Kev's Snack Reviews

Another Plamil review today and this time it's for their So Free Organic Dark Chocolate sweetened with Coconut Blossom Sugar. This bar is dairy free, vegan and contains 67% cocoa solids and replaces white sugar with coconut sugar. So how does this affect the taste? Opening the wrapper it smellt very rich with a distinctive almost treacle-like aroma, which is presumably the coconut sugar. I do find coconut sugar generally has that kind of taste, which is very different from white sugar but nice in its own way - it lends an almost caramel flavour to chocolate. The taste is interesting...the coconut sugar is very prominent, and like I said it does have that treacle-like flavour which is quite strong. To be honest I'm not sure it worked with the dark chocolate, I think the cocoa clashes too much with it. A milkier chocolate might have been better (the Waitrose 1 Indian Ocean Bar is a good example of coconut sugar that tastes great in chocolate). Overall, not a bad bar at ...

Today's review is for Plamil, who sent me some dairy free chocolates a while ago, but they're back today to get the review treatment with their So Free Milk Chocolate Alternative bar - a dairy free, vegan organic bar made with 45% cocoa and lower in sugar than the average milk chocolate bar. This is a bar perfect for those on a dairy free or vegan diet, and is great for use in baking or just eating! I chose the latter of course. I like that this bar has a higher cocoa content than some dairy free chocolates, it tastes like you're actually eating chocolate rather than just sugar! The rice powder used to replace the milk works well to give it a creamy, soothing edge that makes a fine dairy substitute. It's not exactly the same of course, but that's to be expected. I imagine this would be great used in brownies or cookies - and luckily Plamil make some dairy free baking chips just for that purpose. For more info see their website:  https://www.plamilfoods.co.uk/ ...

Just a quick review today, and it's one for those who may be reducing or cutting out the sugar what with the news of the UK Sugar Tax coming into force. Most chocolate bars using sweeteners can often taste chemically or just "wrong", so how does Plamil's So Free Espresso bar fare? Made with xylitol, a natural sweetener derived from birch, I found this bar in Holland and Barrett. It contains 72% cocoa solids, is gluten free, dairy free and suitable for vegans. The bar has small segments you can break off. I went for the espresso variety simply because I was in need of an energy boost, and although the coffee only comes from flavouring I reasoned the placebo effect might still give me a boost! And it was just what I needed for a sweet coffee hit. The chocolate gives a rich flavour, with the coffee lingering in the aftertaste whilst the xylitol makes it sweet enough to be palatable. It's not the same as sugar of course, and it does take a little getting used...

A mahoosive thankyou to Plamil Foods , who recently sent me a box of their Dairy Free, Organic, Gluten Free and Vegan-friendly chocolate range to review recently! It was like a gift from the Gods considering I had been avoiding the dairy-filled chocolates recently. It's tricky finding decent dairy free alternatives in shops; there's the trusty dark chocolates from Lindt and G&B of course but sometimes you want something a bit more mellow. Thankfully Plamil have catered for all with their range - from White Chocolate to Milk Chocolate alternatives, to the more darker end of the cocoa spectrum. I thought I'd start with the White Chocolate Alternative first, since it's one of the most difficult products to find a Dairy Free version of. Billed as Organic and containing 48% cocoa this sounded rather special indeed - it consists of a blend of cocoa butter, sugar and rice in place of milk. Do forgive the broken appearance of the bar, I think in my excitement I may...