Review: Raw Revolution Chocolate Coconut Bliss Bar

I mentioned in a previous review that Raw Revolution bars are not something that I find in my typical, boring grocery stores.  I've only seen them in Whole Foods and since I like to make splurges when it comes to nutrition bars, I picked up several of those bars in one trip and that leads me to today's review of this Raw Revolution Chocolate Coconut Bliss Bar.  Like the others, it was available for sale at a price of $1.50 and it comes in at 1.8 ounces.  Within that 1.8 ounces of organic, kosher, gluten free, dairy free and vegan bar was 240 calories and seven grams of protein.

When I opened this up, I got a bit of a different look than the last bar that I reviewed.  The last bar was more of a tan color, but this one definitely had the appearance of a chocolate bar, albeit a soft and doughy chocolate like a Larabar.  One thing about this bar that was definitely authoritative was the incredibly strong smell of chocolate as it came out of the wrapper and I very much enjoyed that.  Within the bar, which was made of of the standard date paste, was bits of cashews and almonds and also shards of coconut.  While that coconut did have a mild smell to it, it was mostly overwhelmed by that extremely potent chocolate smell that I've already described.  One other thing of note in this bar that really has no impact on anything in life but I'm mention it anyway, is that this bar was extremely sticky.

Taking my first bite of this soft and chewy bar immediately greeted me with two things, one from a textural standpoint and one from a taste standpoint.  The texture piece was that while the bar itself was soft and chewy, the ground up cashews in the bar added a grainy composition to that first bite.  The other thing that greeted me immediately was the strong chocolate flavor, which I very much enjoyed.  After that chocolate flavor wore down, I went in for another bite and prior to taking my next bite, I was immediately met by two more things.  First, I noticed that there were some sizable chunks of almond hiding within the actual bar itself, so that was nice.  The other thing I noticed is that when the initial chocolate burst wears down, I then got smacked in the face by a very strong coconut flavor that was mildly sweet, but definitely strong.  I enjoy that, but some might.  Within that extremely powerful coconut flavor was a VERY mild hint of almond flavor.  The cashews were mostly non-existent from a flavor perspective, but as I mentioned, their presence did make the bar more grainy to chew through.

Buy It or Fly By It?  Much like most coconut-flavored products, this one all comes down to your feelings on coconut.  I like coconut a lot, so I give this a BUY IT rating.  If you don't like coconut or are just on the fence about coconut flavor, this might be a bit much for you.  With me, the coconut flavor topped with the strong burst of initial chocolate flavor made this one a winner for me in not only the flavor department, but also in the "healthy" department since it had so many health-related characteristics associated with it.  What makes it even more fun is that after just reviewing the Raw Revolution website, their intent with this bar was to make this taste like a macaroon with a slight helping of chocolate and I think they were successful.  Well done.

BUY IT!!