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Pacari chocolate (II)

November 27, 2017 by Tofu Temptress Leave a Comment

A second consignment of Pacari goodies
A second consignment of Pacari goodies

Pacari chocolate is one of those indulgences you can enjoy totally guilt free. It’s vegan (of course) and it doesn’t contain palm oil. The cocoa is ethically sourced as they work closely with local communities and, as I’ll describe, their products are perfect for ‘mindful’ consumption.

A lovely indulgence
A lovely indulgence

Pacari is not cheap, nor should it be. I was lucky enough to receive complimentary items to try, but I know they’re of the highest quality. Now, onto mindfulness.

The first item I tried was the Chocolate Covered Cacao Beans. These crunchy beans were relatively mild in flavour, although they had banana in them, plus a generous dusting of cacao powder. With lots of chocolate, one finds oneself gorging and perhaps feeling regretful. With these however, the substance and complexity of texture left you satisfied after only a couple of beans. This is great news for someone like me, who feels a meal is never really complete without something sweet to finish. Eating them slowly and mindfully felt like the right thing to do somehow.

Chocolate covered cacao beans
Chocolate covered cacao beans

I also received drinking cacao with ginger. Now, I felt the ginger was fairly subtle (I consumed it as a drink, but of course you can use it in all sorts of ways.) However, my other tasting guinea pig felt the ginger was too much – each to their own. I heated up some oat milk in a pan and adding this made it into a very tasty hot chocolate.

 

A pleasantly aromatic hot chocolate
A pleasantly aromatic hot chocolate

I’m no barista, but if you are, I’m sure you could make this into all sorts of wonderful delights. My only criticism would be the inner packet is quite tightly packed, so you’d be better decanting the cacao into a tin or something to save it from spilling everywhere. Happily the availability of vegan marshmallows these days means you could enjoy an even more indulgent winter drink.

Golden berries
Golden berries

More treats were to come. This time I wasn’t quite so restrained. Three packets of chocolate covered berries, banana and then espresso beans were next on the list. I must admit to finding them all rather more-ish. The golden berries were pleasantly tart which made for a lovely contrast to the smooth chocolate that covered them. I popped them into an egg cup (what else should a vegan do with such an item?) and did my best to be restrained.

Banana pieces
Banana pieces

Another day I tried the tiny balls of delight that were the banana pieces. These had an unexpectedly strong banana taste, which again went well with the dark chocolate. Out came the egg cup once more and, like the berries, they probably lasted us two tasting sessions.

 

Espresso beans
Espresso beans

Lastly were the chocolate covered espresso beans which were strong in both taste and texture. Although I know it’s not everyone’s thing, I love coffee flavoured chocolate. This was not the somewhat manufactured coffee taste of chocolate you might be used to though, but much more real. For me, this would be preferable to having an actual coffee after dinner.

 

The last item we tried was the organic chocolate bar with ginger and chia. The flavours that Pacari produces always seem so well thought out and this was no exception. It managed to be refreshing and again, this is a chocolate bar that you could (with some self control) enjoy mindfully. The aroma was lovely and no one flavour was overpowering. They melded together into a really lovely chocolate experience.

Ginger & chia organic chocolate
Ginger & chia organic chocolate

 

If you’re into chocolate but feel that you eat too much of it, perhaps the price and distinctive flavours of these products are just the thing to moderate your consumption and enhance your experience. Chocolate is supposed to be a treat, and tasting these yummy items certainly was.

 

Filed Under: Product Reviews Tagged With: cacao, chocolate, dark chocolate, Pacari, vegan treats

Pacari Chocolate

August 27, 2017 by Tofu Temptress Leave a Comment

Free chocolate sample
Free chocolat package - yay!
Free chocolat package – yay!

So recently I was lucky enough to receive some chocolate from Pacari chocolate to review. I tell you what; it’s a tough life running a vegan website at times. The company had written to me asking if I’d like to try some and, not being an idiot, I said yes. I generally really like dark chocolate and was excited to receive my free samples.

Ingredients
Ingredients

All their chocolate is organic and they seem really involved with the growers in Ecuador. They pride themselves on this, and their environmental ethics, so altogether Pacari seems like a pretty socially responsible company, which was music to my ears.

 

Inner packaging
Inner packaging

They have a wide range of products including chocolate bars (of course!) drinking cacao and chocolate covered fruits and cacao beans. It all sounds pretty yummy, but of course the proof of the pudding is in the eating. They’ve won lots of awards, including for their raw bars, so my expectations were quite high.

I was sent three different flavours of chocolate: a ten gram bar of 70% cacao raw organic chocolate; a ten gram bar of coffee organic chocolate and finally a full sized fifty gram bar of organic chocolate with Andean Blueberry. Yum! I couldn’t wait to get stuck in.

 

 

No bitterness
No bitterness

Now, many people don’t like dark chocolate because they feel it’s too bitter. I can understand that, even though I don’t agree. However, when I tasted the 70% cacao bar, expecting at least some bitterness, there was none. It was incredibly smooth in flavour and without wanting to seem corny, was kind of the dark chocolate I’d been waiting for all my life! I would really like some of my friends to try it to see whether it’d convert them to dark chocolate.

70% cacao mini bar
70% cacao mini bar

 

 

 

Subtle flavour
Subtle flavour

 

 

I’m also aware that many people aren’t keen on coffee in their chocolate. I’m not sure why, but again, I’d defy them to turn their nose up at the coffee in the second bar I tried. It was unmistakably real coffee, but somehow subtler and more genuine than that you’d get in say, a box of chocolates. The pleasantly grainy texture really rounded it out and I’ll be honest, I was sad when it was gone.

Chcolate to savour
Chcolate to savour

 

 

 

 

Chocolate infused with sweet blueberries
Chocolate infused with sweet blueberries

Lastly it was the turn of the Andean Blueberry chocolate. I love blueberries and know they go well with chocolate, so figured this one couldn’t fail. I was right! The smooth chocolate was infused with really lovely sweet, tiny, almost chewy blueberry bits. It’s the kind of chocolate that is a pleasure to savour.

Full sized bar
Full sized bar

 

 

I really love the outlook of Pacari and their packaging is tempting and high quality. They’re not the cheapest on the market, nor would I expect them to be, but I’d say they’re definitely worth trying, if only for a treat. They’re stocked in various independent shops (see list here) or you can purchase from their website here.

 

Filed Under: Product Reviews Tagged With: blueberry, chocolate, coffee, dark chocolate, organic, raw

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