Friday, May 26, 2017

Skinny Dipped Almonds

Skinny Dipped Almonds.  Healthy, but satisfying, slightly indulgent, coated nuts.  "The new chocolate covered almond," the company promises.

Hmm.  I can't say that Skinny Dipped Almonds sounded particularly exciting to me when I first encountered them.
"Finally, a chocolate covered almond that is healthy and indulgent. Our almonds are roasted to perfection then skinny dipped in a thin layer of artisan dark chocolate and finished with a whisper of cocoa, espresso or pure raspberry."
I mean, I love to snack, I like having things to munch on, but these just didn't sound like my sort of go-to item.  Still, having nuts to munch on is always good for me as they have protein, and the flavors did sound slightly promising.

Skinny Dipped Almonds come in 3 flavors (raspberry, espresso, cocoa), all of which come dipped in chocolate, and portioned into little 70 calorie bags.  They really are trying to help you make a healthy choices, portion controlled, and only slightly indulgent.

But you have to set your expectations accordingly.  "A thin layer of artisan dark chocolate" means truly that.  A thin layer.  Actually, I'd barely call it a layer.  I'd barely call it chocolate.  Think of it as a dusting of cocoa perhaps, and then try these, else, you will be disappointed, as I was the first time I tried a bag.  Once I did reset my expectations though, I liked these more than expected, and ended up trying all 3 varieties.
Dark Chocolate Raspberry.
"Whole almonds skinny dipped in a thin layer of artisan dark chocolate and finished with a whisper of raspberry."

The first time I tried these, it didn't go well.

I picked the most unique sounding flavor to start: dark chocolate raspberry.  I knew to expect only a thin coat of chocolate, but this really was an incredibly thin layer.  I can't say I tasted it.  I did taste the raspberry though, and although raspberry and chocolate are a fine combination, they didn't do it for me.  The raspberry was just too tangy with the biter chocolate and nut.  The package was tiny, but I wasn't really interested in finishing it.

A couple months later, I tried again.  This time, I knew better what to expect, and I liked them much more.  I liked the crunchy almonds, nicely roasted.  I liked that they were slightly salty.  I could actually taste a little dark chocolate, and wow, yes, I could taste the dominant raspberry.  They certainly weren't an indulgent snack, not anything I'd consider a dessert, or use to satisfy a sweet tooth, but, compared to plain nuts, they were far more interesting.
Dark Chocolate Cocoa.
"Whole almonds skinny dipped in a thin layer of artisan dark chocolate and finished with a whisper of cocoa."

Since I wasn't entirely into the intense raspberry, the next time I went for the simple cocoa version.  These nuts were basically the same as the raspberry, just, uh, without the raspberry?  Which meant that they were fairly boring, just roasted almonds with a tiny bit of cocoa coating, resulting in a slightly bitter overall experience, that wasn't particularly satisfying in any way.  I wouldn't get this flavor again.
Dark Chocolate Espresso.
"Whole almonds skinny dipped in a thin layer of artisan dark chocolate and finished with a whisper of espresso."

The final variety I tried was the dark chocolate espresso, which shockingly turned out to be my favorite.  Still the same basic roasted almonds, with a thin layer of cocoa, but the espresso had an intense flavor, bitter, but, tasty.  I also liked the hint of salt.

Did I want more of them?  Nah.  But they were my favorite.

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