Open Secret Unjunked Chocolate Bars Review: Coconut & Caramel

Chocolates inherently have a bad rap for being loaded with sugar and fats. 

Open Secret, a brand that aims at ‘unjunking’ India, launched its range of un-junked chocolate bars that claim to be prepared without refined sugar. Of the three, we reviewed the Coconut and Caramel variants, and here’s our Open Secret Unjunked Chocolate Bars review.

What does Open Secret use to add sweetness? A natural ingredient or something made in a lab?

All you need to know about Open Secret Unjunked Chocolate bars is listed in the table below.

Here’s what we set out to find in our Open Secret Unjunked Chocolate bars review. 

The brand uses jaggery as an alternative to sugar. How does this switch affect the caloric value, taste and texture? 

Has the quality of ingredients been specified? These chocolate bars are priced comparatively higher than most regular brands. Does the packaging feel premium too?

1. Flavor 

Coconut and caramel are flavors that marry quite well with chocolate. Without using sugar, could Open Secret impart the same decadence a coconut/caramel-flavored chocolate bar has?

Jaggery has a caramel-like flavor and is more intense than refined sugar. Does using jaggery in place of sugar affect the sweetness and taste of the chocolate? 

2. Texture

While coconut has nutty flakiness, caramel has a characteristic gooey texture. As we know, good quality chocolate has that smooth mouthfeel and no gritty/grainy textures. What was our experience with Open Secret like?

3. Ingredients

Do these ‘un-junked’ chocolate bars really have nutritious ingredients? What about added flavors, colors, and preservatives? 

4. Other Parameters

Appearance

Does using jaggery impact the color of the chocolate bars? Are these bite-sized or large slabs?

Packaging

Is the packaging resealable? Are the bars individually wrapped?

Price

A 150-155-gram pack is priced at Rs 399/-.

Shelf Life

These have a shelf life of eight months.

Also Read- Nestle Moosha

1. Coconut

A glossy black and blue pouch holds 10 individually wrapped coconut-filled chocolate bars. Thumbs-up for such good-quality packaging. 

The brand mentions the ingredients of the milk chocolate coating and center filling separately. The outer coating is made with jaggery powder, milk solids, cocoa butter, cocoa solids, and emulsifiers (INS 322, INS 476) and the filling contains a blend of desiccated coconut powder, jaggery, and oligofructose.

What is oligofructose and why is it in my chocolate bar?

Oligofructose, also known as Fructooligosaccharide, is considered a functional food ingredient. Present in everyday food items like wheat, onions, bananas, garlic, and chicory, this is used as an alternative sweetener that is marginally lower in calories.

In terms of aroma, we noticed a distinct coconutty aroma that was laced with that of milk chocolate. 

As part of our review process, we cut the bar in half to collect visual data. A generous portion of grated coconut is covered in a sturdy, chunky yet soft layer of jaggery-sweetened milk chocolate. The milk chocolate has that decadent smoothness and the coconut filling features a grated texture.

It is a chocolate brown-colored bar with the characteristic bright white color of coconut meat in the centre. Our taste buds were delighted on tasting this un-junked chocolate bar. Straight-up scrumptious! This chocolate-coconut pairing is delicious. The milk chocolate has that distinctive cane sugar-like sweetness coming from the use of jaggery. The coconut filling is sweetened with jaggery and tastes fresh.

2. Caramel

The style of packaging is similar, only the Caramel variant is in a black and orange pouch. 

The milk chocolate layer is prepared using the same ingredients as above. Jaggery, butter, skimmed milk powder, cocoa powder are used for the centre filling. 

The milk chocolate coating (also sweetened with jaggery) is a deep chocolate brown, whereas the jaggery-based filling is a slightly lighter shade from the same color family. (see images)

Texture– The milk chocolate coating is smooth, as the other variant. The centre filling had a fudginess and was soft. Though it was not what we anticipated, we liked it. 

Typically, caramel has a gooey, sticky texture. When butter and sugar are cooked together, it results in a chewy texture. 

We observed a delightful chocolatey aroma and here comes the details of the taste test. While the chocolate bar tastes fairly decent, the key difference lies in its sweetness. Jaggery imparts a distinct cane-like sweetness which was tasted here. There was also a mild bitterness that comes from roasting jaggery.  Sweet, slightly bitter, and buttery- this classic caramel flavor profile was reflected well in the chocolate bars. 

PS- the brand recommends storing the chocolate bars at 24 degrees to positively impact the texture. However, the chocolate did not turn gooey even after following the suggestion. 

Here are some interesting FAQs on Open Secret unjunked chocolate bars

Nothing short of decadence! Open Secret Unjunked chocolate bars retain the classic chocolatey flavors, but without any refined sugar or preservatives.

Though these have similar calories as chocolates sweetened with sugar, the use of jaggery makes it better in terms of nutrients. For those who like dark chocolates or have a low-sugar tolerance might not like these. 

What is your preferred choice of sweetener?

Our reviews are unbiased and all samples used during the reviews were paid for by us. Read our entire ethics statement here.