Chocolate… who can resist?

Well I guess I can’t and I am sure there are people somewhere in the world who do not like chocolate… but for me, give me dark chocolate and I am happy. I seldom eat milk chocolate in fact, and never have been a fan; I do like white chocolate but in truth I do not actually consider it chocolate as such and it’s way too sweet and full of calories. So dark, proper, authentic and intense dark chocolate is my favourite. And, being into healthy stuff and all, anything that is mass produced is not for me, and again, something I seldom buy or eat.

I do like discovering new flavours, new ‘crus’, new producers and if I am traveling, I do like to try and discover local brands (see for example my favourite chocolates on the West Coast). In an effort to loose weight and put up mass, dark chocolate is my treat and indulgence of choice so there are a couple of brands that I usually stock up on and always have a stash of somewhere (hidden from my husband, usually). When I get back from Italy, I have now a habit of picking up a bunch of mixed items from Venchi, a chocolatier from Turin who opened a sale point at Napoli airport (dear me).
But here in London, since discovering them about a year ago in my local greengrocer, I buy quirky chocolate bars by Doisy & Dam. What initially caught my eye was a taster plate in the shop by their pretty packaging design and then on second inspection, the flavour I tried initially: Coconut & Lucuma. Lucuma is a peruvian natural sweetener said to be much healthier than refined sugars (of course) but also to have plenty of properties including protein. I have a pack of lucuma powder at home and use for smoothies and I love its smell and taste. I did not realise this but each Doisy & Dam chocolate bar has a ‘super food’ in it, quite an original idea and a good one too, they are usually good for our bodies and an interesting ingredient to discover. So I bought a bar of choc, took it home and … I was hooked!

Our bars never have more than eight ingredients, minimum 8% superfoods and have a high cocoa content to squeeze out the room for sugar and fat. It’s healthy indulgence at its best.

Trying out … for research purposes!

I started trying out the other flavours, when I came across them – being a small producer they are not as easy to find but again, I am lucky my local sells them. I have since then tried a few others, of course the dark chocolate variery being my favourite, and as of today, my best bar has to be Maca, Vanilla and Cacao nibs, the nibs add crunch, the maca a bit of bitterness that goes hand in hand with the vanilla aroma. I have not tried the Gojii and Orange (I hate gojiberries!) but very much enjoyed Maple, Toasted Rice and Salt.

Of the milk chocolate bars, for the purpose of this review (a hardship!) I bought a bar of  Date & Himalayan Pink Salt…an interesting combination for sure.

I also tried the white chocolate Lemon, Poppy Seed & Baobab: I actually picked it up by mistake but was really good,

Doisy & Dam want to bring a new level of quality to the UK confectionary market. They take a huge amount of care over the quality of ingredients in their chocolate and believe in a balanced lifestyle, of which treats (especially chocolate) are one part.They have plans to grow into a global brand, and are looking at all aspects of their sourcing and environmental impact. Good luck to them!

As I said, they are unfortunately not so easy to locate, but if you do, then do yourself a favour and get a few bars.. they won’t last long!

^{I decided to do this review purely out of my love for the products; I received no incentive of product tasters from the producers.}