Ritter Sport – Vegan Roasted Peanut

Back at it again with vegan chocolate – Ritter Sport edition. I have a lot of faith in the brand, but it’s not entirely unfounded. They have proven that if nothing else, they can make a consistent, solid product. Even at it’s worse I’ve never thought that they whiffed it, and it was more of just not feeling like the bar I had was to my taste preferences. They also happen to do vegan bars pretty well from what I’ve tried so far, and I fully anticipate going through all the ones I can get my grubby hands on.

Chocolate and peanuts is a time tested combination, so to me using that as a vector for a vegan bar is a little dangerous. What I mean is, because everyone has a fairly strong impression of what good chocolate and peanuts tastes like, if this doesn’t at least measure up to it, it won’t have much credibility. Sort of like if in high school you decide to wear a pair of sneakers that look like a popular designer brand, but someone notices it is a knock off or it’s not the same thing. It’s a risky play.

Appearance wise these look like a typical bar of chocolate and peanuts. Ritter has never been shy about their use of nuts, but now that I think about it most of their bars use hazelnuts or almonds, rather than peanuts. Strange.

These are nicely roasted peanuts, and there’s a helping of salt. The salt helps to enhance the chocolate flavour as well as the peanuts. The whole thing comes together and reminds me a lot of an Oh Henry! bar. Like a premium version that’s not as sweet, and has more peanut and chocolate flavour going for it. And also no caramel I guess.

The texture is superb to put it mildly – the chocolate isn’t too chalky or melty and has just the right amount of brittle that goes well with the crunch of the roasted peanuts. The whole thing comes together really well where the peanuts have a similar texture to the chocolate and it coalesces into a very satisfying crunch. Something about the texture also makes this bar feel sating, as in after a few blocks you feel satisfied. You want more, but your stomach also tells you, “yea I’m good for now”. Of course, some of us are champs and we play through the pain and keep going.

Thus far I’ve been impressed with the vegan Ritter Sport bars I’ve had so far, but in the way of everyday snacking, this is likely the one I could see grabbing the most often as a somewhat safe choice that’s tasty, filling and overall just a great bar. Setting aside that it’s vegan, this could square up against the classic big boys just as well.