A crimson-colored quinoa crunch veiled in the thinnest blanket of chocolate. Fruity bars made from bizarre berries with Kangaroo peepers staring at me on the wrapper. Chewy squares that look like caramel but taste like lemonade. Chocolate with a crunch, a tang, and a catchy name. Fruit-shaped sticky bites that think they are exotic. And many more munchables that have traveled miles and miles to my snack-loving mouth!
Every continent, every country, every vegan loves snacks. I’m constantly talking to other vegans online from many miles and oceans away, and there seems to be quite a bit of variation in the vegan snackosphere! So out of curiosity and snack-love, my friend Kat, from the fantastic blog CurlsnChard.com, and I got together to send each other an assortment of edibles that the other has never tried. So I got a taste of Austria, and Kat got a taste of the U.S. vegan snack style.
Check out my taste testing video + and mini reviews below. I can’t pronounce any of it, but I sure can eat it!
Foodloose Bars • I got to try 3 flavors of these kinda like KIND bars. The first (in video) one was called Garden Gusto and it was super peanut-packed with big chunks of cherry. Super tasty and almost PB&J-esque. Next was the Delhi Delight, which was very tropical tasting from the mango, pineapple, and coconut with a little kick of curry. I’ve never had curry in a snack bar, so this was a new experience for me. And just when I thought I could pronounce the names of these bars, the last one messed with me. It was called Poesie Amelie and it was my favorite! With apples, figs, and cinnamon, I loved this one.
Aduna Moringa Bar • I really wanted to like this bar. Between the words “with mango” on the front and “supercharge your day” on the back it sounded like a winner…but no. Like so many other green superfood powders, I don’t think I like moringa sadly.
Roo’Bar • I’ll get to the taste in a minute, but can we just admire the adorable packaging for a minute please….okay glad we did that. It makes me think of both kangaroos and Winnie the Pooh, but I’m probably the only one who’s mind wanders there. Anyways, I tried the Inca Berry flavor, another berry I’ve never tasted, and it was very good. Mostly sweet, a little tart, a teensy taste of orange, altogether delicious!
Chufa Konfekt • I didn’t even attempt to pronounce this one, I’ll just call them Chewy Little Squares That Look Like Caramels But Taste Like Lemon. And I love lemon. And chewiness. So yeah these were awesome.
Raw Bite Bar • Now we’re getting to the chocolate! This bar is a lot like the Larabars we have here in the U.S., although this was quite a bit chunkier, which means more bites of chewy chocolate. I don’t think I have to tell you that this was yummy. But what I will tell you is that the flavor is distinguishably raw cacao, not just plain chocolate, which is neat.
Wow!Bab Bar • Wow!Bab you wowed me. I loved this bar. I want 12 more of this bar. The center is crunchy, slightly tangy, and a beautiful shade of pink. The crunch is from quinoa and amaranth. The color is from currants. And my love for this bar is from the thin coating of dark chocolate surrounding it all. Like a chocolate covered fruity rice crispy treat. I think this bar was made for me.
Pulsin Maca Bliss Bar • This little brownie-meets-bar hybrid was so rich and decadent. It looks a lot like any date and nut bar, but it really does taste more like a brownie. Let’s just say this one was gone pretty quick!
LoveChok Raw Chocolate • This bar had quite the journey from solid to melted to solid to my belly. And I’m so glad it survived that trip because it was divine! Kat sent me the ideal flavor for my tastebuds: blueberry vanilla. It was perfect. There was something crunchy in it I think. Don’t know, and don’t care what that was, I loved it!
Fruit Apps Gummies • I was thrilled glad when Kat asked if I wanted any gummy things in my box. I tried to contain my excitement…act like an adult, but I love gummy things about as much as your average 5 year old. These mini fruit-mimics came in 3 flavors: mango, orange, and pineapple. They were sweet squishy little bite-sized delights. I loved them and savored them piece by chewy piece.
Bonus! Baobab Powder • Kat was kind enough to send me a little sample of baobab powder to try too, and I really liked it. Tangy and very much like citrus. Can’t wait to work this into a recipe!
So that was my little taste of Austria, unwrapped, up close, and with lots of sweet-sticky finger licking!
Curious to see what I sent to Kat? Check out her taste test ➙ HERE
Now you tell me, if you were going to send a box of snacks from your country to someone around the world, what would you pack inside?
Awesome!!! I have always wanted to try a Raw Bite bar! ALWAYS seeing them on instagram, hahaha! So fun!
