# Carob & Chocolate **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 31, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carob-chocolate/237561 "2004-03-31T16:55:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carob-chocolate/237561/22 "2022-02-15T18:39:49Z")
> [@watsondog](#): > > Or maybe it’s a sign that you should worry less about what you eat. Exactly. IIRC, chocolate contains so much less caffeine than coffee or even tea that they’re barely in the same league. If you were concerned about your caffeine intake and decided to substitute carob for a daily Hershey bar but continued your usual intake of coffee, I doubt it would make much difference. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carob-chocolate/237561/23 "2022-02-16T05:33:13Z")
Chocolate doesn’t have much caffeine, but it does have theobromine, which is what your body converts caffeine into. My personal experience is that eating a chocolate bar feels like drinking a bottle of green tea. ---
**Author:** ![SOJA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SOJA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SOJA)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2022, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carob-chocolate/237561/24 "2022-05-08T04:34:31Z")
I’ve been told the higher the cacao percentage the more theobromine there is. I didn’t know theobromine converted into caffeine either. I’d read it was a good mind stimulant that was safe, but this was several years ago when I got into chocolate. Growing up I ate mostly milk chocolate but over time found I preferred the dark stuff. I’d heard of Carob when I was in sixth grade. My teacher mentioned it, people asked what it was and she explained it. I still don’t remember why the topic came up, but in those days we did our very best to throw her off the lesson she was planning on delivering because those sidebars were far more entertaining to us kids. After that I aimlessly recommended carob to people telling them it tasted exactly like chocolate and that it was terrific stuff despite never consuming the stuff. At some point when I was in high school I did try carob out and found it revolting. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2022, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carob-chocolate/237561/25 "2022-05-11T17:20:58Z")
That’s because you expected it to be just like chocolate, which it isn’t, but as its own thing it’s not bad, certainly you can grow to like it, eat lots of it and you’ll get tired of it like any other indulgence. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2022, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carob-chocolate/237561/26 "2022-05-11T17:45:47Z")
Years ago, Trader Joe’s sold cartons of carob milk. It didn’t really taste like chocolate; it tasted sort of like toasted caramel. I really loved it, but they stopped making it. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2022, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carob-chocolate/237561/27 "2022-05-11T19:09:13Z")
There was a quote from some chocolate cookbook I read years ago that has stuck with me all these years: > When mixed with the proper amounts of sugar and fats, carob can achieve the same texture and consistency as the finest chocolate. > The same can be said of dirt. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carob-chocolate/237561/28 "2022-05-17T04:45:34Z")
Oh, that was quite the zinger! Down goes carob! “The same can be said of dirt.” Stop, you’re killing me! ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carob-chocolate/237561/29 "2022-06-03T20:00:31Z")
That’s from “Chocolate: The Consuming Passion” by Sandra Boynton. Which is not _precisely_ a cookbook, but hey, close enough. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carob-chocolate/237561/30 "2022-06-03T20:01:47Z")
THANK YOU! I’ve been unable to find that quote after searching for it for years. I knew it was a book about chocolate, I assumed it was a cookbook. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carob-chocolate/237561.md?page=1)