Within the battle between milk and darkish chocolate, I’d select the previous each time. And but, right here I’m, knee-deep in darkish chocolate bars attempting to call one of the best darkish chocolate of all of them. Let me be clear: it’s not that I don’t like darkish chocolate, I’m simply typically not as keen on some bars’ bitterness or overly fruit-forward flavors. When a craving strikes, I want clean, milky chocolate. However as I’ve found, all it took was a easy style take a look at of one of the best darkish chocolate manufacturers to alter my tune.
My brother is extra identified in our household for his defining attribute of snacking on cacao nibs and cocoa. (Sure, actually.) He thrives on darkish chocolate. My dad lands someplace between the 2 of us, and my mother, nicely, she may take it or go away it.
After a heated debate on the benefit of darkish chocolate, my brother and I made a decision it was time for a taste-off. Very similar to my earlier bake-off competitions (these ginger molasses cookies are nonetheless a favourite and don’t let anybody inform you pumpkin bread is just for the autumn), we approached this competitors among the many top-tier darkish chocolate manufacturers with some pointers to crown one of the best tasting darkish chocolate.
Ranking Guardrails
All chocolates were tasted at room temperature and served with palate cleansers in between. We stuck to only the 70% (ish) chocolate bars that were available in the HEB sweet aisle. (Sadly, whereas I’m informed the Valhrona Darkish Chocolate Bar is nicely definitely worth the hype, it was sadly not available.)
As a result of my brother is a darkish chocolate connoisseur I requested him what he appeared for in rating these bars. Right here’s what he stated.
Taste
Truthfully, I wasn’t anticipating any of our chosen stack of chocolate bars to style otherwise from one another. However via the method, I used to be pleasantly stunned to find distinct variations in taste. For the needs of our style take a look at, we had been on the lookout for a bar that offered its personal distinctive taste with out leaning too candy or fruity. We wished a steadiness of flavors with the cocoa. The true take a look at: which is the bar that we return to for one more sq.? (Let’s be clear, none of us are skilled chocolate tasters, so we simply wished chocolate that tasted good.)
Texture
All of us agreed that our favourite goodies are clean on our tongue and never chalky or chunky. A correctly tempered chocolate ought to have a pleasant snap to it.
Aroma
I solely added this one to the rating listing as a result of my brother stated it was necessary, however I really feel prefer it’s self-explanatory.
On the finish of our tasting, I truly discovered myself with a couple of new additions to my rotation, a couple of that I’ll reserve for chopping into chocolate chip cookies, and some that I’ll stick to purchasing the milk chocolate counterparts. So with out additional ado, listed here are the outcomes of our quest to call one of the best darkish chocolate of all of them.
Style-Off: The Greatest Darkish Chocolate
6. Green and Black’s Organic 70% Dark Chocolate
I am a Green and Black’s Milk Chocolate STAN. I live for it and stock up when they go on sale at Whole Foods, so I was hoping for this one to rank higher than it did between the three of us.
The flavor was only OK, leaning toward slightly smoky and astringent, according to my brother. The texture was also just fine, and we were hoping for a bit more smoothness as we were eating it. Overall, this one fell into last place because it was exactly that—fine. I will continue hyping up the milk chocolate variety though and save this bar for some imminent chocolate chip cookie baking.
5. Ghirardelli 72% Twilight Delight
I live for the Ghirardelli milk and caramel-filled varieties. Sign me up all day every day. But this bar sadly missed the mark. My brother noted that the flavor actually leans smoky and has an almost licorice note to it. My dad said it was slightly bitter with a fruity aftertaste. My brother did call out that he did not enjoy this bar’s aroma, reminding him of over-roasted coffee. (Feel free to DM him to discuss the importance of aroma in chocolate.) Again, this bar is nothing to write home about but will find a nice home in some cookie dough.
4. Chocolove 70% Strong Dark Chocolate
Flavor-wise, this chocolate bar was alright. All three of us agreed that the fruitiness of this bar was just mild enough to be pleasant. However, texture-wise, we had some qualms. The chocolate didn’t melt smoothly over our tongues as we ate it. I wouldn’t call it quite chalky, but overall we just wanted more textural enjoyment. I have not tried the milk chocolate counterpart here but will be adding it to the list to compare since I liked the flavor of this one.
3. Lindt 70% Dark Chocolate
We are Lindt chocolate truffle fans in my house, so I was excited to try this bar. The flavor definitely leans toward the milder and sweeter side. As a milk chocolate lover I personally didn’t mind it, but my brother called it slightly weaker in flavor than some of the other bars. The texture though was smooth with a nice snap to the bar. We enjoyed this bar overall and came back once or twice for an extra square.
2. Tony’s Chocolonely 70% Dark Chocolate
I actually hadn’t tried any of Tony’s chocolate before this, though I have spotted it in the aisles of Trader Joe’s. This chocolate had the boldest and fruitiest flavor of all the bars we tried. It was bright in flavor, which my brother really enjoyed. Personally, as a milk chocolate person, I would have liked it to be a bit milder. But overall, I thought the flavor was good for dark chocolate and enjoyed the smooth texture. We do wish the bar was slightly thinner, as the large chunks do make it hard to break off a piece. And of course, this bar was a clear winner when it came to aesthetics.
1. Perugina 70% Bittersweet Chocolate
Honestly, this bar was the underdog of our group, so all three of us were shocked that we enjoyed it the most. It was the only bar we ate in its entirety during our tasting. What set it apart was the flavor. It has nutty, coconut-infused tasting notes while the texture is super rich and creamy. This bar wasn’t bitter at all, mild enough to convert any dark chocolate hater, and the perfect bar to reach for when the chocolate craving strikes. I was shocked to find a dark chocolate bar that I would actually buy again and that my brother liked it as well. Lesson learned, never count out the underdog.
Final Thoughts
Overall, when it comes to finding the best dark chocolate, there’s something out there for everyone. And I’ll even give my brother his I-told-you-so moment. Now that I’ve tried a few different kinds of dark chocolate, I’m able to point to things I liked and disliked about each one that keeps me open to trying new ones to have on hand.
While these are just the selection from the grocery store, I do have some more gourmand and smaller bean-to-bar choices that I love:
Fossa Chocolate Salted Egg Cereal
Marou Tien Gian
Madhu Chocolate Dark Rose
Qantu Goat Milk
And in the event you’re on the lookout for that good bar with the prettiest wrapping, consult our list of the best “status chocolate bars.” As a result of when the oldsters you’re keen on are craving one thing candy, why not give them one of the best—and most aesthetic—possibility?
This submit was initially revealed on February 20, 2021, and has since been up to date.
