Trick or Treat? The Good Chocolate
It won't kill you, but it might trick your tastebuds
It’s spooky season! I’m not going to dress my chocolate bars in bedsheets or pirate outfits, and I certainly won’t carve them and put a candle inside (because, umm, chocolate melts) but I do have a special series of some very trick-or-treaty chocolates. Your job is to find out which ones are tricky (and still a treat) or just pure delight. And maybe get some for the kids in your neighborhood, because we all know Snickers sucks (the cacao out of chocolate).
Enjoy them now before they disappear behind the paywall… right after Halloween.
Chocolate maker: The Good Chocolate
The Good Chocolate was started by Ben and Miki, two friends who wanted to delete sugar from their diet. That’s nothing unusual—lots of us doing that these days. But these guys went and founded a bean-to-bar chocolate company based on that journey. Hats off guys!
Location: San Francisco, California
Awards: The Good Chocolate has been a regular at the International Chocolate Salon awards over the years. I judged this specific bar, the Himalayan Salt, for the 2021 Chocolate Bar Awards, where it sadly received only 3 out of 5 stars, and no awards. Its Coconut Turmeric sibling, however, did win awards—I’ll review that bar in another series (it’s not a tricky bar so it didn’t quite make it into this Halloween series)
The Review
Meet Himalayan Salt. Its full legal name is 65% Himalayan Salt Zero Sugar Chocolate Bar. I love the intention of these bars, which is to lower the glycemic index while retaining that sweetness we’re so used to, but Erythritol kills Cacao. There’s an unexpected cooling factor to the erythritol that consumes the deep, rich aroma/flavor of cacao. Perhaps for those of us used to this substance, it won’t shock as much, but in my humble opinion erythritol simply does not belong in chocolate. Stevia is gentler, and does the same job—although I don’t prefer stevia-sweetened chocolate either.
Please Good Chocolate, make chocolate without erythritol. We know you want to zero out sugar, but you can do that simply by taking it out and playing with the inherent flavors of cacao. No need for sweetening then! The problem with sugar isn’t sugar—it’s that our tastebuds have been trained by food companies to like sweet things. So replacing one sweet thing with another sweet thing doesn’t help the addiction. Our tastebuds need to be retrained, and the best coach for that job is Cacao.
On a positive note, the design of The Good Chocolate’s bars appeals to the senses—it’s simple, sophisticated, clean. Their logo reminds me of a Japanese tea garden.
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