Raaka chocolate’s unique claim appears to be that it doesn’t roast the cacao before making it into chocolate; instead they balance it out with maple sugar and cacao nibs to create a “deep fudge flavor” and “addictive crunch.”
Appearance
A pretty wrapper and an informative one, providing good detail about what actually makes their product unique (and worth the price premium), including taste profile, origins and sustainability info. I’m a chocolate information junkie. Tell me what you want me to know and taste. Maybe I won’t be able to taste it (I make no claims to have an unusually discerning palate) but at least I know what to expect and what ideal to weigh it against.
The downside is that the bar doesn’t wrap up well – once you’ve torn it open, it’s open and you might as well eat it all.
Opening
I will always complain about chocolate that doesn’t break conveniently. This Raaka bar has a beautiful pattern on it, but the beauty of it quickly vanishes as it starts getting broken into irregular chunks. The texture to the touch is a little melty, even at a mild 72 degrees – my fingers always felt smudged.
Taste
I expected a raw and strong taste reflecting the unprocessed nature of the chocolate. However, it was overall smooth, cool and mild. The cacao nibs blended well: in some past cases I have found them to be overly dry and an unexpected burst of bitterness amid a bite, but this chocolate blended them well to draw out their fruitiness without unbalancing the overall flavors. A clean, cool finish/aftertaste wraps it up.
Overall
Not raw-tasting at all, Raaka’s virgin chocolate is a smooth and delicious chocolate bar with an unusual coolness to it that I quite enjoyed. Crumbly nibs mix up the texture a bit.