Seed and Bean Organic and Fairtrade Chocolate Bars
Certified by the Soil Association, bearing the Fairtrade symbol and an Ethical Award winner, Seed and Bean is an organic company to be admired. Read on to see my review of some of their delicious and unusually flavoured chocolate bars.
FairTrade Fortnight
Fairtrade Fortnight is coming to an end, but you still have a chance to “choose products that save lives”. Take a look at last week’s post to find out more on why buying fairtrade chocolate helps growers in poorer parts of the world. It’s worth having a look for the chocolate cashew pie recipe alone.
Seed and Bean Review
Seed and Bean is a company founded on ethical principles and all of its products are not only Fairtrade and organic, but taste good too. I’m a fan. The 18 flavours offered are interesting and the packaging is attractive. They capture my attention every time. You can find out more about their chocolate bars in this previous review, a rainbow of delight. This post is an amalgamation of three other posts where I’ve reviewed Seed and Bean organic chocolate bars, so you’ll find plenty to choose from.
Seed and Bean Chocolate Bars
This time I was sent a bar of their award winning Sicilian Hazelnut & Almond (37%) which is pure delight. It’s a milky gianduja, which is smooth, creamy and not too sweet. It has an aroma of roasted hazelnuts and a taste of Italian sophistication. I meant to try just a little bit and before I knew it the whole bar had disappeared – how did that happen?
The dark (58%) Lemon and Cardamom is also a new one on me and I’m quite enthralled by it. Like all of the Seed and Bean chocolate I’ve tried, the flavours are subtle, but they are most definitely present. Lemon and cardamom are closely aligned in flavour, yet they complement each other well. I used this chocolate to top my lemon coconut cakes.
I was intrigued to find out what the Tangerine milk chocolate bar (37%) was like as I thought it would be hard to differentiate the flavour from that of orange. The scent of citrus was there and extraordinarly it really did taste of tangerines, not oranges. It is, in fact, quite a delicious bar.
The fourth one in the pack is another milk chocolate one, Cornish Sea Salt & Lime (37%). This is a firm favourite of mine which I have reviewed before (see below). Since writing that review, Seed and Bean have, much to my delight, upped the cocoa content of their chocolate. I’m hoping they will up it again at some point as a higher cocoa content makes for a richer and less sweet chocolate. In my world, all milk chocolate would have a minimum of 40%.
Seed and Bean also sent me an additional bar of dark Espresso (58%). But please note, this is NOT part of the giveaway. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m thinking CT will be much enamoured.
Seed and Bean New Editions
Not only is Seed and Bean an ethical company, but it has won two great taste awards from the Academy of Chocolate. It has an interesting and unusual flavour range including coconut & raspberry, lemon & cardamom, pumpkin seeds & hemp oil and Cornish sea salt. Recently they brought out a range of new flavours and a while ago they sent me two of their new bars to review. The chocolate they use for the majority of bars is a good quality Trinitario from the Dominican Republic, so I was expecting to like them. Luckily, I wasn’t disappointed. And now I’ve tasted them, all I can say is I wish they’d sent me more.
Lemon & Poppy Seed
Creamy White Chocolate cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, poppy seeds, lemon oil, soya lecithin, vanilla powder.
Whilst I am a big fan of using white chocolate in baking, I usually find it too sweet and sickly to eat on its own. However, this bar is neither overly sweet nor sickly and if CT hadn’t been around I would have happily eaten the whole bar all by myself. The lemon offsets any excessive sweetness that might linger on the palate. I was also pleased to discover that the lemon is quite subtle and tastes more zesty than sour.
The poppy seeds give a delightful crunch to proceedings and have a delicate nutty flavour all of their own. I’ve made lemon and poppy seed cake many a time and now I’m wondering why I’ve never added white chocolate to it – something which needs to be remedied I feel. I’m almost tempted to use a bar of this chocolate to make the cake. But perhaps that would be a waste of a good bar? It did get a great taste gold award after all.
Mandarin & Ginger
Extra Dark Chocolate 72%. cocoa mass, cane sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla extract, mandarin oil, ginger oil.
