Kev's Snack Reviews

When I'm avoiding sugar I do like a good 100% cocoa dark chocolate bar. They're hard to find in most shops, but luckily thanks to Sainsbury's the Montezuma's Absolute Black is becoming widely available - handy for anyone on a low carb diet. But now M&S are here to challenge it with their own version of 100% cocoa chocolate, a Single Origin Fairtrade bar made in Peru. This bar costs £2 for 100g and is available in most of their larger stores. There's a Taste Profile inside the case, which mentions notes of red fruits and honey, as well as a whisky that pairs well this chocolate. Steady on M&S, are you trying to get me drunk?! Make no mistake about it, this is a very, very dark chocolate and one that I imagine is just too much for most folks. It's intense, and has that fruity acidic flavour that is common with unsweetened chocolate. The description of red berry flavours is quite accurate; this does indeed taste strongly of berries, and is quite com...

A huge thankyou to Montezuma's for sending me this Absolute Black Easter egg to review recently! Since I first heard of it I was eager to try it; I do enjoy Montezuma's Absolute Black bars - they're a godsend when trying to cut back on sugar intake and still enjoy some chocolate. So in Easter Egg form it makes the perfect treat for anyone wiahing to stick to a sugar free diet over the Easter period! Not only is it made with 100% cocoa chocolate, the shell contains cocoa nibs and there's a sachet of 100% Dark Chocolate buttons with it too. The egg was silver foil wrapped, a nice touch compared to some of the shiny plastic wrappers found on many Easter Eggs. Ripping open the foil, the egg looked super shiny - I didn't want to break it! But it had to be done...for reviewing purposes! The shell is nice and thick with the cocoa nibs peeking out in places. Biting into a piece, there's the classic rich cocoa flavour of the Absolute Black Dark Chocolate punc...

Today's review is for a bar not many may have tried due to its very high cocoa content. It can be somewhat bitter to those who aren't used to it, even lovers of 70% chocolate may find it overpowering, but it's one I often end up eating when trying to reduce my sugar intake but still need a little choccy fix. It's currently on offer for £1.50 in Tesco stores so I've been buying it quite a lot recently. It comes in the same style blocks as all Lindt Excellence bars, with the Lindt logo printed on and with a nice glossy finish. There's vanilla in the ingredients which gives it a subtle, smooth aftertaste. I have to say I do enjoy these bars for a richer chocolate fix, they're not quite as flavoursome as Green & Blacks but they're still pretty rich and smooth. The vanilla is the key ingredient that prevents these from tasting too bitter. A few squares is definitely all you need though, any more than that and it becomes a bit too much! Overall, ...

Today's review is something a bit different, not a snack as such but a sweetener that is fast becoming popular amongst the low carb, keto diet crowd. I've experimented on and off with low carb and sugar free diets and tried a variety of different sweeteners, such as stevia and eryhtritol, but I chose this one as it supposedly bakes like brown sugar. It's even been awarded "superior tasting natural sweetener" by America's top chefs. It's based on an ancient sacred fruit, but rather than explain I'll copy what is on the wrapper: "Over a thousand years ago, in remote mountain highlands of Asia, a group of Buddhist monks called the Luohan achieved enlightenment through meditation, prayer and pure living. On the slopes of a primeval forest, the monks discovered and cultivated a rare fruit prized for its sweetness. This sacred fruit was named Monk Fruit, or Luohan Guo, after its devoted caretakers and was used in elixirs to increase chi, or life ...