Let's grab some Vegan Chocolate, Beer and Coconut Water at the Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

What are Brazilians' favorite snacks and drinks? One of the biggest ones is: chocolate. There are many brands, and many are now also dairy free.

Brazilian Chocolate

During Easter time Brazilians like to gift each other with Chocolate Easter Eggs.

Store sales are so high that they get packed up with Easter Eggs, from top to bottom. From small to giant eggs, white or brown chocolate, and with candy or toys inside of them. The country is so famous for their chocolate eggs that they even get sold online to other countries.

My niece and I searched for vegan chocolates and found some great brands:

• Olvebra: A Brazilian company dedicated to manufacturing soy products, soy condensed milk (aka "leite condensado"), soy milk and soy cake mix.
• Tnuva: They promote lactose-free products and chocolate without milk.
• Chocolah: Look for Chocolah made with soybeans, 40% cocoa solids and without lactose. Also ideal for anyone who needs to avoid milk products.
• Zotter: Many flavors of what they call "vegetal milk" lactose-free chocolate bars.
• Tri-Gostoso: Look for "Zero Soja" (Zero Soy), soy-free, sugar-free, lactose-free, gluten free and even decaf (low content of caffeine and theobromine).

Something new and interesting: In this 2016 trip to Brazil, for the first time I saw lactose intolerance TV commercials. The country now has so many people showing indigestion problems that "Lactose-Free" products have now become popular. I was so glad to see this, though lactose intolerance isn't something new to me personally...

This is party of the reason why "The Vegan Survival Guide" got started. Besides being dairy free, in the VSG we also included gluten free, soy free, and raw variations of our recipes.

Back to chocolate, here is some tasty vegan chocolates my niece and I grabbed at Shopping da Gávea, Rio de Janeiro:

Coconut Water + Beer

When visiting Rio, getting some sun at the beach is a must! Here in Barra Beach, I got some fresh coconut water while my friends tried some local beer:

• "Coco Verde": Fresh Green Coconuts are easy to find at the beaches in Rio de Janeiro. They cost around $3, and after drinking the water, you can ask them to cut the coconut in half to enjoy the meat. Please do, because I keep seeing Brazilians trashing the green coconuts after drinking them and I think... wait, what about the nutritious coconut meat?
• "Cerveja": Many Beers are traditionally not vegan, because they use animal products in the filtering process... But in most parts of the world, including in Brazil, you can ask for vegan friendly brands such as Heineken and Budweiser. Or if you'd like to try something new, ask for some SKOL, a Belgium brewer rooted in Africa, popular at Rio's beaches. ;)

Have you tried any Brazilian chocolate? What's your favorite Brazilian snack or recipe?

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