Chocolates from Tcho

Photo from Tcho. Click on the pic to go there.

About Pure Notes Dark Chocolatey 70%:

TCHO PureNotes™ exquisite dark chocolates are the purest expression of the cacao bean itself. As with wine, what you taste is precisely, and only, what’s in the bean. There are no added flavorings, only pure dark chocolate.

About Mokaccino Serious Milk + Blue Bottle Coffee:

Warm, roasted nuttiness and complex dried fruit notes from freshly roasted Blue Bottle coffee blend seamlessly with the dense caramel and cocoa notes in our SeriousMilk chocolate. Named Best Flavored Milk Chocolate in America by the International Chocolate Awards.

Both these bars were in my February Love with Food box.

In my February Love With Food box, I received two squares of chocolate.  The first is a dark chocolate square:  Pure Notes Dark Chocolatey 70%.  This is an intense dark chocolate.  A nice snap.  I allowed the chocolate to melt on my tongue a little and I could taste notes of rich, dark fudge, reminiscent of a rich, creamy fudge that you might have drizzled over your ice cream in the really good ice cream parlors.  I could also taste roasted notes, like a roasted nutty flavor.

This dark chocolate square reminded me a little bit of a really, really good Fujian black tea – rich, malty and even a little caramel-y.  So much complexity within the layers of this chocolate.

Photo from Tcho. Click on the pic to go there.

The second square is a milk chocolate with coffee square:  Mokaccino Serious Milk + Blue Bottle Coffee.  Now, normally, I frown at coffee flavored things, but, this chocolate bar is quite yummy.  I could happily devour one or more of these chocolate squares daily.  The coffee notes bring out something extra in the chocolate, and it becomes a very full, rich, decadent flavor for the palate.  Sweet, creamy, and indulgent … and reminds me of those mocha drinks I used to love but can no longer drink because I realized that coffee consumption causes me to feel sick a few hours later.  Fortunately, I didn’t feel that way after I ate this chocolate square … the only thing I felt a little later is a desire that I had more chocolate!

My Final Thoughts:

These chocolate bars from Tcho were amazing.  Then again, when is chocolate not amazing?  But these were really, really good.  The next time you’re looking for really, really good chocolate, you won’t go wrong with Tcho.

Strawberry Coconut Energy Bar from Off the Farm

Ingredients:

Ingredients: brown rice syrup, strawberries (strawberries, sugar, rice flour, sunflower oil citric acid), oats, cashews, figs (dried figs, rice flour), crisp rice (rice flour, sugar, malt extract, salt, mixed tocopherols), apples, coconut, chia seeds, sesame seeds, tapioca syrup, natural flavors, sunflower oil, sea salt, citric acid.

I received this energy bar in my January box from Knoshy.

Tea Suggestion:

I decided to go with a bowl of Matcha to sip with this energy bar to get the most out of the energy aspect of the bar, since Matcha is one of the most energizing teas I know of!  I had this Lucuma flavored Matcha from Red Leaf Tea.  Lucuma is a fruit, but it’s a very subtle tasting fruit in this Matcha, tasting a bit like maple.  Although this particular energy bar was not my favorite from Off The Farm, these two things together:  Matcha and energy bar … had an energizing effect!

What I Think:

Off The Farm has three different varieties of their energy bar, and with this one, I’ve tried all three!  And of the three … this one is my least favorite, and it surprises me to say that, because I love strawberries and coconut.  I thought for sure this would be my favorite, but I have to say that if this had been the first bar that I had tried from this company rather than the last, I would not have been as excited to try the other two flavors.

Don’t get me wrong … this is alright.  But … it isn’t as delicious as the other two.  It … needs something.  The bar itself is tasty, it’s chewy and has a lot of nuts and seeds in it to keep it crunchy.  The strawberries are flavorful and the coconut adds some nice texture and flavor to the bar.  But … something … is lacking in the flavor combination and I am not sure exactly what it is.

After reading the ingredient list, I see that the nut here is cashews, and maybe that’s the issue.  Hey, I love cashews … but they are kind of a … mellow tasting nut.  Maybe something with a little more pizzazz.  Walnuts, perhaps?  Pecans?  Almonds?  Macadamia nuts might be a really cool addition to these and would elevate the flavor of the coconut in an interesting way.

