There is a lot of interest these days in “healthy” and nutritious chocolate, as well chocolate items that cater to people with special dietary needs and/or special dietary requirements. These include chocolates for people who are lactose-intolerant or allergic to casein (a protein in milk) as well as people interested in Vegan products and environmentally sensitive products. Choco Soy soy-milk chocolates have been formulated for people like these. But how do they taste? ...

Type(s): Eating Chocolate, Specialty, Vegan
Taste Rating: Ordinary to Good
Overall Value Rating: Good

Choco Soy soy-milk chocolates claim to deliver “Rich Milk Chocolate Taste without the Milk.” They attempt to deliver that taste while at the same time being lactose free, non-dairy, GMO-free, gluten-free, 100% vegan, and rich in soy isoflavones.

Plus, Choco Soy soy-milk chocolates are sold in packages mostly made from buriti palm paper sustainably harvested in the Amazon. A bag of 5 pieces weighs in at 50gr (about 1.75oz).

With all that going for them ... what’s not to like?

One major clue about their taste is that they are made in Brazil. The Brazilian taste in chocolate, if anything, is lighter and sweeter than the American taste, and these nuggets are certainly that—as they smell sweet (the first ingredient listed is sugar) and taste underroasted. Because of the use of soy milk, the texture is different from milk chocolates that are made with cows milk—they are a little dry and dusty to start and they never fully melt in the mouth the way a very good milk chocolate made with dairy cream does, there’s always some discernible chalky texture.

That said, Choco Soy is a good alternative to dairy milk chocolate for people that cannot tolerate dairy in their diet and/or are looking for something that is 100% vegan - but they can’t be confused with gourmet chocolate.

Although the box claims that it contains five servings, a more normal serving size would be one ounce, or three of the five nuggets in the box. From this perspective, Choco Soy may seem a little heavy on the saturated fats, supplying 15% of the recommended daily max for saturated fats, and 15% of the overall daily fat max. At 150 calories for that one ounce serving, it’s pretty average. For those interested, the label lists 2 carbs (5gr sugars).

A closer look at the ingredients list reveals that there are no cocoa solids in Choco Soy. The ingredients are: Sugar, cocoa butter, soy extract (non-GMO soy milk), soy lecithin, natural vanilla and chocolate flavorings, salt.

I think this makes the product technically chocolate-flavored not chocolate but they are careful to call it “soy-milk” chocolate and not soy “milk-chocolate” but it may be that it exists totally outside the labeling requirements of the FDA. If it is true that there are no cocoa solids and only chocolate flavoring, then that explains the light, underroasted flavor.

As mentioned above, if you’re sensitive to many of the ingredients in chocolate (including caffeine and any of the other stimulants present in chocolate), then you might want to try Choco Soy. While it won’t simulate the mouth feel of a good dairy milk chocolate, I found the long aftertaste to be very clean: there is absolutely no trace of the usual aftertastes present in chocolates that use artificial flavorings and sweeteners.

Choco Soy is available on the importer’s web site, and the price at this writing is 8 boxes of 5 pieces each for $20.00, including shipping. That 40 pieces works out to about .9 pounds, making Choco Soy about $22/lb including shipping from the importer. Larger quantities are slightly less expensive per pound, and the web site lists a number of retail outlets where it may be less. Because shipping is included it’s impossible to calculate a price per pound from the information on the web site, but by my estimates, Choco Soy is a good value - again, if you are looking for this type of product.

Company Information:

Distributed exclusively in the US by:
Bump Energy Ltd
191 Hanse St
Freeport, NY 11520
http://www.chocosoy.com