The flavour of mandarin hit first followed by a really rich punch from the dark chocolate finishing with a hint of gingery warmth which lingers in the mouth – nice. Neither too sweet nor too bitter, the ginger gave a subtle support to the mandarin and the two flavours were well balanced. The chocolate melted smoothly in the mouth and was more refined in character than many chocolates I’ve tasted. Dark is not my first chocolate of choice, but I really enjoyed this one. The great thing about good dark chocolate such as this, is that a little goes a very long way. A couple of squares and the chocolate craving has been satisfied – for a while! A very enjoyable bar.
Seed and Bean Glastonbury Festival Editions
Back in the summer of 2013, Seed & Bean brought out three limited edition 85g chocolate bars specifically for that year’s Glastonbury Festival in June. The inner wrappers are compostable, made primarily from eucalyptus trees and all bars are handmade in small batches. The colourful and festive wrappers were designed by artist Matt Lyons aka C86. If you’re quick, you may be lucky enough to get your hands on a bar. They’re available at £2.29 at the online shop, which seems reasonable for a top ethical product from a small British producer.
Sicilian Hazelnut
Fine Dark Chocolate (58% cocoa – cane sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, vanilla extract, hazelnut paste).
This is like eating a fine bar of guinduja. It is rich, but very smooth and creamy at the same time, despite containing no dairy. The bitter notes from the dark chocolate has a slightly drying on the mouth quality and counteracts any cloying tendency there might have been. CT did his usual blind testing and detected hazelnut straight away. We really liked this bar.
Cornish Sea Salt & West Indies Lime
Rich Milk Chocolate (30% cocoa solids – cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, cocoa mass, vanilla extract, lime oil, smoked sea salt, soy lecithin).
Despite having quite a low cocoa content, this was my favourite bar. Although you think I might be a little biased by the inclusion of Cornish Sea Salt, I do like milk chocolate. I’m also particularly fond of the sweet and salt combination. Some sea salt chocolate bars really go to town with the salt, but this one is much more finely balanced and suits me very well. The touch of lime, gives an uplifting quality and a tropical feel. If you can get to it before it melts, it’s ideal chocolate for the temperatures we’re currently experiencing. The chocolate is ultra smooth and melts beautifully in the mouth. A very fine chocolate bar indeed.
Raspberry & Vanilla
Creamy White Chocolate (30% cocoa solids – cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, raspberry powder, soya lecithin, vanill powder).
White chocolate, by its very nature, is overly sweet and often cloying. But I wasn’t going to let that put me off. And actually, I guess because of the inclusion of fruit, this wasn’t as sweet as I was expecting. In my sweeter toothed moments, this bar would hit the spot very nicely. It has a grainier texture than the others, which helps to counteract the sweetness. The flavour of the raspberries themselves is quite pronounced and their sharpness reminds me of sherbet.
Let Us Know
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you try any Seed and Bean chocolate, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below or via social media. Or you might even be the lucky winner. Do share photos on your preferred social media site and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
For more chocolate reviews and giveaways, follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest.
Seed and Bean are offering a 20% discount on all orders during Fairtrade Fortnight, but do hurry as this ends on 8 March.
Giveaway
Seed and Bean has kindly agreed to give one of my readers four bars of their 85g chocolate bars as described above. To be in with a chance of winning, please fill in the Gleam widget below. You will need to leave a comment on this post and answer the question. This will then give you additional chances to enter if you so wish.
Gleam will pick a winner at random from the entries received. If you comment anonymously, please give me some way to identify you as I will need to verify the validity of entries. Any automated entries will be disqualified. This giveaway is only open to those with a UK postal address. Winners will need to respond within 7 days of being contacted. Failure to do this may result in another winner being picked.
Do take a look at my giveaway page to see if there is anything else you would like to enter.
Karen S Booth
6th March 2015 at 10:17 amWhat a fab giveaway Choclette!
Choclette Blogger
6th March 2015 at 7:46 pmThanks Karen, the chocolate sure is good.
Tracey Peach
6th March 2015 at 10:43 amBanana Flavour xxx
Tracy K Nixon
6th March 2015 at 10:56 amHoney and almond x
Jo m Welsh
6th March 2015 at 1:21 pmA walnut bar or almond bar
mummy24
6th March 2015 at 5:45 pmChilli and Carmelised toffee!
