Raw chocolate - thoughts?

[a_real_man]

Q: What is ‘raw chocolate’?
A: The fundamental difference between commercial chocolate and raw chocolate is that the cocoa beans that make the chocolate are never heated above 42°C. We make sure that during the whole process from harvest to bar that the temperature never exceeds this key temperature. In commercial chocolate bars the cocoa beans are usually roasted at 130-400°C and chemically treated, meaning that many of the enzymes, anti-oxidants and nutrients are usually destroyed. What’s more, raw chocolate usually contains just 3-4 ingredients (cocoa powder, cocoa butter, coconut blossom sugar and raw fruits or seeds) whereas commercial chocolate can contain, milk, soya, non-cocoa fats, sugars and other sweeteners and often artificial flavourings and preservatives.

Taken from https://www.therawchocolatecompany.com/about/faq

Thoughts?

[TylerDurden]

We RVAFers generally view 40 degrees Celsius as the upper limit, below which can be labelled "raw". However, 42 degrees Celsius seems fine, so go ahead.

[dair]

haha, be careful, chocolate is a very sneaky addiction, trust me. I am still a choco addict, even though I do manage some days without it. I did stop it for some weeks, then started again. Wintertime is the hardest, when one might need comfort food or something. Actually, I think I prefer sundried fruits,  like high quality dates, or dried california plums of the sweet and soft type, very satisfying...Or if you can find dried super ripe mangos that are soft, but hard to find. You can really feel you ingest sun/warmth, with that sundried fruits. I really wanna kick that chocolate addiction, and you know what they say: best way of kicking an addiction is by getting another one... So, being still a sugar addict, I admit, but somehow not ready to kick that one, I am sort of ready to go towards honey or dried fruit.
And strangely, even though I big fan of fruits, I don't get the urge to eat fresh ones in the winter, too cooling...
But really, raw chocolate makes me real high, but, also, I can feel when I'm coming down from it. It really is a stimulant.

[dair]

Another thing I don't like with chocolate is that it has soy or sunflower lecithin. I prefer to do without.
Watch out though, there can be some sneaky ingredients on dried fruit as well, like sunflower oil. I remember I bought some raisins of another brand I usually find, and felt how unsatisfying they were, and then looked at the ingredients, and those idiots had put sunflower oil on it. The thing is, with raisins, if they are just simply sundried, they still have some natural yeast on their surface (you can usually use them to kick-start fermented brews), and can taste real nice and natural. So, always check the ingredients...