Raw Chocolate...Honestly

[xinmywayx]

Is it good?

I love "regular" chocolate but I hate all the crap that goes into it. I wanted to try some smoothies and desserts with raw chocolate (I have the David Wolfe book Naked Chocolate). I am hesitant to spend the money on the chocolate (that stuff isn't cheap here!) only to find that it tastes nothing like what I expected. Or maybe worse!

So be honest, do you like it or not? Any recipes you suggest? Are the nibs better or is it best to buy it ground?

Anything you have to say on raw chocolate will be greatly appreciated!!

[SchoolOfRAWk]

I love the cocao powder.

I LOATHE the cacao nibs. I tried them at a talk of his years ago....he made it out like it was hershey's...... it's more like bakers chocolate - ew!

BUT, when you blend it with agave and more, it is wickedly good..... Go for it!

[sweetpea76]

i second the review on the nibs... i bought a bag at my hfs and really dont like their flavor. i've tried grinding them in my coffee mill, but they always have a gritty texture and not too much chocolate flavor.

i *do* want to try the cacoa powder and some cacoa butter. from what ive read on various sites ppl like it. now, just need to set aside the $ ( like 40 bucks!!!)- lol.

good luck :)

[RawVegan4Health]

The nibs taste exactly like you should expect, unsweetened chocolate....which is NASTY! Some people like nibs raw, but not me. Now, I grind my nibs and when added with sweetener, then they become AWESOME! Or you could just buy the powder and bypass the whole grinding thing. The thing about that is, every time you make them smaller, the quicker they lose their flavor. So nibs have a longer shelf life in terms of strong flavor. It depends on how picky you are about your chocolate I guess!:D

[Veganforlife]

I am (was) a chocohlic! I buy Alissa's cacao powder and nibs and love both. The SAD/CRAP chocolate starts out raw, so in actuality you are just addicted to the other gunk that is added to our dear raw chocolate. I would suggest something like the brownies recipe floating around as a starter.
As far as the nibs. I like them. If (and it's rare), but if I have a craving, I crunch on a couple of them. Your taste buds will definitely change over time.
I say I was an addict to chocolate because since incorporating Green Smoothies into my daily diet, that craving has depleted tremendously.

[RawVegan4Health]

I agree about the cravings. Mine disappeared as well. I bought a big old bag of nibs when starting off raw to satisfy that ridiculously strong "chocolate-fix". After a while of eating raw, say a month or so (I eat at least one green smoothie every day) my cravings for chocolate disappeared. I have not had any chocolate since. I could make something chocolate if I wanted too, but there are other more tasty things out there I guess that I would rather have. The only reason I think I ate chocolate before was those cravings.

[kiki_louis]

i use to enjoy eating the nibs in my smoothies, but now i cut them out because i don't agree with eating caffeine. my adrenals are drained and caffeine will not help my situation, it just stresses the body even more.

[xinmywayx]

AWESOME feedback on that one. I think I am going to get the powder first, partly because I do not have a little grinder to grind the nibs with and this will just cut out that step altogether. I am going to try to do some recipes from the Naked Chocolate book, maybe even today! I love chocolate and I truly like having it in my diet. But who knows, maybe after a few weeks of green smoothies I won't care anymore. We shall see!

[Davylp25]

I love the nibs... WITH HONEY OR AGAVE. HA!
When you take the powder, with the nibs, with the butter. OMG talk about heart opening. It's quite great!

[SchoolOfRAWk]

Yum. I cannot afford the butter.

I agree with that one post, though, that you should start slow because of the caffeine. I made a total GODIVA pudding, practically, it was goood! Avocado, a dash of expeller-pressed coconut oil for silyness, orange juice, agave and cacao powder, and some rasberries! OMG! I was up all night, though, and didn't have that much. It was after dinner, though.....

The nibs I had a hard time blending, even in my vitamix. I still don't think I'd like chocolate in my green smoothie, but to each their own.

[Linda1970]

I'm eating my chocolate mouse as I'm typing this. I really really love the chocolate powder to make chocolates. I didn't care for chocolates prior to raw but now I'm addicted to my chocolate mouse and eat it almost daily. Like some said, I don't care for the nibs.

[Veganforlife]

Chocolate mousse? Alissa's recipe? Yum-OH!

[xinmywayx]

Caffeine doesn't really bug me too bad, I can take it or leave it. Is the caffeine stronger in the raw chocolate?

