Doisy & Dam - goji & orange

Before we get down to the delicious subject of chocolate lets talk coffee...

Inspiration comes in many guises and a recent visit to The London Coffee Festival certainly helped provide that necessary ingredient by the bucket load. It has been a while since I've attended such a vibrant and enthusiastic event. It made me realize how creative, diverse and brilliant the London coffee scene is. 

As you'd expect I literally left the place buzzing, not from the caffeine hit, I didn't touch a drop, but the sheer vibrancy of the place. 

So, even if you don't know your v60 from your espresso why not percolate yourself down to The London Coffee Festival, Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane. 

Grab a deckchair, watch the coffee masters fight it out, visit a lab, indulge in some Bavarian comfort food from Herman Ze German and finish off with a joyous sticky Crosstown doughnut. Follow the exit signs and wander through Milk and Sugar for some retail therapy. Festival ends 3rd May...

Doisy & Dam - Goji and Orange

New kid on the chocolate block is Ed Smith's, Doisy and Dam. Made in Norfolk...yes you heard me correctly, made in Norfolk. Has climate change shifted dramatically in the night? 

Not only is their dark chocolate organic it is also suitable for vegans, gluten free and soy-free diets...ticking a lot of boxes so far. Current range is made exclusively from Dominican cacao, 74%. But a little birdie tells me white and milk chocolate varieties are not far off coming to market. 

Chocolate is always finding new ways of promoting itself as being healthy and Doisy and Dam has gone down the the super-food route. Introducing interesting but little known ingredients such as, hemp seed and Lucuma, a fruit native to the Peruvian Andes, that you wouldn't necessarily come across in other chocolate bars.

Dominican Cacao 74%

For this particular bar goji berries have been added and in my opinion not necessarily for the better.  The dark chocolate is certainly delicious but the goji berries are an unwelcome guest in this menage a trois of chocolate, orange and berry. However, the other half did say that the addition of the chewy goji berries added another texture...so there! The bar is well balanced and the orange is not at all over powering. However, coming across a goji berry lurking in the depths is like chomping on a piece of foil and needless to say you know what that feels like...I enjoyed this bar, minus the goji, and look forward to trying the other varieties in their range including, ginger, chilli flakes and hemp seed; coconut and lucuma.

Ocado and Planet Organic currently stock Doisy & Dam priced at £3.75 for a 100g bar. Click here to buy online or go directly to the Doisy & Dam shop.