First Impressions
What exactly does velvet mean in terms of food? Is it just a meaningless buzz word to draw us in? Or maybe it has a lot more substance? about it in terms of perhaps the connotations regarding the word velvet: luxury, the sublime, opulence, etc.
I don't know, but I feel as though I am about to find out with this new range from Green & Black's. The packaging is certainly luxurious, with its all new card cover, gradiated colour design and embossed gold writing. I really love these touches to the packaging, especially how they maintain this style throughout the range.
Green & Black's are committed to sourcing their ingredients, particularly their cocoa from ethical and sustainable means through the Cocoa Life program. Click here for more details!
I think this is an important message and ethos to have behind a company so large and built on a luxury image.
Both the mint and the raspberry hazelnut flavour are vegan friendly, free from artificial colours, flavours, and preservatives. The bars come in 90g so they are just 10 less than the standard bars, although you would probably struggle to notice its absence.
On To The Review
I shall start with the mint flavour because that is the first one that I tried. The chocolate was of a good quality, with a high cocoa percentage of 70%. This is pretty standard for Green & Black's and nothing to be too excited for. The excitement starts when you get to enjoy the melt and the enhanced flavour of mint shines through. I can only assume that the addition of peppermint oil is behind this luxurious experience. I really enjoyed this bar. The fresh and almost zingy flavour made it easy to enjoy and eat.
The raspberry hazelnut was a different experience I thought, certainly not a bad one, but quite different. The texture of the chocolate was smooth and delightful, but with an interesting texture due to the blended raspberry and hazelnut pieces. I really loved this, and thought that it helped to create little bursts of flavour. A very clever way of distributing flavour, whilst keeping the bar interesting. The tart berry was a great contrast against the rich chocolate, with a little earthiness with the hazelnut.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I really enjoyed this new range from Green & Black's, but I am absolutely devastated that the salted caramel flavour is not vegan! Obviously, I'm pretty happy that I have two flavours to choose from, so I can't complain too much, especially because they were so delicious!
I would definitely give these a massive thumbs up, and look forward to any other future flavours that they are bringing out!
Rating - 8/10
Calories - 619 per 100g
Buy Again - Yes!
I have super mixed feelings about these bars. To start with, I'm not a fan of the branding. Nor am I happy the Organic certification has gone... And I can't help but distrust Mondelez on swapping from Fair Trade to Cocoa Life... there's something very off about changing from a well established, recognised label like Fair Trade to something Mondelez owned. It feels a bit dodgy or underhand, like they're trying to get one over on the consumer. Though that could entirely be down to my perception of the American owning company!
ReplyDeleteWhat is good to hear though, is that the chocolate is good. I loved the Mint Thin they produced, when it was Organic and Fair Trade. ;)