I know me too! It was very tasty, but not remarkably different than Larabars….but somehow things are always more appealing when they’re harder to get 🙂
I don’t even know where to start! I’m so happy that you enjoyed pretty much all of the snacks – I’ not a huge fan of the moringa bar either, but I just wanted to know what you would think about it. I also really enjoy the Wow!Bab bars, they are probably my favorite chocolate covered snack bar. The cacao raw bite bar was the first snack bar that I really fell in love with – I’m usually not crazy about date based bars, but this one was just the perfect amount of sweet for me! Oh, and about the “exotic” fruits – well, pineapple, mango and orange are considered exotic here in Austria 😉
Between shopping for snacks to send and tasting the snacks you sent, I think you totally win in terms of awesome snack bars, especially of the chocolatey variety! I’m so happy you sent the moringa bar, I’ve never had moringa before, so at least now I know what it tastes like. The Raw Bite is great, it isn’t overly sweet you’re right, I think that’s why the cacao flavor comes through so nicely! The Wow!Bab is what really made me think you guys snack better, because we don’t even have anything similar to that, especially not with the variety of whole grains they have in there! It was so good <3 I eventually realized that those tropical fruits are probably exotic in Austria, but not till after the video. It never really hit me that you rarely use pineapple and mango in your recipes either...cultural variety is so fascinating 🙂 I'm so SO happy we did this, it was one of the most fun videos I've ever done and a lovely break from the usual recipes 😀
You are too cute, Natalie! I love this video, it really lets your personality shine. Great review of the products. 🙂
Thanks Linda, your sweet words mean a lot to me <3
What an awesome swap <3 Kat has great taste 🙂 I'm so jealous of that blueberry vanilla chocolate. Funny I read it as mulberry though! Would have never guessed that maulbeere = blueberry.
She does have good tastes, just based on her recipes I had a feeling I was going to enjoy what she sent! And I totally thought it was mulberry at first too! I think we’re just kinda obsessed with mulberries haha! Mulberry vanilla chocolate would be pretty incredible as well though 🙂
Awesome swap! That video was so much fun! I’ve only ever had that Lovechock otherwise I’ve never tried the other snacks.. what’s wrong with me?! I need to try everything!
Wait..what? Now I’m really confused. I though Maulbeere is mulberry.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maulbeeren
This is the german wikipedia site for maulbeere, if you change the language in the left sidebar to english, it directs you to the morus plant, which is also known as mulberry….
Haha 😀 You definitely should try the some of these, the Wow!Bab would be my #1 suggestion! I was just going off the little translation notes Kat sent me, and she said blueberry, but I think you’re right, it must be mulberry because wikipedia says so, so we know it’s the truth 😉 haha And that explains the crunch I was tasting! I really appreciate you watching the video, and I’m going read your Lovechock review now so that I can really get the chocolate cravings going early this morning 🙂
hahaa. wikipedia is always right! 😀
I’ll definitely will try to get my hands on the Wow!Bab. Thanks for the tip!
Also your videos are gorgeous! The quality is amazing 🙂
You must! They have other flavors too, I was drooling over them on their website 😀 haha And thanks girl <3
This post has me quite excited! I’m going to trawl Europe in September, it is good to know there are many delights for this foodie to try. I’ll try the Moringa anyways….you never know, I’m the kind of person who snacks on raw cauliflower with peanut butter and tomato relish, or bananas with sweet chili and hummus. …my tastes are quite odd!
Oh you’re going to have so much fun! You’ll have to take lots of pics and write blog posts about all the fun things you taste while you’re there! I can honestly say I never would’ve thought of either of those snack combos haha! Yes your tastes are quite unique, but that makes for really creative recipes!
This is such a neat idea Natalie! Getting mail from overseas is always the best…especially if it’s filled with vegan snacks! Yum! Wish I could be there to try them all out with you!
Well that would’ve made the video like a thousand times more fun if you had been here too! Group video taste tests would be awesome! Like I don’t know if you ever seen Megan Elizabeth’s taste test videos, but they’re hilarious 😀 I tried to talk my sister into joining me since she’s vegan and a fellow chocolate lover, but no. She just pounced on the leftovers after I was done haha! Thank you so much for watching Vanessa, it means a lot to me 🙂
Oooh so many delicious snacks! You’re making me so hungry! Pulsin bars are my FAVOURITE! <3
I can totally see why they’re your fave! Delicious brownie heaven without having to turn on the oven or wait 😀 haha Thanks Harriet!
OMG! Im in snack heaven! What a cool idea too. Great way to try new things.
Oh yes total snack heaven! So many new things to try, and I must say Kat has good tastes 😀
Hey Natalie,
you may remember me from 30bad or so (it was me who praised your potato salad back then).
I’ve got a fun fact for you : I work in the shop where Ket got most of the stuff she sent you 😉
have a nice day and enjoy the goodies 😀
No way!!!!!!! That’s so awesome!!!!!!!!!! It might sound cheesy, but all I can say is it’s really is a small world! And I do remember you from way back then, and I appreciate your support then and still do now 🙂 Thank you Katharina!
What a fun idea and it all looked so yummy too. I so want to try the Wow!bab bar, it looks amazing. The video was so cute and fun too!
It was a fun change of pace from actually having to make something before I can snack 😀 haha You would love the Wow!Bab bar, we need those here! I don’t think we have any snack bars that are quite like it. And I appreciate you watching the video, that means a lot to me 🙂