MULU Raw Organic Chocolate Review

 

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive a care package from MULU containing their full product range. I kept this under wraps as I have had a bundle of products to review and I thought it would be best to save this one for the weekend. And just in time for the start of Christmas shopping the wonderful people at MULU are giving a mahoosive 20% off of all Greens of the Stone Age reader’s first orders! Wahey!

About MULU

I’ll start by telling you a little about the amazing MULU raw chocolate. When Kaycee & Ben Fordham took a trip to Cornwall they stumbled across their first taste of raw chocolate. Elated at the idea that chocolate could be beneficial to your health they decided to do a little research about raw chocolate. They discovered that although it may well be good for your health it wasn’t comparable in taste and quality to a lot of commercial chocolates available. They decided to try and make their own raw chocolate in hopes of perfecting the recipe for the best raw chocolate around. MULU Chocolate Ltd. was founded in 2007. (If you’d like to read more about Ben & Kaycee’s story then click here.)

Packaging

MULU love to keep their packaging as ‘raw’ as their chocolate. I absolutely love how their boxes and inner wrappers are recyclabe, biodegradable and from sustainable sources. In fact all of their card is actually recycled. The inks that they use to print are plant based and all of their boxes are sealed using a water based varnish – I didn’t even know that that even existed! Amazing!

Ingredients

All of the ingredients used at MULU are certified organic and ethically sourced. Their raw cacao is sourced in Ecuador where they have formed close and trusting relationships with cacao farmers (most of which are fairtrade certified) from small scale productions. To read more about how MULU work with their suppliers please click here.

Their chocolate bars are handcrafted at very low temperatures and contain very few ingredients; (which is great in my books) raw cacao, agave nectar, vanilla and incredibly small trace amount of sunflower lecithin. Their products are soya free and suitable for people suffering from soya allergies. The sunflower lecithin used is non-organic, however it is certified GMO free.

MULU raw chocolate is Vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free and nut-free. Although their factory is a nut-free working environment they state that they “cannot guarantee nut-free” products due to the fact that their cocoa beans are picked, dried and processed in a rainforest so nut contamination is possible if a nut were to fall from a tree.

Agave nectar is high in fructose and so cannot be a certified Paleo product, however it is Paleo friendly and should be consumed sensibly in small amounts. To read more about agave and the Paleo diet please read my agave article here.

The MULU Chocolate Range

MULU Christmas Star

At 70% minimum cocoa solids, the MULU star is the same as their dark chocolate bar. I love the MULU Christmas Star it’s cute and fun. It’s pocket sized – or stocking sized rather! And well it’s delicious.

When you first open the box there is a super cute magical shooting star and following it the little saying “Shoot for the moon… dance among the stars” – I just love it! If you had this on Christmas day in your stocking it would just make it!

The chocolate was chunky and had a nice well tempered snap to it. Although the chocolate was very firm the texture was almost butter like and incredibly smooth once it began to melt in your mouth. The flavour was slightly nutty and a bit bitter – not too bitter though as a there is a lovely sweetness to it, but again it was not too sweet either. There was a slight floral note to this, I guess you could say it is a bit reminiscent of Turkish delight!

Yup I love this one for sure and at £1.20 for this beautiful little handcrafted 20g star of raw chocolate it’s a bargain gift for Christmas! If you’d like to buy one click on the link here.

MULU Raw Chocolate Buttons

This is MULU’s lowest cocoa solids product at just 58% minimum cocoa solids. This is certainly perfect for children as a once in a while treat. Again it would make a great stocking filler.

The chocolate is smoother, meltier and has a milky taste to it probably due to the lower cocoa solids teamed with the organic vanilla that is used. My 9 year old daughter loved these and devoured the lot before I could say stop.

It’s a 22g bag with 10 small round chocolate buttons. As they are very melty they wouldn’t be much of a choking hazard for young children but again due to the agave nectar I think that these would be more suitable for older children.

If you’d like to pick up the MULU raw chocolate buttons for a mere £1.00 then click here.

MULU Silk Block

The MULU silk block is a sort of ‘dark’ milk standing at around 65% cocoa solids.

The texture was very similar to the MULU star but slightly meltier and not as soft as the MULU buttons. The butteriness does linger with you for a little while and their is a more distinct fruity and floral flavour rather than nutty. This was a very comforting bar and would be great with a big mug of hot chocolate and some furry slippers. The blocks are around 1cm thick or possibly thicker so this is the ‘Yorkie’ of the raw chocolate world I love it!

For a whopping 74g you can bag this at just £2.99 from MULU.

MULU Dark Block

The MULU dark block is a minimum of 70% cocoa solids. It is the same chocolate as the MULU star and so is very solid yet buttery once it enters your bouche! In a very weird way it reminded me of a Bournville bar but far more sophisticated with it’s nutty flavour. The MULU dark chocolate isn’t as rich and complex as other raw chocolates around but it’s simplicity really did win me over. It’s not dressed up trying to be anything else. It’s just a very sweet, solid chunky bar that you probably would have craved before you went down the healthy route.

I really like it and it’s smoothness is so comforting.  You can pick up this 74g block of MULU dark for £2.99 from MULU.

MULU Dark with Raw Cacao Nibs Block

So the minimum cocoa solids of this bar is 64% excluding the cacao nibs, including them it would be 73%.

Out of all the bars this one was my favourite in flavour and texture. It has a slightly milkier taste than the MULU Dark and has an amazing crunch when you bite into it due to the crushed cacao nibs. If you want to reap the maximum benefits of raw chocolate and still want that bitter kick then this is the MULU bar for you!

This bar only weighs 68g but I can promise you that you won’t notice at all! If you want to try this bar then head on over to MULU.

My ultimate verdict

I really like the branding of the products at MULU – the mothernature-esque background that adorns all of their packaging along with the tagline ‘The way mother nature intended‘ is just breathtaking. They seem more like an indulgent luxury raw chocolate treat or the perfect gift for a loved one due to the way they are packaged. The ethics at MULU are outstanding, and any green and responsible business will win me over.

The taste and the texture of these products shocked me. There wasn’t even the tiniest bit of powderiness that you would associate with a lot of raw chocolates and they remind me of simple childhood treats that have been made to be slightly more complex and a lot more sophisticated for the adult market. MULU have succeeded in their dream to create a raw chocolate bar that equals that of the commercial chocolate market.

My only criticism is the use of agave nectar – and well, this is purely because I would like to be able to treat myself more often and scoff an entire bar. But I guess that’s what will make MULU more special for me – it’s a little treat I can look forward to, and they are always the best!

If you’d like to place an order then head over to the MULU online store and go wild for Christmas! Don’t forget to quote MULU20 on your first order for a whopping 20% off!

I can’t wait to see what MULU have in store for the future!

If you’d like to follow MULU Organic Raw Chocolate online then check out the links below:

Facebook: @MuluRawChocolate

Twitter: @mulurawchocolat

Instagram: @muluchocolate

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/kayceeburnett/mulu-organic-raw-chocolate/

 

Had any experience with MULU products before? Then don’t be scared to leave a comment!