All of us have probably read about the health benefits of eating both almonds and dark chocolate, and the marketers of CocoaVia Chocolate Covered Almonds take full advantage of our health concerns when promoting their product. I bought a box of five individually wrapped packages for around $5 at CVS. CocoaVia claims their candy is “formulated to help reduce bad cholesterol†and “promote healthy circulation.†I was most interested in the taste, and was relieved to find a candy that targets the health food crowd without using artificial sweeteners in place of sugar.
After the first bite, the chocolate covered almonds weren’t as sweet as I’d hoped, but I quickly got used to the slightly bitter taste and loved it. I ate two packs, but I could’ve done fine with one. The 1oz bags are surprisingly filling. All the nuts were whole and seemed of good quality, and they were generously coated in dark chocolate.
I’m not trying to delude myself into thinking a pack of CocoaVia should replace my morning oatmeal or afternoon carrots, but they seem to be a healthy alternative to traditional candy. Based on the chocolate covered almonds, I’m definitely willing to try CocoaVia Chocolate Bars and Snack Bars.
Chocolate Runner’s blog has a roundup of the crispy bar:
http://completerunning.com/chocolate-runners-blog/2006/09/15/chocolate-viagra-and-cocovia/
The almonds are nice, but way too expensive for what you get (especially since their “mysterious” enhanced flavanol thing isn’t really documented).