Ashleigh
debbie smith
6th March 2015 at 6:02 pmsalted caramel yummm !!!
Kim Neville
6th March 2015 at 6:24 pmPraline
Tina Holmes
6th March 2015 at 6:35 pmSicilian Hazelnut & Almond
kj19
6th March 2015 at 7:07 pmalmond ..
clair downham
6th March 2015 at 7:22 pmsalted caramel thankyou
laura banks
6th March 2015 at 7:29 pmBanana Flavour
frances hopkins
6th March 2015 at 8:19 pmButterscotch
Sue
6th March 2015 at 8:21 pmLemon and cardamon sounds really exciting!
Sue
6th March 2015 at 8:24 pmCherry and Almond would be a new one I would like to try
Suelle
6th March 2015 at 9:43 pmI think dates go really well with chocolate, but I’ve never seen a bar with dates in.
Laura Denman
6th March 2015 at 10:22 pmAnything with caramel in!
Jacqueline Meldrum
6th March 2015 at 10:24 pmI’ve added it to The Food Blog Diary for you.
Heidi Roberts
6th March 2015 at 10:39 pmCornish Sea Salt & Lime sounds wonderful!!
Unknown
7th March 2015 at 12:44 amI’d love to see a chili flavor!
Anonymous
7th March 2015 at 7:59 amPistachio and lime
(Spencer Broadley)
Natalie Crossan
7th March 2015 at 10:51 ambutterscotch xx
talesofpiglingbland
7th March 2015 at 12:12 pmI’ve just been to their site and I have to say, I fancy trying the pumpkin and hemp flavoured bar. Purely because I have absolutely no idea what it would taste like
Anita-Clare Field
7th March 2015 at 12:44 pmCornish sea salt sounds lovely
katie skeoch
7th March 2015 at 1:52 pmPeppermint fudge!
Elizabeth Briggs
7th March 2015 at 2:45 pmRaspberry and White Chocolate x
ali thorpe
7th March 2015 at 4:34 pmRich Milk would be tasty.
Jan
7th March 2015 at 6:10 pmI would love to give these to my “bestie”!
james rowlands
7th March 2015 at 11:24 pmStrawberry white chocolate
carolyn
7th March 2015 at 11:29 pmtangerine
SteveComp100
8th March 2015 at 12:13 amOrange Crisp
polly
8th March 2015 at 12:40 amCornish sea salt – it’s my favourite x
Mirjana
8th March 2015 at 12:41 amI love Cherry flavour 🙂
TheKiwiBex
8th March 2015 at 12:53 amStrawberry and rose!
monkeyme
8th March 2015 at 4:54 amdark choc wins
MimiJane
8th March 2015 at 8:33 amDark chocolate and almond x
Claire Blaney
8th March 2015 at 8:55 amMaple & pecan x
Andrew Petrie
8th March 2015 at 9:09 amCoconut & Pineapple.
sooz
8th March 2015 at 9:16 amcoconut
Hassni Malik
8th March 2015 at 9:19 amGoji Berry
Catherine Reynolds
8th March 2015 at 9:40 amI have not tried any of these chocolate flavours so would be great to win and see what they taste like!
Val Swift
8th March 2015 at 10:07 amSAlted caramel
Aaron Broad
8th March 2015 at 10:22 amBacon and cinammon
Daniel Baugh
8th March 2015 at 10:40 amStrawberry white chocolate would be lovely
Stacey Meyer
8th March 2015 at 11:08 amBanana flavour would be amazing! 🙂 xx
beckyi
8th March 2015 at 11:29 amSalted caramel or something with added vanilla
Penny
8th March 2015 at 11:29 amThey do have some very interesting flavours! I would like to see something with freeze dried raspberries maybe?
