Kev's Snack Reviews

Following my review of the M&S Single Origin 100% Cocoa Dark Chocolate last week, today we have something perhaps a little more palatable to those not used to sugar free chocolates, a Single Estate 72% cocoa bar from Mindanao Island in the Phillipines. This bar is part of the new range at M&S which also includes a single origin White Chocolate bar. The bar is thinner than other bars M&S usually do, no doubt due to the need to charge more for less since these are from single estate cocoa growers. And to be honest that's no bad thing - the taste is much better than any average dark chocolate! For a 72% bar this was very flavourful, with an almost honey like taste as well as some sharper fruity cocoa flavours. I enjoyed every bite and savoured it since the bar was quite small. And despite being small I felt like I'd gotten a lot more compared to the larger dark bars. Overall, if you're a dark chocolate lover I would highly recommend giving this one a try ...

Another day, another review of Green & Blacks Velvet Edition. Why do I do this to myself? I should have learnt my lesson from trying the Velvet Edition Orange & Almond  and Mint Dark Chocolate varieties, but as a dark chocolate lover I'm often tempted by special offers in supermarkets. When Green & Blacks 85% bar is on offer I'l buy it, but on this occasion the Velvet Edition range was on offer at £1.50 a bar in Tesco, so I thought I would see how the 70% tastes...naked so to speak, free from other flavours or nuts. One thing I do like about these bars is that they contain no soy lecithin, which is always a plus. They're also dairy free and suitable for vegans (except for the Salted Caramel variety). I like the designs of the bars, too - they have nice clean squares that are easier to break than the likes of Lindt or regular Green & Blacks bars. This variety contains vanilla bean powder in the ingredients, so I was curious if this would enhance th...

I always love a new chocolate bar variety, so when I spotted this mini bar of Doisy and Dam Dark Chocolate in a local Sainsbury's Express recently, straight into my basket it went. Costing £1 for 25g it certainly ain't cheap, but that's because it contains organic cocoa and has won a Great Taste Award. I had high expectations, especially since I've reviewed Doisy & Dam before - do check out my Doisy & Dam Maple, Toasted Rice & Pink Salt Review. This bar contains coconut flakes and vanilla as well as lucuma, which is a type of fruit with caramel undertones. There's 4 segments per mini bar. Considering the price I was expecting something special from this, and luckily it didn't disappoint. The coconut chips add some nice toasty crunchiness, whilst the lucuma and vanilla both give it a smooth, sweet caramel-like flavour. This is balanced by the rich dark chocolate, which is good quality and has a finer taste than the likes of other dark ch...

Some time back I was sent some Masecasse chocolates to review, and must admit I've never really heard of the brand before. It seems they're new to the UK, and their chocolates are "proudly made in Africa" with fair trade cocoa. I tried the Milk Chocolate variety recently and enjoyed it, but how does this one compare? This contains 70% dark chocolate with bits of toasted coconut, and is suitable for vegans. The coconut is sprinkled in small pools on the underside of the bar and incorporated into the chocolate. The chocolate had a lovely flavour profile - rich, woody, almost fruity, the sort of thing you expect from fine cocoa. I was surprised at how flavoursome it was for a 70% chocolate - usually you get flavours like this from 80% or higher. The toasted coconut added a subtle, but welcoming toasty sweetness to the bar, but it didn't detract from the rich cocoa flavours at all. And thankfully it didn't leave annoying bits of coconut in my mouth afterwar...