We’ve mentioned NewTree Chocolate before, the Belgian chocolate with the healthy twist. I picked this NewTree Belgian Biscuit 65% Cocoa dark chocolate bar and bought it before I even noticed its impressive list of health benefits. This particular bar has flax seeds (touted as a source of Omega 3), three times more fiber than similar chocolate bars, and 30% less sugar. I just bought it because it had a picture of cookies on the front.
So it’s healthy. But how does it taste?
Oh, and before I tell you how it tastes, check out the earth-friendly features of this chocolate bar:
- GMO free
- Certified 100% CO2 neutral
- NewTree also contributes to the protection of the Amazon Rainforest
The packaging has a photo of the candy on front, with a cookie and some flax seeds sprinked around. The packaging has a modern, environmental feel, with the green NewTree logo (the green background has a leaf texture). Notable: the packaging didn’t say anything about being made with post-consumer (recycled) content. I would kind of expect that from a company as into green-sounding projects as NewTree.
The chocolate has a sweet earthy scent. The chocolate has quite a snap to it (not uncommon in chocolates with higher percentages of cocoa). There’s a crunch to the chocolate when you bite into it because of the cookie pieces and flax seeds inside. Despite its 30% less sugar, this chocolate is adequately sweet, especially for dark chocolate.
The taste is a thin chocolate flavor with a note of cinnamon that kind of reminds me of the flavor of Ibarra Mexican chocolate. If you bite into a flax seed, you get the green, slightly medicinal (or hay-ish) flavor of the seed. If you don’t bite into the seed, you will get them stuck in your teeth! The cookies don’t seem to add any flavor, but just a gritty texture to the chocolate.
This is not to say this chocolate is unpleasant. You probably won’t forget that you’re eating healthy chocolate, though! Would I buy it again? Probably not. It doesn’t taste good enough for me to buy again. And I’m not a huge fan of flax seeds.
If the health benefits of this chocolate bar appeal to you, then you’ll probably be happy eating this. Between knowing that the candy is better for your body, and knowing its better for the environment, you can feel good about your choice to support this company.
I love, love, love this Newtree chocolate! But I’ll admit that the reason I picked it up at all was because of its being on a clearance shelf in Target. (Was $3.29, marked down twice to $1.64, which seemed acceptible for my purse.) I happen to enjoy flax seeds and the bits of biscuit add just enough crunch. Having bought only a few to try, and not seeing them again @ Target, I’ve wanted to seek them out. I’ll find them; maybe via link here.
July 15th, 2011 at 4:41 pm