Paul
8th March 2015 at 11:36 amCaramel flavour
vanillaletters
8th March 2015 at 11:48 ama fudge/caramel type flavour
Samantha Lancaster
8th March 2015 at 11:59 amMint x
Gemma Snell
8th March 2015 at 12:05 pmHoneycomb
AliceMegan
8th March 2015 at 12:12 pmDark chocolate and cherry
LauraC88
8th March 2015 at 12:27 pmNutmeg xx
Megan Kinsey
8th March 2015 at 12:34 pmTangerine milk chocolate 😀
ATP
8th March 2015 at 12:37 pmCoconut & Raspberry is fab
Anne Nelmes
8th March 2015 at 1:11 pmanything with nuts
jodie crossley
8th March 2015 at 1:42 pmCaramel!
Kristy Brown
8th March 2015 at 2:08 pmCoffee and mint
Sarah Pybus
8th March 2015 at 2:25 pmCoconut and Raspberry
Victoria
8th March 2015 at 2:49 pmSalted caramel !
Lauren Sutherby
8th March 2015 at 2:50 pmThese look delicious!!!
Sarah Davies
8th March 2015 at 2:52 pmRhubarb and ginger
John Tingay
8th March 2015 at 2:52 pmDate & Walnut or Maple Pecan would be great additions to the range.
Christine Shelley
8th March 2015 at 3:02 pmMandarinand ginger would be lovely to try
Louise A
8th March 2015 at 3:30 pmMarzipan and Baileys
Sarah Griffiths
8th March 2015 at 6:08 pmToffee or butterscotch
Ohmite Hudson
8th March 2015 at 7:32 pmCinnamon
Tash
8th March 2015 at 7:41 pmsea salt & caramel
winnie
8th March 2015 at 8:22 pmpeach
Anonymous
8th March 2015 at 8:34 pmVanilla and lemon
@rachiegr
Lorraine Tinsley
8th March 2015 at 8:45 pmMint
Pooky
8th March 2015 at 9:03 pmBaileys flavour
anthony harrington
8th March 2015 at 9:29 pmcoconut and pineapple in dark choc!
Anonymous
8th March 2015 at 10:02 pmWould love to try these,they look totally delicious Lindsey M. xx
Zee
8th March 2015 at 10:25 pmChilli
dorsetsgem
9th March 2015 at 11:36 amwow they sound lovely. maybe a peanut butter one?
Kelly Lawton
9th March 2015 at 12:53 pmCoconut!
pauline hill
9th March 2015 at 1:37 pmA walnut bar
suzanne brzeski
9th March 2015 at 2:15 pmsalted caramel
jenniwren12
9th March 2015 at 2:27 pmsalted caramel
emily13
9th March 2015 at 4:02 pmI’d love to see a cherry one
Angela Gordon
9th March 2015 at 5:03 pmSalted caramel looks lush, but I wouldn’t say no to any of them!
Ruth Bugg
9th March 2015 at 6:04 pmRaspberry and vanilla
sue
9th March 2015 at 7:32 pmpeanut and pineapple
Anonymous
9th March 2015 at 8:56 pmPecan!
Fiona S
Twiddle Dee
9th March 2015 at 10:55 pmsalted caramel 😛
Helen Kate Greaves
10th March 2015 at 11:05 amWhite chocolate and honeycomb
Richard Tyler
10th March 2015 at 4:18 pmButterscotch 🙂
Lisa Pepper
10th March 2015 at 8:00 pmSomething with strawberry would be nice
CJ Smith
10th March 2015 at 10:08 pmButterscotch 🙂
cornishengraver
11th March 2015 at 2:48 pmChilli 🙂
Nadya
11th March 2015 at 7:25 pmsalted caramel!
michelle B
13th March 2015 at 1:06 amchilli chocolate 😀
Kerry-Ann Pope
13th March 2015 at 4:58 pmDefinitely Praline, it’s my all time favourite
kasza
14th March 2015 at 5:02 pmPraline
kelly
15th March 2015 at 2:41 pmPraline!
felicity smith
15th March 2015 at 5:59 pmapricot
Heather Haigh
15th March 2015 at 11:38 pmI would like to see Incan berry and date
Dawn Andrews
16th March 2015 at 2:05 amMint
olivia kirby
16th March 2015 at 6:56 pmBookmarked to enter as Gleam is not appearing anywhere for me at the moment unfortunately
Choclette
16th March 2015 at 8:00 pmHi Olivia, you should see a link right at the bottom of the page which will take you to Gleam.