My Final Thoughts:

It’s a tasty bar … but, it lacks the interest and excitement of the other two bars.  It just needs something, because it’s kind of boring.

Summer Berry Flapjack Snack from Graze

Photo from Graze.
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What’s In It:

rustic rolled oat flapjack with berry-infused cranberries

I received these Flapjack snack bars in my February box from Graze.

Tea Suggestion:

Since these oat bars have a very ‘breakfast-y’ snack sort of taste to them, I went with a black tea, this Australian Daintree Black Tea from McIver’s.   I love the way the rich, molasses-y sort of flavor melds with the flapjack snack!

What I Think:

I like the flapjack snacks from Graze.  In my post about my February box, I mentioned that they’re kind of like granola bars … well, they are … and they aren’t.  They have a granola bar look to them, and some similar ingredients to a granola bar, but the taste and texture reminds me more of a bowl of oatmeal that has been converted to convenient bar form.

The oats tastes sweet and nutty.  It has a rustic, hearty taste and texture to it.  I don’t eat oatmeal made from rolled oats often, because I prefer steel cut oats, but, I like the flavor of rolled oats in granola bars, oatmeal cookies and these.

And after mentioning oatmeal cookies … these not only remind me of a bowl of oatmeal, but a thick, soft oatmeal cookie but without the sweet dough.  It’s like it has all the goodness of an oatmeal cookie without the stuff that you shouldn’t be eating.

The berries in this are cranberries that have been infused with other berry flavors.  I definitely taste cranberry … do I taste the other berries?  Yeah, I think I taste notes of strawberry, perhaps, and maybe blueberry.

My Final Thoughts:

I “liked” this snack.  It’s really yummy and satisfying.  Like I said previously, it’s a little bit like a bowl of berry studded oatmeal in bar form.

Orange Fruit Bar from Oskri

Photo from Love with Food.
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Product Information:

The Oskri All – Natural and Gluten – Free Orange Fruit bar is the perfect refreshing snack on the – go.

I received this Orange Bar in my January Love with Food box.

Tea Suggestion:

To go with this orange bar, I decided to go with a green tea and I brewed up this Organic Long Jing from Steepster.  I loved the tea and liked the bar … I don’t know if this would be a “perfect pairing” or not but I enjoyed tea time.

What I Think:

This is a really unusual fruit bar, but I am enjoying it.

Most of the reviews on Love With Food that I saw were kind of negative about this product.

I liked it though.  It has a bright orange flavor, and I can taste and feel the dates, raisins and figs in this too.  I feel the texture of these dried fruits … and taste the sweetness from them.

There are also dried bits of orange in this, and it presents a somewhat hard, almost ‘crunchy’ chunk in the bar.  At first, I was kind of put off by this, but, after a couple of bites, I started to enjoy this element of the bar, and it reminds me a little bit of the Orange Crisps from Simple and Crisp.

My Final Thoughts:  

Definitely different, but I didn’t hate it.  I actually liked it after I became accustomed to the textures that are in the bar.  It’s a different taste, a different texture, but it’s bright and has a really vibrant flavor.

Coconut Mint Milk Chocolate Bar from Theo

Product Information:

What do you get when toasted coconut and mint are combined with organic 45 percent milk chocolate? A cool, sweet tropical breeze in chocolate form! This limited seasonal release is one of our favorite bars to enjoy during the holidays.

I received this chocolate bar in my December box from Knoshy.

Tea Suggestion:

I wanted to go with a pure, unflavored tea so that nothing would compete with the flavors of the bar.  And because this is milk chocolate, I thought that a black tea might be a bit too strong, so I opted for a creamy green tea like this Magical Mao Jian Green Tea from Teasenz.  The tea is light and crisp and doesn’t attempt to interfere with the delicious chocolate, coconut and mint flavors … instead, the light, buttery note seems to complement these notes.  Nice!

What I Think:

Oh my goodness … I love this chocolate bar.

I love chocolate.  That’s no big secret by now.  Usually I prefer dark chocolate to milk chocolate … but, this is so good, and I think that the creaminess of the milk chocolate works in the confections favor.  The creaminess of the milk chocolate melds beautifully with the coconut.

