Last week I reviewed the Orange and Mint bars from Pana Cacao, but wait...there's more! A big thankyou to the UK importers for sending me samples of the range recently - there's flavours such as Cherry, Strawberry & Pistachio as well as today's review: Fig & Wild Orange and Raw Cacao.
Pana Cacao is an Australian company producing raw, organic and handmade chocolates using minimal ingredients and sustainable materials. They're suitable for vegans, dairy free, soy free and use coconut nectar and agarve syrup instead of white sugar. You can find them in the UK in various health food stores, as well as Pana's UK webstore:
https://panachocolate.com/uk/shop/
The bars each comes in boxes containing 45g in paper wrappers. Each has an individual design, which I think is a nice touch and makes it feel more special (see above).
Starting with the Fig & Wild Orange variety, this contains 14% figs as well as wild orange essential oil, plus spices like carob and cinnamon and is sweetened with coconut nectar. And it tastes lovely! I was a bit hesitant trying it because I'm not a huge fan of figs - I don't like their gritty texture - but it's not too noticeable here at all. The fig pieces add a nice sweet chewiness to the chocolate which has a soft, almost fudgey texture. The orange flavour tastes very fresh, even moreso than regular orange. In fact I prefer this "wild" flavour over regular orange...why don't companies use it more often?
Overall, a super tasty bar and one that feels like a real treat if you're avoiding dairy! 8.5 out of 10.
The Raw Cacao variety is a simple 60% Raw Cacao bar, made with coconut nectar, cacao butter, cinnamon and carob. It's pretty tasty, and again the fudgey texture is lovely. And there's not much more to say about it really...it's quite a simple, but tasty bar. 8 out of 10.
Overall, once again Pana Chocolate have proved just how tasty raw, dairy free vegan chocolates can be if the right ingredients are used. You may have to pay a little more, but if you're on a restricted diet I think it's worth it to indulge now and then! Out of the two bars reviewed today I would definitely go for the Fig & Wild Orange variety again.
For more info and to buy Pana Chocolates see their UK webstore:
https://panachocolate.com/uk/product-category/bars/