olivia kirby
17th March 2015 at 10:08 amHi! Thanks – I clicked on the name of the prize and that seemed to work.
olivia kirby
17th March 2015 at 10:09 amWhite chocolate and raspberry
Cathy (MummyTravels)
17th March 2015 at 1:48 pmMmm. Lemon and black pepper
Helen
17th March 2015 at 9:42 pmI love chocolate 🙂
Melissa G
18th March 2015 at 4:17 pmI would love a cherry and dark chocolate one!
ema j lowe
21st March 2015 at 4:04 pmcookies and cream
Emma Nixon
21st March 2015 at 6:03 pmI love coffee flavoured chocolate, so I would like to see an amaretto coffee flavour
Shaun
22nd March 2015 at 1:19 amWhich existing flavour? White Poppy and Lemon – I’d love to try this one.
Tania Atfield
25th March 2015 at 9:26 pmSalted caramel
iain maxiver
25th March 2015 at 9:30 pmpeanut butter flavour
Sinead ORourke
25th March 2015 at 10:24 pmSicilian Hazelnut & Almond
pete c
25th March 2015 at 10:47 pmRhubarb and Coconut
Sarah Isabel
25th March 2015 at 10:49 pmHazelnut!
cathyj
26th March 2015 at 9:12 amlove banana or strawberry but love to try the lemon tangy
Jasper C.
26th March 2015 at 10:00 amCappuccino
Ben Audsley
26th March 2015 at 11:36 amchocolate and peanut butter
Laura Baker
26th March 2015 at 12:57 pmButterscotch
Susan Hall
26th March 2015 at 5:40 pmSalted caramel
Emma Ferguson
26th March 2015 at 10:56 pmSalted caramel 🙂
Angela McDonald
27th March 2015 at 4:09 amPictachio and Coconut
Diane Hicklin
27th March 2015 at 6:38 pmAnything that involves coffee
Rowan
27th March 2015 at 8:26 pmGreat giveaway – and I LOVE your name!
Choclette
30th March 2015 at 9:26 amHaha, thank you Rowan 😀
Jennifer Dixon
27th March 2015 at 9:49 pmsalted caramel
jodie yorke
28th March 2015 at 1:43 amchocolate and peanut butter.
Natasha Mairs
28th March 2015 at 8:39 pmameretto
Christine Caple
28th March 2015 at 9:27 pmStrawberries and cream
William Gould
29th March 2015 at 11:34 pmCan’t see a Gleam widget in any browser on two different computers, has this ended?
Choclette
30th March 2015 at 9:47 amNo it’s still live William. If you click the link at the bottom of the post, it will take you to gleam.
Kasia
30th March 2015 at 11:58 ambanana!
Helen Metcalfe
30th March 2015 at 12:48 pmSalted Caramel would be lovely
katherine b
30th March 2015 at 3:20 pmPistachio and lime for me x
Lucy Pasifull
30th March 2015 at 4:02 pmPistachio would be yummy.
emma falvi
30th March 2015 at 4:14 pmEspresso
leanne weir
30th March 2015 at 4:37 pmBanana Flavour xxx
William Gould
30th March 2015 at 6:29 pmCoconut for me!
Hazel Rea
30th March 2015 at 10:10 pmGinger
karen ruby
30th March 2015 at 10:32 pmtoasted marshmallow would be a nice chocolate 🙂
Myles Cole
31st March 2015 at 11:01 amExpresso sounds so good!
msedollyp
31st March 2015 at 11:27 amRaspberry n almond
Emily Knight
31st March 2015 at 12:33 pmI know one already has cardamom…but I’d say rose and cardamom, as it’s one of my favourite flavour combinations!
Choclette
31st March 2015 at 3:49 pmOoh now that does sound good Emily and not one I’ve tried.
Diana
31st March 2015 at 3:04 pmAlmond and coffee
Krzysia
31st March 2015 at 4:28 pmAll the flavours sound very moreish. Tangerine is one I’ve never heard of which sounds yummy!
Helen Allan
31st March 2015 at 6:56 pmSalted Caramel would be wonderful. Thank you!
