How does raw chocolate differ from “regular” chocolate? Until I stumbled across Gnosis Raw Chocolate Bars, I had no idea. With raw chocolate, every ingredient stakes its claim. The flavors occasionally works in harmony with the others, but sometimes engages in a little friendly competition. It was a level of intrigue that my palate couldn’t get enough of.
Gnosis Chocolate Bars were also softer and slightly more eager to melt in my fingers than more processed chocolate. It’s best kept in the refrigerator to keep its integrity.
Gnosis Raw Chocolate Bar Ingredients
As you might expect, Gnosis Raw Chocolate uses all natural and raw ingredients only. Rather than extracts (with the exception of vanilla) they use essential oils to create these unique flavors.
They have quite a few varieties, so I’m not going to list the ingredients for each one. Instead, I’ll share the ingredients for their White Chocolate Bar (at last check, they only had one!), and the ingredients for their Simplicity Dark Chocolate Bar. The latter is the baseline chocolate that all of their flavored dark chocolates build upon. The flavors include all types of spices, adaptogens, other herbs, essential oils, and more.
Caramelized White Bar Ingredients: coconut sugar*, stone-ground cashews*, raw cacao butter*, coconut flour*, vanilla bean*, pink crystal salt, maca*, ginseng
Simplicity Bar Ingredients (70% cacao): 70% raw chocolate (raw cacao beans*, coconut sugar*), Love. *organic
Tasting Notes for Gnosis Raw Chocolate Bars
We’ve had the opportunity to sample quite a few flavors (but not all of them!). I’ve included my personal notes here, but feel free to leave your own rating and review below if you’ve purchased and tried any Gnosis Raw Chocolate Bars.
Simplicity Bar
The scent of vanilla melded into the initial agave sweetness of this chocolate bar. But it then gave way to a smooth cocoa buttery taste, scent, and feel. Deep cocoa was the final note, leaving behind a rather profound statement that was more bitter than sweet. It was an amusing cycle of sweet to buttery to bitter that my taste buds wanted to repeat over and over.
Pom Açai
I expected a straight berry infusion with this bar. What I uncovered was a wonderfully sweet, yet gentle flavor. The overall theme was semi-sweet (sweeter and butter-ier than some of the other bars), with a calm melding of fruit. It tasted as if it was infused directly with a touch of agave and pomegranate juice.
Sizable berry chunks and bites of very neutral Brazil nuts gave texture to this bar. The berry bits were surprisingly tame. Since I am rarely a fan of chunky nuts in chocolate, I would prefer this bar without the nutty interruptions. But sans nuts, I could easily become addicted to this unassuming “superfood” chocolate.
Coco Almond
My husband immediately said, “This tastes like a Mounds bar.” To me, it was more like an Almond Joy with darker, richer chocolate. Plus, the pure and unsweetened coconut chips was a pleasant surprise. The add-ins were so abundant that the chocolate became simply one member of the cast rather than the star of the show.
Hazelnut
This flavor started off strong with a smooth vanilla flavor. It moved on to be a bit flat, but ended with an intriguing buttery finish. The hazelnuts were fine little bits (unlike the much chunkier almonds in the Coconut Almond) and easy to miss. The chocolate was a more present in this bar, yet still not as cocoa rich as I expected. In fact, it had somewhat of a white chocolate vibe from the generous use of cocoa butter.
SuperChoc
This chocolate bar took my taste buds by storm! This dense block combines sweet, bitter, fruity, and buttery all in one. My taste buds were in jitter bug heaven. After sampling several flavors, my husband said, “I really liked the raspberry one.” I immediately knew he was speaking of this bar due to its rich berry flavor.
Some of the Gnosis flavors are decidedly bittersweet, but the bitter cocoa flavor never fully develops in this bar. Instead it intertwined with the other flavors, emerging briefly but then disappearing behind the natural sweetness. If this is what healthy raw food tastes like, then I am on board! Of all the Gnosis flavors, I think this one was our favorite.
Cool Mint
Noting the superpower flavors that Gnosis typically arms their flavored chocolate with, I braced myself for a minty rush. Instead, I was greeted with a soothing, minty essence that tingled slightly my taste buds. The peppermint flavor never fully developed. This truly bittersweet (almost coffee-like) chocolate possessed just a hint of sweet and a gentle nudge of cocoa butter, allowing the cocoa to take center stage. Overall, it was a satisfying experience that I would describe as a “grown-up” chocolate mint.
Mayan Heat
Surprisingly, the chocolate used in the Mayan Heat bar is quite mellow and rich with cocoa butter rather than sharp with cocoa. The various and unique ingredients (figs, cashews, cranberries) offer a light sweetness. At first the heat is virtually nonexistent, but slowly it emerged to warm my entire mouth. I appreciated that it never became overly spicy as someone who is a little timid around the fire. It was an interesting marriage of sweet and hot against a very mellow cacao backdrop.
The Facts on Gnosis Raw Chocolate
Price: $8.99 for 50g bar
Availability: Gnosis Raw Chocolate Bars are available to purchase direct from the company’s website below.
Certifications: Gnosis Raw Chocolate Bars are Certified Kosher Parve, Certified Vegan, Certified Raw, Certified Organic, and has Certified FSC Packaging.
Dietary Notes: By ingredients, Gnosis Raw Chocolate Bars are dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, grain-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan / plant-based, vegetarian, raw, and paleo-friendly. Most varieties are nut-free.
For More Product Information: Visit the Gnosis website at www.gnosischocolate.com.
*Always read the ingredient and nutrition statement prior to consumption. Ingredients, processes, and labeling are subject to change at any time for any company or product. Contact the company to discuss their manufacturing processes if potential allergen cross-contamination is an issue for you. No food product can be guaranteed “safe” for every individual’s needs. You should never rely on ingredient and allergen statements alone if dealing with a severe food allergy.
Every flavor has its special nuances
If pure, healthy chocolate is your goal, then this is the brand to look to. It isn’t cheap, but quality does come at a price. These slightly melty dark chocolates are sweetened with coconut sugar and spiked with all kinds of natural goodies, like herbs, fleur de sel, essential oils, nuts and fruit. Every flavor has its special nuances. But the big blocks of SuperChoc were probably my favorite, offering so much more of an experience than your average dairy-free chocolate bar.
