Many thanks to Nomo "No Missing Out" Chocolates for gifting me samples of their new vegan free from chocolate range, which has recently been launched into Holland and Barrett and Tesco stores. I was very intrigued by these as they sounded a little different from standard dairy free products, and come in a few interesting flavours too. They are Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, and most of the bars are also Soya Free (with the exception being the dark chocolate bar).
I was most interested in the Caramel and Sea Salt and Fruit & Crunch bars, and they actually turned out to be my favourites too.
Starting with the Fruit and Crunch bar, I really loved this one! Think a vegan version of a Raisin and Biscuit Yorkie - if you've ever had Raisin and Biscuit Yorkie you'll know just how nice the combination of raisins and biscuit is! Now of course there's no biscuit here, just crunchy crisped rice, and plenty of it too.
There's a good amount of raisins also to add bursts of chewiness mixed in with the crunchy bits.
The actual chocolate is very smooth for a dairy free chocolate and surprisingly doesn't taste waxy or cheap like many brands often do. I've heard it described on Instagram as being a bit like Galaxy...and honestly I can kind of agree with such a comparison! It's a very smooth texture and probably the closest you'll get in dairy free form. I was puzzled as to how they've achieved this and I do believe it's becasuse they use shea oil in the recipe - an unusual one for a chocolate bar. It also has cocoa butter as the second ingredient so doesn't skimp there either. I am guessing the shea oil is what gives it the smoother taste compared to other bars. If you're dairy free or vegan - this one is a must, so enjoyable!
The Caramel and Sea Salt bar was my second favourite, combining a caramel flavour with added sea salt within the chocolate. A shame it didn't have crunchy caramel bits in, but never mind. The caramel flavour is very strong and lovely, with the salt enhancing it further. It's very caramelly and moreish, and I've also seen it compared on Instagram to Galaxy Caramel, which isn't too much of a stretch. Now if they'd added some "real" dairy free caramel as a filling it'd be amazing! But as it is this is again a very smooth bar with a lovely taste. I would recommend this as well as the Fruit & Crunch as a must try.
The regular milk chocolate bar is also pretty good and comes in small bars or larger bars. I really like the small bars as the chunks have a nice chunky size and feel substantial, and you could imagine them being like a Dairy Milk bar. The chocolate is smooth, silky and sweet and one of the best dairy free "milk chocolate alternatives" you're probably going to get. I wasn't as fussed on the larger block version though - it's nice to have more quantity but the block design somehow makes it feel a bit cheap compared to the smaller bars?
See the photo above - what do you think? Aesthetics matter folks!
Lastly, there was also a dark chocolate that only comes in a larger block. Now Nomo chocolates are made by Kinnerton who make other dairy free dark chocolates so I'm guessing this is the same thing repackaged - it contains soya lecithin in the ingredients rather than the sunflower lechitin the milk versions do, so be aware of this if you have soy allergy. And I didn't enjoy this one much at all sadly. It tastes a bit cheap, and definitely nothing like the smooth milk chocolates above. I don't think the range needed to include it since there are already cheap dark chocolates out there such as Bournville, although as Kinnerton are a specialised nut free facility, it's probably good if you have nut allergies.
All in all, I have to say this is a great range! The raisin and caramel ones are great and just show that you can have interesting flavours in a dairy free chocolate whilst still tatsing smooth and creamy. If you're dairy free or vegan, get yourself to the Tesco Free From section or to Holland and Barrett and give these a try!
For more info on these bars see the Nomo website here:
