Sugar Savvy

Cocoa Farm is an Australian chocolate company that uses cocoa beans produced on its own cocoa farm to produce a variety of different chocolates. For the chocolate lover who likes their chocolate plain, Cocoa Farm offers both organic and no-sugar-added milk and dark chocolate bars, however, I found myself drawn to the more exotic flavors. The Buttermilk milk chocolate yields a rich and creamy milk chocolate that packs in 70% of the recommended daily intake for calcium in every 3.5oz, while the chili lends a nice, but not overpowering, spiciness to the no-sugar-added mango and chili dark chocolate. 

The no-sugar-added hazelnut and coffee milk chocolate had a pleasant bitterness from the coffee, which counteracts the sweetness of the milk chocolate, yet I would have liked more discernable pieces of hazelnut in the mix overall. I did notice an odd cooling sensation on the tongue whilst eating this one, and after a spot of research, discovered that this is not uncommon in foods sweetened with malitol.

The most unique flavors in the range are the wine chocolates; Cocoa Farm offers Shiraz, Pinot Noir, and Merlot chocolate bars. They are described as being a blend of milk and dark chocolate and, upon perusal of the ingredient list, indeed have a 38% cocoa content. Looking at the ingredients also led to the discovery that these bars do not, as I had expected, have flavored liquid fillings, but are comprised of wine-soaked currants and chocolate made with grape skin and seed extracts. The currants make up 15% of the bar but, fortunately, will not result in any hangovers (the packaging states that each bar contains not more than 0.25% alcohol). 

I tried the Shiraz bar and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it; the cherry and pepper notes of the Shiraz offset the sweet milk chocolate very pleasantly. Moreover, each 3.5oz block contains the same amount of antioxidants as are in a standard glass of red wine. Now, if only Cocoa Farm would produce these bars in pure dark chocolate, we would have a real health food on our hands…