I have a wicked product to review today. I haven't done a product review in ages and I have been sitting on this one for a long time.
The company is called Alter Eco and they are committed to producing sustainable, fair trade, organic food. The co-founders of Alter Eco started the company in order to help to create a better quality of life for farmers in developing countries and promote social justice.
Their main products are chocolate, quinoa, rice and sugar. Given my chocoholic status, I sampled a lot of their dark chocolate and it was out of this world! The quality was evident in the taste and they had such unique flavours. I am thrilled to promote the company and give this review, I just wish I could sample these again and again ;)
Dark Coconut Toffee:
Pure bliss. That is the only way to describe this chocolate. I knew I would love it right off the bat because I am a coconut fiend and I never met a piece of toffee I didn't like. The coconut pieces could have been bigger, but the toffee chunks were nice and big. It was the least dark of all the bars at 47% cocoa and was the sweetest of all of them, which I don't tend to like in chocolate. However, I ate it at the end of a tough week when I was really feeling like indulging, so I didn't mind at all.
Dark Mint:
This was definitely one of my favourites. I have really been digging the chocolate mint combo lately and this chocolate is about as good as it gets. It was smooth and dark, but it had these cool, crispy little minty bits in it. It's hard to describe, but it took the minty-ness to another level. I'm just head-over-heels in love with it. I will need to be restocking soon.
Dark Quinoa:
This is the one I was most excited to try because I had never tried anything like it before. Quinoa in chocolate?? Works for me! It was a lot like the chocolate bars with puffed rice in them, except that the little quinoa puffs were a bit smaller and crispier than puffed rice. Personally, I love it. I love blending different textures, and this bar did it right.
Dark Almond:
This one was 60% cocoa, just like the mint and the quinoa flavours, so the chocolate itself was just as smooth and decadent as the other two. It had nice big almond pieces, that created just the right amount of crunch to contrast the chocolate. It can't beat dark mint, but it was still damn good.
Dark Blackout:
I often say that when it comes to me and chocolate, the darker the better. That ideology did not fail me here. This bar is 85% cocoa, and it is smooth and intense. I love the bitter edge that it has. It makes it much more satisfying than sweeter chocolate that makes you want to eat the whole bar in one sitting.
It is hard to choose a favourite from the chocolate, but if I have to, I will call it a tie between Dark Blackout and Dark Mint. I absolutely loved the flavour of the crispy mint bits in that bar, but I think that the only thing that could have made it better would have been a higher cocoa content. If these two bars were joined to make one, I think it would be my favourite chocolate bar in the world.
Rainbow Quinoa:
I also got to try their rainbow quinoa, which is very similar to the regular stuff, it is just a blend of the yellow, black and red varieties.
I am a big lover of quinoa, and have always preferred it to rice. It has a great flavour, is high in protein and fibre and takes much less time to cook than brown rice (I am way too impatient to wait 50 minutes for rice to cook, seriously).
This stuff has a great flavour and I love the tricolour effect. There is something about eating this stuff that is far more satisfying than the typical beige hue of regular quinoa.
I have always liked quinoa with vegetables and soy sauce, so for dinner last night I served it underneath a cabbage, mushroom and shrimp stir-fry seasoned with soy sauce and sesame oil. It was delicious, filling and beautiful :)
If anyone is interested in trying Alter Eco products, you can check out their website (the link it at the beginning of this post). I have seen their stuff in lots of health food stores in Canada and I know it's available all over the U.S. too. I would highly recommend their chocolate, in particular. I'm embarrassed to admit that those 5 bars only lasted me about a week... I had a lot of exams and assignments; I needed the fuel! ;)
Until next time. xoxo
What would be your favourite chocolate from the Alter Eco line?