And while I thought at first that coconut and mint were kind of a “weird” flavor combination, those thoughts vanished with my first bite.  Oh wow!  So good!

The coconut adds a delicious coconut-y flavor and texture.  The mint is cool and refreshing.  Together the mint, coconut and chocolate create the perfect marriage of flavors.

My Final Thoughts:

I am in love with this chocolate bar.

Blueberry Vanilla Energy Bar from Off The Farm

Photo from Off The Farm.
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Product Information:

Ingredients: brown rice syrup, blueberries (blueberries, sugar, sunflower oil), oats, currants, pears, almonds, crisp rice (rice flour, sugar, malt extract, salt, mixed tocopherols), apples, chia seeds, sesame seeds, tapioca syrup, natural flavors, sunflower oil, sea salt, citric acid.

I received this energy bar in my January box from Knoshy!

Tea Suggestion:

When I eat energy bars, I like to drink green tea.  Green tea is an invigorating tea, so I find that that extra boost of energy that I get from the green tea is nice to go with the “energy” of the bar.  I chose this Organic Mountain Indonesian Green Tea from Tea at Sea to drink with this bar.  The sweet, buttery flavors of the tea went nicely with the whole grain goodness of the bar.

What I Think:

I was really excited to find not one but two energy bars from Off The Farm in January’s Knoshy box.   Normally, my attitude toward energy bars is kind of blasé, but I make an exception for the energy bars from this company, because I really enjoyed the Apple Cinnamon bar that I’ve tried previously.

This is tasty!  Lots of seeds, lots of nuts, and lots of fruity flavors.  I don’t taste as much vanilla as I expected to since this bar is called “Blueberry Vanilla.”  But there’s a bounty of blueberries in this … it’s packed with them!

My Final Thoughts:

Really delicious.  I love the big, juicy blueberries, I love the crunchy seeds of the bar … I do wish there was more of a vanilla note to it, but, I do like the berries.

Organic Dark 70% Chocolate from Green & Black’s

Learn more about Green & Black’s here.

Buy Green & Black’s chocolate on Amazon.

Tea Suggestion:

Chocolate is one of my favorite tea time treats because … well, I’m a chocoholic!  This is an exquisite dark chocolate bar, and I chose to drink this Black Tea from Shan Valley with the chocolate.  The roasty flavor as well as the other notes (hints of smoke, caramel, nut, earth and toast) of the tea complemented the deep, rich flavor of the chocolate in these mini-bars.

What I Think:

These tiny bars that were in my November Love with Food box are so cute!  They are .53 ounces, and when you open the wrapper, it looks like a miniature chocolate bar, complete with the “break lines” that you’d find on a larger bar.

Put simply, this is rich and delicious.  One of the better dark chocolate bars I’ve encountered.  There is a good snap to this.  The chocolate tastes rich, sweet with just the right amount of bitterness to keep things interesting.  There is a deep fruity character to the chocolate.

My Final Thoughts: 

This is definitely a chocolate bar that I’d pick up again when I’m craving dark chocolate.  I’m glad that I have seen this chocolate in my local Whole Foods.  I’ll be grabbing a bar next time I shop there!

Brewers Bar from Granola Lab

Picture from Knoshy.
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Product Information:

Granola Lab’s Brewers Bar is a unique, chewy-crispy fruit and seed granola bar made with barley malt (also called spent grain). To brew beer, barley malt is first soaked in water to create a mash. The resulting liquid is further processed into everyone’s favorite alcoholic beverage, but the malt itself is discarded.

The spent grain is collected from Kelso Beer Co of Brooklyn and baked into these bars along with dried apples, apricots, dates, pumpkin, sesame and hemp seeds. It’s mostly organic, vegan, and doesn’t contain any nuts. 

Tea Suggestion:

I thought that a nice, earthy white tea would be a good choice to drink with this Brewer’s Bar, so I selected this Silky Silver Needle Tea from Teasenz.  It is a light, refreshing tea that allowed the sweetness of the fruit and the flavors of the seeds to come forward.  A really nice tea time – unusual, yes! – but, enjoyable.

What I Think:

My various subscriptions have offered me many different opportunities to try a bunch of different granola/energy type bars.  Some I’ve liked more than others, while some were just sort of “meh” or maybe less than “meh.”