Hannah Smith
31st March 2015 at 8:21 pmPlain old mint? 😉
@smeethsaysfashn on twitter
James Donovan
31st March 2015 at 9:43 pmPeanut Butter
Gilla01
31st March 2015 at 10:29 pmMy favourite is Ginger.
Isabelle Smith
31st March 2015 at 10:48 pmButterscotch
Pamela M
31st March 2015 at 11:45 pmSicilian Hazelnut & Almond sounds delicious.
Jane Middleton
31st March 2015 at 11:55 pmcoconut
Sarah Lewis
1st April 2015 at 8:31 amCappuccino
Rebecca Evans
1st April 2015 at 9:08 amButterscotch 🙂
Leslie Evans
1st April 2015 at 9:10 amMint Choc Chip
J M
1st April 2015 at 9:16 amHazelnut.
Alison Barker
1st April 2015 at 9:50 amHazelnut
Andrea A
1st April 2015 at 11:11 amButterscotch
chirag p
1st April 2015 at 1:40 pmstrawberry mousse
Michelle R
1st April 2015 at 2:32 pmWhite chocolate and strawberry.
Ziggy C-J
1st April 2015 at 2:49 pmWould be interesting to try the different flavours.
Helen Garner
1st April 2015 at 3:58 pmlike the sound of chilli and lime
Greig spencer
1st April 2015 at 6:31 pmButterscotch
Catherine Gregory
1st April 2015 at 7:44 pmCherry and Almond
Emma
1st April 2015 at 8:17 pmMint
Karis
1st April 2015 at 8:42 pmMint
Em S
1st April 2015 at 9:11 pmChocolate with coconut and caramel.
Sandra Clarke
1st April 2015 at 10:20 pmMint for me.
Alan Whyte
2nd April 2015 at 1:02 amAny except salt which just seems wrong on chocolate.
Choclette
2nd April 2015 at 1:46 pmAh, but have you tried it Alan?
Rachel Bustin
2nd April 2015 at 9:01 amcoconut and lime xx
Claire Barker
2nd April 2015 at 12:41 pmDark chocolate, date and pecan.
James Travis
2nd April 2015 at 2:30 pmStrawberry White Chocolate
Emma Howard
2nd April 2015 at 2:52 pmFig and almond?
Anthea Holloway
2nd April 2015 at 4:34 pmAnything with chocolate in it! I love them all!!!
Anthea Holloway
2nd April 2015 at 4:35 pmWhere is the Gleam widget?
Choclette
2nd April 2015 at 8:06 pmJust click on the link at the bottom of the page Anthea.
Angela Kelly
2nd April 2015 at 5:10 pmAnything with chocolate is alright by me!
Sheri Darby
2nd April 2015 at 7:58 pmHazelnut
Janice Taylor
2nd April 2015 at 8:14 pmCoconut and dark chocolate
Hannah Igoe
2nd April 2015 at 8:26 pmCaramel and chilli
trevor linvell
2nd April 2015 at 9:20 pmHazelnut
Angie Hoggett
2nd April 2015 at 9:29 pmwhite chocolate with strawberry and black pepper
Louise Ryves
2nd April 2015 at 9:57 pmRaspberry and white chocolate
Jayne K
2nd April 2015 at 11:01 pmStrawberry and rose
Monika S
3rd April 2015 at 1:40 amcaramel
Solange
3rd April 2015 at 7:04 amHazelnut
Victoria Prince
3rd April 2015 at 7:51 amStrawberry 🙂
Spencer Wright
3rd April 2015 at 9:28 amHazelnut or peanut
Pat Stubbs
3rd April 2015 at 10:21 amPeppermint
aaron
3rd April 2015 at 1:06 pmPeanut
Keith Hunt
3rd April 2015 at 1:37 pmPeppermint
Bonnie King
3rd April 2015 at 3:08 pmSalted caramel! Can’t get enough of the stuff 🙂
Sheila Reeves
3rd April 2015 at 6:56 pmLemon & ginger
Andrew Seaman
3rd April 2015 at 9:21 pmSalted Caramel
Zinzi Graham
3rd April 2015 at 10:22 pmFab prize! I love the packaging.