Chocolove Organic Dark Chocolate

The American chocolatier Chocolove makes their bars from Belgian chocolate,. This one features Organic dark chocolate, and, as I've said before, is a showcase for their chocolate. The ingredient listing is good, cocoa liquor, sugar and cocoa butter. The cacao content is at 73%.

How does it taste? Being a showcase for their chocolate, I think that this is a very tasty and enjoyable bar, bearing repeat samplings. The chocolate snaps well and melts well in the mouth. The chocolate tastes fruity without the addition of vanilla. I would say that I would buy this bar again.

Taza Chocolate 70% Dark

The American chocolatier Taza Chocolate makes minimally processed chocolate using stone mills according to Mexican practices. This one is a showcase of their small batch, sundried cacao beans, these ones coming from Dominican Republic, as there are no additional flavours; the ingredient listing is good and short, cacao beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter and whole vanilla beans. The cacao content is at 70%.

How does it taste? The chocolate is fairly good, a good showcase of their chocolate, though the bar is not great, and suffers from the crunchiness of the sugar and cacao beans, because of the relatively large size of the stone ground ingredients - smaller size means smoother product, as your tongue can not distinguish very small size, interpreting the chocolate as smooth. I would, though, eat this bar again, given the chance.

Newman's Own Organics Super Dark Chocolate

I've enjoyed Newman's Own Organic Coffee, and was intrigued by this offering from them (there are six different bars in their line). The ingredient listing looks good, chocolate liquor, evaporated cane juice, cocoa butter, soy lecithin and vanilla; all ingredients are Organic, the chocolate is Rainforest Alliance Certified cacao. The cacao content is at 70%.

How does it taste? I must say I'm pleased with this bar, tastes great and melts well in the mouth, smells good. It reminds me of the coffee that I enjoy; the chocolate has a "coffee" taste to it. I would definitely buy this bar again.

ShaSha Co. Bio-Bud Raw Organic Sprouted Lentils

I've read about the benefits of sprouting; it increases the nutrients within and makes them more available to the body. I like lentils, and they are a good source of several vitamins and minerals, including vitamin c, thiamin, riboflavin, iron, zinc, magnesium, niacin and phosphorous. Because these pulses from Shasha Co. are sprouted, they require half the time to cook, just soak them for 25 minutes and cook for 30 minutes.

Traditional Medicinals Organic Lemon Yerba Maté

I’ve enjoyed this tea from Traditional Medicinals for a long while now, for the most part in order to get a jolt of caffeine on those mornings after late nights (and now with a toddler, there are more of those). Yerba Mate is similar to green tea in its range of antioxidants and health benefits, it also has theobromine (what is found in chocolate, what gives it its “kick”). I’ve read now that it has a darker side, down in South America, where they consume yerba mate in large quantities, more than a liter a day, there is a larger risk for certain cancers. The taste of yerba mate is supposed to be smoky, woody, bitter, but I find that the lemony flavour of this (which comes from West Indian lemongrass leaf and lemon myrtle leaf) combines and mutes the earthiness of the yerba mate. I quite enjoy the flavour of this tea (and they have a version that uses ginger, which I don’t like as much, which is odd, as I enjoy ginger), and find it does provide energy (given that it has about the same amount of caffeine as green tea), without any side effects of drinking too much coffee or soda. And, I only need to drink one large cup with one tea bag when I feel the need.

Traditional Medicinals Organic Rose Hips

Traditional Medicinals makes many different teas, mostly Organic, and, according to the box, they purchase and manufacture their herbs sustainably, buying from cooperatives of herb farmers, supporting Organic farmers, and using 100% Wind Power to offset their energy use. This one features rose hips, something that I see in many caffeine-free herbal teas, and in one of my favourite, but I have never tried them on their own (and the rosehip tea I like so much, I’ve discovered has the flavour of roselle). I must say, I like the flavour of this tea, fruity, tart and sweet at the same time, a pleasant tasting tea that tastes fresh too (some of the teas have been sitting on the shelf for a long while, and have lost a little, a lot, of their flavour). The tea itself is light red when brewed. This one cost $4, but I’ve seen it for much more.

