty good, though the taste of the currants is much more predominant than the hazelnuts. Too, the currants had a kind of alcoholic taste to them, not bad, but different, and something that I didn't really expect from a chocolate bar that didn't overtly have alcohol in it. The chocolate itself was smooth and rich and good tasting. A bar I would try again.

Green & Black's Ginger

Wow, I like ginger, and if you like ginger too, and specifically the taste of dark chocolate and ginger together, then this is a great bar for you. Green & Black's is a British Chocolatier with a presence in the United States, they produce mostly Organic chocolate bars. This offering, with 60% cacao content, is one-sixteenth of their whole Organic chocolate bar line, they also sell cookies (biscuits, as they say in the UK), ice cream, cooking ingredients (such as baking chocolate, cocoa and hazelnut chocolate spread), hot chocolate, and cereal bars; though, a lot of these are available only in the UK, in the US, and Canada, there are fewer offerings, and some different. I see too, that they have a Cookbook, called Unwrapped.The ingredient listing of this chocolate bar is good, Organic Cocoa Mass, Organic Raw Cane Sugar, Organic Crystallised Ginger (20%) (Organic Stem Ginger, Water, Organic Sugar), Organic Cocoa Butter, Soya Lecithin (as an emulsifier) and Organic Vanilla Extract.

How did it taste? Very gingery, if you don't like ginger at all, then don't even try it (but then why would you even buy it...). The dark chocolate is smooth and tasty, with a good smell. The ginger pairs very well with the chocolate. I would definitely buy this bar again.

Green & Black's Celebrates the Extra Hour of Darkness

To celebrate the change of time on the 4th of November in the US, as we shift from Daylight Savings to Eastern Standard Time, and the gain of an extra hour of Darkness (the clocks change in the middle of the night, usually around 2 am), Green & Blacks USA wanted everyone (or at least the first 5000 to register) to experience the dark, cocoa-rich flavours of their Organic chocolate free. This promotion (of two 1.2 oz chocolate bars) is over now, and, unfortunately for me, available only to US citizens (there also seems to be promotions available for UK citizens on the UK website, that still leaves us Canadians out). They set up a special website Appreciate The Darkness to provide some information about their chocolate, and allow you to register for this event (and further ones, if you should wish to).