Ombar Chocolates

When the people behind Ombar got in touch to ask if I'd like to try their range of raw vegan chocolate bars I was a little dubious. I once bought their Lemon & Green Tea bar and after one bite I was horrified. After many attempts to palm it off onto friends I threw it out. Yeah, I threw out chocolate. Sacrilege, I know. It basically tasted exactly how I imagine citrus washing up liquid would taste and there wasn't even a hint of my favourite matcha flavour. I was honest and upfront with Ombar's contact but they still wanted to send me some chocolate to see if I'd prefer another flavour. I thought that was pretty awesome, I'd be tempted to back away if someone said they tried and hated one of my cupcakes! 

I was happy to note upon opening the box that the Green Tea & Lemon bar was nowhere to be seen and that they'd generously sent six bars for me to try. Left to right we have Goji Berry, Açai & Blueberry, Dark 73%, Coco Mylk, Coconut 40% and Strawberries & Cream.

I opened the Coco Mylk first as I'd been hearing great things about it from my vegan friends and I'd seen it many times in health food stores. Honestly, I'm not a fan. It took me a while to work out why but it comes down to the fact that it's just too coconutty for my tastes. It reminded me of the chocolate Pudology pudding I tried in Leeds so if you're a fan of that (which I know many of you are) then this bar's for you. Nick really liked this creamy bar and kept asking for more pieces "to make sure", I was quite happy to oblige, and he claims it's the best raw chocolate he's ever tasted.

Next up, Strawberries & Cream. Again, I wasn't into it but Nick was! He described it as being like a rhubarb and custard sweet mixed with chocolate. Like the Coco Mylk this one's a soft and super creamy bar.

We broke open the Dark 72% next and I surprised myself by really enjoying it. I'm not usually into chocolate that's this dark, give me a Vego bar or a Moo Free easter egg any day, but this is something I'll definitely be buying again. It had just the right amount of bitterness as well as more of a snap than the bars that preceded it.

Goji Berry was next, this was the only bar that contained any bits. This dark bar is peppered with pieces of goji berry and whilst it wasn't my favourite I think that has quite a lot to do with my dislike of the berries themselves. If you enjoy goji berries give this a whirl.

Our penultimate bar is Coconut 60% which has a nice balance of the bitterness of Dark 72% and the creaminess of Coco Mylk. I'm still not convinced by the coconutty flavour of some of these bars but I do think it would be a good bar to try first as it'll appeal to a wide variety of tastes.

Last but by no means least we tried the Açai & Blueberry bar which had a lovely fruity taste without being too sweet. Texture wise it was similar to Dark 72% rather than Coco Mylk which made me enjoy it even more. This one's definitely my favourite.

Ombar also make a Mandarin & Cranberry bar that I haven't tried but that I'll pick up if I spot. Priced at £1.99 I think these bars are well worth trying.