Now I have another tea to enjoy.

Santa Cruz Organic Limeade

I’ve tried Santa Cruz’s Lemon Lime, Raspberry Lemonade and Mango Lemonade, this one features lime juice. Well, mostly lime, it also has white grape juice and lemon juice. It’s pleasant tasting, fairly good Organic with better ingredients drink, and around $2 for the near 1L bottle.

Luna & Larry's Organic Coconut Bliss - Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge

I had heard about this new more-healthy ice cream before, but it was, apparently, mostly sold in the States. This past weekend we came across a Tasting at Organic Garage in Oakville, and decided to check it out. The idea of Coconut Bliss, is that, instead of cow’s milk cream, it uses coconut milk. Coconut milk is used to make ice cream in Thailand, so this is not a new concept, save for North America. Each of Coconut Bliss’s ice creams also contain other healthy ingredients; they use agave syrup as a sweetener, which is low glycemic; all of their ingredients are Organic. The one I selected was their Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge.

How does it taste?. Quite good, and not overwhelmingly like coconut (save for their Naked Coconut one). The fudge is a small strip of agave sweetened cocoa and not too sweet at all. The hazelnuts are quite large chunks, though soft, and not crunchy. This is a small container, similar to how Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s market their ice creams, so no large bowls. Overall, I would say I enjoyed this ice cream, and more so than Dark Chocolate one I sampled.

Santa Cruz Organic Mango Lemonade

Santa Cruz makes fairly good drinks using more natural sources, better than pop certainly, this is no exception. This tastes like a good-flavoured mango with lemon juice. It has an odd colour, kind of neon orange, which apparently comes from beta carotene. This one liter jar cost about $2, though I have seen them for about $5.

Hofgenuss Bio-fruchtige WeinGummis

While I was in Germany, I got as an arrival gift, this small bag of gummis from my Aunt (who regularly gifts me with gummis). Not only do these have fruit juices as flavouring (orange, apple, lemon, black currant, raspberry and pineapple), but are also coloured with natural ingredients from plants (orange, passionfruit, mango, chinese gooseberries, elderberry, spinach, stinging nettle and turmeric); and they also contain wine.

They tasted quite fresh and soft, and flavourful. I enjoyed them very much.

Go Chocolate Organic Raw Sun Dried Cacao Powder

Most cocoa powders are processed, either alkalized (this creates a milder flavour by neutralizing acidity; it also enhances colour and solubility) or by using the Broma process (warmth essentially melts the cocoa butter out of ground cacao beans); in either method, the cocoa butter is removed and the cocoa powder is dried. This raw product from GoHunza is sun-dried cocoa powder which has not been processed in any way (unheated, unsweetened, no fillers, no additives). It can be used in any of the many chocolate recipes that you might have. I found this for sale in a Health Food store ($20 for 3/4 Lb.), though you can get it online from GoHunza. So far, I've used it mostly, occasionally, to add a little mocha flavour to my coffee, which works, but look forward to seeing how it's flavour enhances my baking efforts, especially the natural healthier versions.

Bretti's Naturkost Frucht-Zoo Fruchtgummi

Every year I get some interesting gummis from my one Aunt in Germany, lately they have been more healthy versions, with fruit juices and other better ingredients. Which I appreciate greatly. This one from Candy Factory is like that: the colours of the gummis come from turmeric, carrot, elderberry and spinach; the Gelatine is organic; Natural flavours are used; a lot of the ingredients are cultivated in an ecological manner. The shapes are different too, there are hippos, dinosaurs and other beasts; a Zoo! Yummy!

Weil Pistachi-Oh!

