I am very particular about a couple of things and cocoa powder falls in that category.  It should be 100% cocoa. Have no added sugars or colouring, and should impart the most delicious and delightful mouthfeel and taste of chocolate to dishes. I am also very particular about it having no added sugar because I need to be able to control the amount of sugar in the final product. Not only that but I find that sugar takes away from the richness of the cocoa and lightens the colour of the final product.

Rating: 4.7/5

This is not a new product to me. I have used this for the past 5 years and have had consistent results each time. The review is specifically for the natural cocoa powder. There is an organic one available now but I am yet to test it. It says very simply on the pouch that it is 100% cocoa and there are a few suggestions for how to use it. The entire packaging is non fussy and everything is pretty straightforward. As a long time user, I noticed that they no longer include the little tiny spoon which sucks because they were really cute.

This has been broken down into 4 main parts and an extra bonus point because why not. These are the things I consider before buying or trying a new brand of cocoa powder.

Smell: When you open a pack of Gold Coast cocoa powder, you are hit with the a rich indulgent smell of chocolate. Even without actually tasting it, you know exactly what to expect. If anything the smell of chocolate becomes more potent after it’s used.

Taste/Flavour: It is quite bitter. The kind of bitterness you would expect from pure cocoa powder. If your cocoa powder is not (slightly) bitter, there’s something else in there. This bitterness however lends a decadent nuance in flavour when used in baked goods or hot chocolate. It makes everything indulgent. Though bitter, it has a certain buttery mouthfeel.

Colour: Right out of the pouch, it it dark brown. It becomes darker when it comes into contact with water or moisture and will lend a really rich deep brown sometimes dark brown colour to baked goods. That said the more you use, the darker the final product is but also the bitter it is, not unless you offset some of that bitterness with sugar.

Price: There’s this notion that quality ingredients cost a lot but this is one of those instances where you have a really quality ingredient at an affordable price. It comes in 400g pouches and each costs 40GHS. A similar product of comparable quality will be Hershey’s cocoa and that’ll cost you double the price for half the quantity of this.

Availability: This is made in Ghana. This means that it is almost always readily available. I know this because I have used this product for the past 5 years and I have always been able to find it. Which is very important especially as someone who builds attachments to ingredients.

Pros

• Value for money

• Easy to use

• Resealable airtight packaging

• Deep intense dark brown colour

• Rich chocolate flavour

Cons

None actually except that they longer add the tiny cute spoon.