Devnaa - Milk Chocolate Bar with Crispy Rice, Orange and Spices

Chocolate production has finally ended for the day just ribbons and packing to do! Wind is blowing like crazy in Chelmsford and have already chased the contents of my cardboard container all over town! 


But before I start on the wrapping I thought I'd feature my final bar of chocolate from Devnaa. A company based in London providing artisan chocolate with traditional Indian sweet recipes. With every bar sold they donate 5p to HEAL, a UK registered charity committed to providing shelter, support, education and healthcare for children in India. Full marks to Devnna for their ethical stance. I love their Indian influences in their packaging design.

I'm really looking forward to tasting this bar as the ingredients are not what you'd normally expect including crispy rice, orange and subtle spices.


The Chocolate: This particular bar has a fairly low cocoa content of 33% and I wonder whether it will be strong enough to cope with the orange and spices. Unfortunately, this bar didn't make it through the post in one piece so I've broken it up so you can see the rice puffs.

Milk Chocolate with crispy rice, orange and spices

The orange oil is not too strong and works well with the rice and spices. I can detect cinnamon and nutmeg. I haven't eaten a bar like this before but I rather like it. At the end their is a soapy flavour which lingers which is the only slight criticism. 


Overall I give this bar 6/10 for the balance of the bar and 9/10 for their ethics. It will not appeal to all but I think Devnna know and understand their customer base very well. Their bars are currently selling at £5.99 for two 70g bars.


To buy this bar click here...

Devnaa - Dark Chocolate with Almonds & Honey

Getting some very odd looks today as I'm taking pictures of Devnaa chocolate bars outside in freezing temperatures! Fortunately the snow has not hit the South East just yet but I reckon we will be in total white out conditions tomorrow if the forecast is to be believed! Hence why I'm getting this review in before we go back in to deep freeze mode.

If you've not heard of Devnaa before they are a family company based in London producing artisan chocolate using traditional Indian sweet recipes. I wasn't totally convinced about the balance of spices in my last review but I have a feeling this should be a lot better as honey and almonds are the only other main ingredients.

The Packaging: Their packaging is very bright and colorful as is their website and I like the Indian imagery that they incorporate. Not only do they provide bars but they also provide a range of handmade chocolates and truffles that are again displayed in very vivid colours. The curiously named Chai Masala Truffles is very intriguing and is just one of 35 different recipes that they've produced for their chocolate range.

The Chocolate: This particular dark chocolate has a cocoa content of 60% with finely diced pieces of almond scattered throughout the bar. Unfortunately, the didn't survive the postal experience and arrived slightly dented even though great care had been taken to make sure it was well protected. It will be broken up where it's going so no worries. The chocolate has a good cocoa aroma and according to their website they use Belgian chocolate but there is no further information. There is a good snap from the chocolate as you bite into the first chunk. There isn't a huge amount of flavour coming from this chocolate and any  depth of flavour is very short. However, the almonds and honey come through well on this bar and there is a slight taste of perfume at the end. The sweetness from the honey is not overpowering and the chocolate melts easily in the mouth with no sense of dryness on the palette.

Postman 1 Chocolate Bar 0

Overall this is a well made piece of chocolate with a superb snap! Probably due to the arctic conditions it endured as I took a photo. Seriously, I did let it warm up. For me this is a perfect case of less is more just a few ingredients that do not over complicate and confuse the taste buds.


I'm happy to give this bar 7/10 for flavour and 8/10 for their Corporate Social Responsibility stance. With every bar sold 5p is donated to Heal who help children in India. Prices start from £5.99 for 2 bars (70g each).


To buy this bar click here


You maybe interested to read my review of their Pistachio and Cardamom on White Chocolate with a hint of saffron.

Devnaa - White Chocolate with Pistachios, Cardamom and a hint of Saffron

Devnaa is not a company that I've heard of before but I recently came across them on Twitter. At the moment, you can win a free bar of their chocolate until the end of 2010 by just following them on Twitter! A family business based in Wembley they provide a range of chocolate bars and chocolates inspired by Indian spices. Only this year Devnaa were awarded a Gold Taste Award for their chai masala milk chocolate. I'm not exactly sure where their chocolate comes from but their website information claims that they use some of the worlds finest Belgian chocolate couvertures. They cater for the Indian market especially festivals such as Diwali with their eye catching boxes of chocolates. 


The business was founded by Jay and Roopa Rawal literally from their kitchen table. To quote from their website, "Roopa’s knowledge of authentic Indian cooking has been learned from our Mum’s superb recipes and also from our Grandmother’s guidelines. Our grandmother was famous amongst her local community in Nairobi for making the best Indian sweets! We knew that if we were going to make our treats available to the rest of the world they would have to surpass all expectations people associated with Indian sweets". Both Jay and Roopa have put a lot of work into getting this business off the ground. Jay went to India to research Indian chocolates and Roopa went to the Slattery School of Excellence to learn about artisan chocolate.


Devnaa support heal which is a UK registered charity committed to providing shelter, support, education and healthcare for children in India. With each bar sold 5p is donated to heal.


The Packaging: I'd love to know where the name Devnaa actually came from as it is intriguing and I can't seem to find any reference on their website? Each of their 70g bars are wrapped in traditional foil with a colorful outer wrapper. The design on the front is distinctly 'Indian' reminding me of the beautiful henna designs you see on Indian women.

The Chocolate: The bar I'm tasting today is white chocolate with pistachios, cardamom and a hint of saffron. I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to white chocolate and it is important to use one that has a high cocoa butter content. According to their packaging this bar contains cocoa solids 28% min, milk solids 22% min. Sugar is at the top of the list so I expect this bar to be very sweet which considering the market this is aimed at is probably the right approach.


The strong aroma of cardamom is the main scent that hits you when you release this bar from it's package. Both the pistachio and cardamom have been ground up and mixed into the chocolate to give a light speckle effect. The bar has been well tempered and as it quickly melts you can feel the small pieces of pistachio and cardamom on your tongue. The bar is very sweet and has slightly soapy feel. I'm pleased to say that I picked up the hint of saffron that comes through at the end. Apologies for the picture quality but the bar didn't make it through Royal Mail unscathed!

Devnaa White Chocolate Bar

This bar wasn't for me possibly due to the over use of Cardamom and the fact that it was very sweet. The bars are available from their website starting at £4.99 for two. Overall I give this bar 5/10 for presentation, price and corporate social responsibility.


If you'd like to find out more about Devnaa click here.