I think I might get the powder today after I take my son to the movies =)

[Davylp25]

Hey...

I have always been extremely sensitive to caffeine pre- raw. Headaches Headaches Headacjes-- But never ever when I eat Cacao. I have no clue why? Hmmm. I feel so heart centered and loved, its amazing.

I never eat that concoction late at night, LOL. I eat it usually morning to give me that loving boost. Since Im active and workout all the time, it works. Yeah Caca!
No not that kind... YUCK! lol

[Ginger]

I never liked chocolate until I tried raw cacao! Now I eat it pretty regularly. I eat the nibs by themselves sometimes. Definitly bitter but I like it, and bitter foods have health promoting properties anyway, most people don't eat enough bitter foods. I use the butter for white chocolate goji berry fudge with orange zest (recipe around here somewhere) and ambrosia elixir. I use the powder for all kinds of stuff, chocolate milk, hot (well warmed lol) chocolate, bars, recipes etc.

[RowanC]

RP's Brownies satisfy my chocolate cravings.
Since I was so bad yesterday, today I made a batch to keep in the fridge and take to class.

YUMMERS!

[ocean spray]

Here is a site for raw chocolate.

http://www.therawchocolatecompany.com/index.php?page=chocshop

[Davylp25]

I was just at Erewhon Los Angie, and I purchased Cacao that looks just like the company Ocean Spray posted, but not the same company. However it had no sweetener, So I was like... UGH. I can handle cacao nibs by the tablespoon with no sweet, but the bar was 2 strong. It was 5 bucks ! Wahh cry me a river! lol... So I just added Agave on top! messy but good.

[xinmywayx]

Currently in my dehydrator is some sort of raw concoction i whipped up that i hope turns out well. I bought some raw cocoa powder and used it to make something, I'm not sure what it is yet. We shall see. It has sweetener in it and nuts. I tasted the mixture and it was decent. No, it wasn't like the chocolate I am used to but that might just be a good thing! I have always been a fan of dark chocolate to begin with so I am used to that darker taste. We shall see in several hours if my quest for something raw and tasty is a success!

[Davylp25]

Completely off topic... Oh U ^^ live in San Juan C, oh man it's so purdy out there from what I have seen in pics. I want to visit tSan Juan, Monterey, Go see the that big mansion... Ugh I forgot the name... It was the one in Citizen kane, ugh the name escapes me. I would take a train down there... Oh soon I hope!

[xinmywayx]

San Juan is really pretty! I grew up here. I just wish it wasn't so pricey....

[Stav]

Thanks for asking such a great question...I'm off to buy my cacao powder RIGHT NOW!!!

[xinmywayx]

I like raw chocolate!

I bought the powder and found a simple recipe in Alissa's book for "chocolate turtles." The recipe called for carob and honey...both of which I do not like. So, I used chocolate powder and agave necter. I dehydrated it and it is actually pretty fricking good!

No. It isn't like a Hershey and thank god, that chocolate is so sub par anyways. It tastes like real chocolate. I do think next time I will use less agave because I found it to be too runny and a little too sweet. But all in all it came out well. Hopefully, this will curb my desire to eat junk candy....hopefully =)

[britaniefaith]

omg you have to blend cocoa nibs with dates, agave nectar and almonds. freaking delicious. i'm obsessed.

[xinmywayx]

You know I will try dates with the powder next time. I think the agave thing I tried was just too runny. But maybe less agave would be better, I don't know. I LOVE almonds and chocolate though, such a rad combo!

[rawbeliever]

I tried doing the raw chocolate thing, but honestly, it made me feel as if I'd just taken speed, or drank a whole pot of coffee (I don't think this is necessarily due to the amount of caffeine in raw cacao...but maybe due to the combination of that and the theobromine? Don't know.). I love David Wolfe, but I don't think raw cacao powder or nibs is exactly the health wave of the future. That said, though, I don't think there's anything wrong with the occasional raw chocolate pie. It beats the heck out of SAD chocolate pie. I think its worth paying some honest attention to how your body responds to it, though, before you make it a part of your daily diet.

[Davylp25]

Geez that sucks. Speed isn't a good feeling, not that I would know * cough cough* ahah jk.

I must be some kind of Raw Freak, because all the foods people say cause them to react in a weird way, I'm like 'GIMME SUM MO'--- I feel great. No adverse nothing...

* shrugs*