My Carob powder is NOTHING like Cocoa...no chocolate flavor!

[sherahtaylor]

I wonder if I got bad carob, or is it just supposed to be like this? I ordered it online from Jaffe Bro.s, Inc - 5 lbs for $6.95, which I thought was a great deal. I made RP's brownies with Cocoa powder that was roasted (oops, didn't know!) and it was yummy, tasted alot like dark chocolate and thought wow, I'm going to love this!

I doubled the batch with Carob since I read more detrimental things about cocoa (I decided to buy raw carob instead of raw cocoa). YUCK! It tasted so rich, too rich, like all dates or something. What a waste of tons of ingredients. I was eating some last night and thought - I am not going to let my body be a garbage can, eating stuff just because I made it and I don't want it to go to waste. If I don't like it, I'm not going to eat it!

So is Carob really very very faint in the chocolate flavor? Or is the kind I bought, maybe not as rich? I'd love to get Alissa's if that is going to make a difference, if hers tastes more like chocolate.

[Cinnamon]

I probably won't be much help because I don't really like carob and it does give me a tummy ache so I guess I have an intolerance to it. Now I've heard that the carob Alissa sells is wonderful from those who do like it, that is where I'd buy it if I was going to use it!

I settle for an organic dark cocoa powder and don't use it very often, just one of the small compromises I make in using condiments in my diet.

[Judy]

My opinion is: carob doesn't taste like chocolate. People úse it as a chocolate substitute, but let's be honest, it just isn't chocolate, and it doesn't taste like it. Okay, so it looks brown, and maybe tastes a tad bitter so in that I can see the comparison to chocolate, but it just is a different product. I'm not very fond of carob either, I also thought it would taste more like chocolate. I think it's a pity people compare it to chocolate so often, and not label it as a product in itself. In the past, I had carob bars, they looked like chocolate bars and weren't raw. They tasted nice, but they didn't taste like chocolate. Or well, maybe in the faintest way. So I don't think you have had a bad batch, it's just the way it tastes. I made chocolate blizzard once, it's a recipe by Sergei Boutenko. It looks like a chocolate shake, only it's really a carob shake, it doesn't have any cacao in it (a pity of the title don't you think?) and it had quite a nice taste, but it just isn't for me. My bf however, who's not raw and loves chocolate, loved that shake. But he also said it didn't taste like chocolate. He thought it was great though. So perhaps it also depends on what you are making with it, just don't expect it to taste (exactly) like chocolate.

[AICgem]

I've never tried it and have always wondered about the taste.
I just use raw cacao powder for anything chocolate.

[Judy]

Oh, it doesn't taste bad or anything. Just different!

[Goldenrod]

In the past, I always switched back and forth between carob and chocolate and none of us notice much difference now. My boys can't tell the difference and they always call it chocolate. To me it has a flatter and slightly more bitter taste, but I must have gotten used to it because I like it just fine.

[mathteacher]

I, too, think carob takes some getting adjusted to.

I've also used raw cacao, but I like raw carob better b/c it mixes and dissolves better in what I use it for.

Now...where do you get raw cocoa? I assume Hershey's is toasted; I've never seen cocoa labeled "raw."

Or...and I've seen this question here before but never seen a definitive answer...are cocoa and cacao the same thing?

:confused: :confused: :confused:

Mickie

[Dimond]

It really depends on what you're making & what other ingredients are used. When I use carob in my ice cream (frozen fruit, agave & carob), it tastes just like chocolate fudge to me. I can also make a yummy fudge on it's own this way. You just need to experiment. For me, I'm use to eating healthy. Even before raw, I recognized that most foods are way too sweet unnecessarily and started eating more natural snacks (though not raw). I do love chocolate and am happy to be able to create great substitutes.

[Halo Aglow]

Alissa now sells raw chocolate at her store. http://www.alissacohen.com/shop/home.php?cat=5

I like carob but also think that it tastes nothing like chocolate.

[Conscious Midwife]

I like carob but it's not chocolate :rolleyes:

[Bobbie]

Before I was raw I used to use carob powder that wasnt raw, and that tasted like chocolate, but raw carob tastes nothing like it (and it makes me throw up!).

[Regen]

Don't throw them away!


There were things I made at the start of my journey (in vast quantities) that I didn't much care for. Not being able to stand throwing them away (does anyone else find thowing away frozen food easier than fresh?) I put them in the freezer. I now find I like like certain things that I didn't before - either because my tastes have changed, freezing changes texture, or because I'm so grateful that there's something different and raw to munch on in the freezer.

BTW - I agree - things with carob look like chocolate but that's all. I also found a huge difference between raw carob and the stuff that's toasted that's easier to find.

Keep with it and enjoy carob for its "carobiness".