This fruit and nut bar is by far the best tasting of the three that I tried by Weil (the others are Goji Moji and Chia Razz); the taste of pistachios is strong and great, one of my favourite nuts. Like the other bars, the main ingredient in this bar is dates (all ingredients are Organic), followed by cashews, pistachios, dried unsweetened coconut, flavour and lemon juice concentrate. I think I would buy this bar again.

Next Organics Dark Chocolate Bananas

I like the taste of banana and chocolate together, but don't like crunchy bananas, I hoped this offering from Tropical Valley Foods would live up to the hype on the packaging, that these would be better tasting fruit surrounded by chocolate. The ingredient listing, all Organic, looks good, bananas and dark chocolate coating (evaporated cane juice, chocolate liquor, cacao butter, soy lecithin and pure vanilla).

How did they taste? Pretty good, though it was still odd tasting "fruit leather" bananas (but still better than crunchy ones!), and the chocolate was not the best chocolate. I don't think that I will buy these 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.

Late July Vanilla Bean with Green Tea Sandwich Cookies

This is the second of Late July's sandwich cookies that I tried; the first one was Dark Chocolate - which was not "Intense and Decadent" but pretty good nonetheless. These cookies are a better, more nutritious version of a sandwich cookie, they contain whole grains and antioxidants, produced without pesticides or trans fats or high fructose corn syrup or artificial flavours, colours or preservatives; a lot of their ingredients are organic as well.

How do they taste? Pretty good, though I prefer the Dark Chocolate one, and I didn't get much of the Green Tea flavour, though it was vanilla-y enough. These are expensive enough, too, that I couldn't eat them on a regular basis.

Unusual Russet Apples

Well, unusual in the sense that they are Organic. Russets are normally hard to come by, as a lot of apple growers just don't grow them, perhaps because of limited demand, and they have such a short season. These being organic, I'd think that there would be an even smaller supply of them. Well, they tasted great!

Crofter's Organic Pomegranate Jelly

I'm not really a fan of jelly, I'm a jam fellow, but I am starting to enjoy pomegranates, not only for their flavour, but also for their healthfulness; they are high in antioxidants. So saying, it'd be hard to create a jam out of pomegranates, they're mostly seed with a little bit of juicy flesh around them; better a jelly. The ingredient listing looks good, pomegranate juice from concentrate, golden sugar, pomegranate juice, fruit pectin and citric acid.

How did it taste? Well, I'm still a jam fellow, I would say, this hasn't convinced me to join the jelly supporters, and the pomegranate is not as flavourful or tasty as eating the raw fruit. But, it's still a good spread that I could enjoy occasionally.

President's Choice European Dark Chocolate

The second of two of the President's Choice Organics chocolate bars, the other was Raisins and Hazelnuts (they were on sale for $2.50 each). This is a straight chocolate bar, dark chocolate, with 70% cacao content. The ingredient listing looks good, all organic ingredients, unsweetened chocolate, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin and vanilla extract.

How did it taste? Not bad, snaps well and smells fruity. Though, I found it to be a little chalky when eating, and thus wouldn't choose this to eat on a regular basis.

Kombucha Wonder Drink - Jasmine Tea and Niagara Grape

Having enjoyed some of Wonder Drink's flavours, especially Himalayan, I finally had the chance to taste the last of their five flavours, Jasmine Tea and Niagara Grape. Three of them use Oolong tea, one Red tea, this one uses Jasmine tea, which I have enjoyed before (and is essentially green tea with Jasmine flavour).

Kombucha is a carbonated drink, a sweetened fermented tea or tisane, using a Mother of mushroom, or mushroom, or SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast). It is unlike any other drink I have tasted, an acquired taste to some, but good to me.

There is an underlying bitterness to this drink that I don't care for, and often comes in the first steeping of green tea (the second steeping is the sweeter, but more subtler). The Niagara Grape flavour (which comes from juice concentrate) is equal in flavour to the jasmine tea, but I don't know that the two particularly pair together well. I like the kombucha flavour of this drink, but still far prefer the Himalayan.