sweetriot riotBar Review

I don’t know how chocolate got its reputation has a junk food. Okay, maybe I do–chocolate is usually paired with cream, plenty of sugar, and other things that aren’t very good for us. So it’s really not the chocolate itself that’s bad, it’s what we add to it or eat with it. But the cacao bean, where chocolate comes from, is packed with antioxidant goodness. Is there a way to get the benefits of the cacao bean without all the added junk? Oh yes there is!

sweetriot riotBars are made with organic cacao beans and have no added dairy and little added sugar. Without all the heavy and high calorie additives, riotBars are lower in calories than typical chocolate bars and they have a more pure chocolate flavor. If you truly love the unadulterated flavor of chocolate, these are the chocolate bars for you. Each riotBar square is only 20 or 21 calories–although, really, who are they kidding? No one can stop at one square! But even if you have 2 or 3 (which is what I’ve been having to treat myself after meals), that’s still a decent amount of chocolate for a fairly small amount of calories.

Generally, I’m more of a milk chocolate girl than dark chocolate. I really want to like dark chocolate, but I often find it too bitter for my liking. So, basically, I’m really really picky. Since riotBars range from 60-85% dark, I was worried they’d be bitter and unpalatable to me, but I found that I really liked them, particularly the 60% Dark bar with cacao nibs. The crunchy little bits of cacao gave the bar a great texture without adding a lot of calories.

In addition to being organic, sweetriot riotBars are Fair Trade Certified. What does this mean? Well, it means that sweetriot is committed to paying a fair price for the cacao beans it purchases–a price that allows Latin American farmers to support their families by giving them a living wage. In addition to this, sweetriot is the only chocolate company to offset all of its carbon emissions. sweetriot also supports emerging artists by putting original artwork on every riotBar wrapper. The fun, colorful packaging makes sweetriot products a fabulous gift!

You can buy sweetriot riotBars and other products from their online shop or at Whole Foods and other independent retailers nationwide. Follow sweetriot on Twitter @sweetriot.

*Kiersten received the above products, free of charge, to facilitate this review. All opinions are those of reviewer only.