Will Monk Fruit and Sea Salt Hide Dark Chocolate?

We've covered Lakanto products before here on The Chocolate Cult. First their classic and golden sweetners, and their maple syrup. Then we tried their Suntella, which is a chocolate spread. Today, going on four years later, we're looking at their Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Bar. Originally I thought that I was being sent a variety pack of their chocolate bars, not just one single version. Instead I got 12 of these bars for free via the Amazon Vine program in exchange for writing a review on that website. This article is an unexpected bonus for both brands. No additional compensation was received for sharing my honest experiences with you all today. Now that the legal matter is out of the way, let's look at the bars.

This is a 72% cacao content so I expect it to be right within my favorite. The question is really how much monk fruit and Erythritol was added because both of those sweeteners are intense and I find that a lot of chocolate and candy makers add in too much of them. Breaking off the sections of the bar worked well; took a bit of effort but the squares stayed intact. The scent of the bar has an intense dark chocolate but there is an edge of what I've grown to know as a "monk fruit" fragrance with a hint of salt. When I took a bite there was only a soft sound, slightly disappointing since at this level of cacao I expect a snap. The chocolate was sweeter than ideal for me, but both its essence and the sea salt built up until only the bitter chocolate remained in my mouth. That was a pleasant surprise for me. I tried to let it melt on my tongue but that sweetness was too intense that way.

I like that the Lankanto name and their symbol on the bar. I hope you can see that in the close-up above. The inside wrapper felt like plastic though it looked like foil. The outer wrapper is really a paper sleeve that is resealable and which was fairly easy to open. There are approximately two servings per bar, so 260 calories if you eat an entire bar. Let me remind you that both Monk Fruit and Erythritol can cause digestive issues for some people, so test it before you go gobbling a bar down.

I really would have liked if the Vine Program sent me the variety pack from Lankanto because now I'm curious about their other flavors. As it is, while I was happy that the sea salt did not overwhelm the dark chocolate's bitter flavor, it was still too sweet to really taste like a 72% bar should. Since this only uses five ingredients, four of them natural, this is on the edge of earning Sacrament status but doesn't quite make it.