I was quite pleased when I found Terra Nostra Ricemilk Choco Bars; they appeared out of nowhere and it seemed they would solve my chocolate (dairy) milk dilemma.

I was so determined to like them I bought two bars outright. I’d never seen a dairy-free alternative to a milk chocolate bar before, yet seeing these, it all made sense. Of course, if we have soy, almond, rice and all those other substitutes to dairy, it only makes sense that you could make chocolate “milk” bars from these. I wonder why more companies aren’t producing this.

I first tried the Ricemilk Choco with Almonds bar; a 100g bar with 57% cocoa , ingredients include raw sugar cane, cocoa butter, rice powder, roasted almonds and hazelnuts – all organic ingredients. Even though all the ingredients are vegan, I wouldn’t necessarily call the bars vegan since it’s manufactured in a plant that produces dairy products.

The bars overall has a nice rich creamy taste, I couldn’t tell it was rice milk, it tasted rather like dairy milk. It doesn’t have one overpowering flavour, it’s mellow and not too sweet, the cocoa taste really comes through. It’s rich, velvety and nutty.

It reminds me of those tiny semi-sweet chocolate chips. The texture is smooth. The almond bar is my favourite, the crunchiness of the almonds balances well with the creamy texture of the chocolate, a rich nutty flavour with hints of vanilla.

Terra Nostra (a fifth generation chocolatier) is a Vancouver based company, (a plus for me!). The company is also part of Equitable Trade, an association which goes “beyond fair trade”.

I discovered these bars at Urban Fare, they retail a little higher above regular chocolate bars at about $4.50CAD.

I wanted to like these bars and I’m glad I wasn’t disappointed.