This bar is different from any that I’ve tried thus far.  The grain used for these bars is the spent malt from a brewery which gives the bar a different base flavor as well as a different texture.  I like the flavor of this.  I mean, I usually enjoy the oat-y flavor of most of the granola bars out there, but, this is tasty too.

There are also lot of seeds to this and that gives the bar a sort of crackly crunch that I enjoy.  One seed that I was particularly pleased to see as an ingredient is hemp seeds because I think that hemp is a product that we need to further explore.  And there are lots of fruity notes in this too:  I taste the apple and the apricot and the dates add a nice sweetness.

My Final Thoughts:

A really tasty and interesting bar.  I found this one different from the usual bar … and in this case, different was really good!

Gingerbread Spice Chocolate Bar from Theo

Photo from Knoshy.
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Product Information:

This organic, fair trade chocolate is crafted by Theo Chocolate in Seattle, Washington. Gingerbread spices are mixed with creamy milk chocolate that’s sweet, spicy and warming! Makes a perfect fireside treat to enjoy with a mug of hot cocoa. Limited seasonal release.

I received this chocolate bar in my December box from Knoshy!

Tea Suggestion:

Because I’m loving the notes of spice in this chocolate bar, especially the nutmeg, I decided to brew a cup of this Nutmeg Cream Tea from Butiki Teas!  I love the way the creamy notes of the tea marry with the creamy taste of the chocolate on my palate, and the the spice notes of the tea were in perfect harmony with the zesty spices of the confection.  Delicious!

What I Think:

Chocolate!

This is the first of two chocolate bars that I received in December’s box from Knoshy.  And I’m loving it.

There is a good amount of spice to this candy bar.  It’s a really delightful balance between rich, creamy milk chocolate and warm spices, and I like that they aren’t competing with one another.

When I shop for chocolate, I generally select a darker chocolate, but, I really like milk chocolate too, and I think that milk chocolate is the right choice for these particular flavors because it makes it taste almost like a chocolate “chai” but without the tea.  (Don’t worry, that can be easily remedied by simply enjoying the chocolate bar alongside a cup of hot tea!)

In fact, the spices here are very chai-like.  It’s got ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and nutmeg, as well as vanilla.  Most of these (and often all of these) are found in a masala chai.

My Final Thoughts:

I love this chocolate bar.  I am so glad that Knoshy included it in this month’s box.  It is rich, spicy, and chocolate-y … and absolutely delicious.

Almond, Apricot, and Yoghurt Bar from Eat Natural

Photo from Love with Food.
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Product Information:

Color versus Colour? Yogurt or is it yoghurt? Well no matter how you spell it, this all natural bar takes the cake. It is a simple mix of unsulphured apricots, crunchy almonds and coconut and then topped with a smooth layer of yogurt coating.

I received one of these bars in my November Love with Food Box.

Tea Suggestions:

I brewed myself a cup of chai and turned it into a latte with Chico Chai’s Original Loose Leaf Chai.  Then I decided that this bar would make a lovely accompaniment with my chai.  The sweetness of the bar enhances the spicy notes of the chai – these two work really splendidly together!

What I Think:

Tasty!

The first thing I notice when I’m reading up on this bar is that there aren’t a lot of extraneous ingredients to it.  The yogurt coating has a few ingredients to it, and then there is just crisped rice, apricots, almonds, coconuts, honey and glucose syrup.

It is a little on the sweet side.  I am thinking that this could be tasty without the yogurt coating.  I mean, I like the yogurt just fine, and I have a sweet tooth so I’m not complaining about the sweetness of it … but I’m just saying that I don’t think it needs the yogurt coating.  It would be a tasty fruit and nut type bar without the coating.

There are lots of crunchy almonds and sweet apricots in this.  I can feel the texture of the chewy coconut.  I don’t taste too much honey or syrup in this, I like that these two sweeteners don’t overpower the bar and take away from the natural taste of the fruit and nut flavors.

My Final Thoughts:

I liked this.  This is something that if I were wanting a quick and easy snack, I’d grab one of these bars.  This is something that I wouldn’t mind having on hand for when I want something a little sweet.  I like the variety of textures within the bar – the chewy of the apricots and coconut, the crunchy of the almonds and the crispness of the rice.  Overall, a really tasty snack.